Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/The Keeper of Traken

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This page is for discussing the ways in which The Keeper of Traken doesn't fit well with other DWU narratives. You can also talk about the plot holes that render its own, internal narrative confusing.

Remember, this is a forum, so civil discussion is encouraged. However, please do not sign your posts. Also, keep all posts about the same continuity error under the same bullet point. You can add a new point by typing:

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• Why doesn't the Keeper take the very simple precaution of advising his councellors that he has invited the Doctor to Traken long before he arrives?

It is unclear how much time intervened. The opportunity may not have arisen.

• What has the Master been doing inside his TARDIS for all those years while Kassia grew up? Does he really have that kind of time to spare in his condition?

It's a time machine. He is able to make it appear as though Melkur has been waiting in the garden that long when really, for the Master, a much shorter time has elapsed.

We don't actually know how long a Traken year is, or how long their adolescence lasts. At any rate, the Master's condition appears to have been considerably stabilised and improved since The Deadly Assassin - he now appears simply badly burned and withered, rather than appearing to be physically dead, and spends all but the last few seconds of this incarnation within the protective atmosphere of his TARDIS, which may well in turn have optimised the time remaining to him.

Further, it's also worth noting that the Master's long incarceration in the Grove was not necessarily part of his original plan. It's unlikely that when his TARDIS first dropped out of the sky, he was expecting it to be paralysed by the strength of the Source and the 'universal harmony' of Traken, or relying on the girl sent to tend him to grow up to have just the right sort of personality flaws to be vulnerable to his manipulation. The Master probably didn't really have that kind of time to "spare"- but he had no choice in the matter once his TARDIS was caught 'like a fly caught by honey', and forced to spend as much time as it took to engineer his freedom and victory.

• How could the Master be in the same incarnation but look a bit different?

His condition was partially improved when he was exposed to the Eye of Harmony at the end of The Deadly Assassin, hence his slightly different appearance.

• Why does Nyssa wear a skirt? Most girls and women prefer trousers over skirts for practical reasons and Nyssa has a practical personality.

Court tradition, or social convention? The aristocracy of Traken don't seem to lead very active lives, in any case, and only the fosters seem to favour trousers over medieval gowns, since their jobs (gardening and soldiering) require more practical attire. Away from the conventions of Traken, Nyssa will quickly add trousers to her wardrobe.

• How come the Doctor doesn't recognise the Master's very distinguishable voice after having met the same incarnation played by Geoffrey Beevers previously in many Big Finish Fourth Doctor Adventures?

Because Big Finish isn't canon.

We have to differentiate slightly between what is obvious for the viewers and actors, and what is so for the characters. There is a distinct difference between the processed voice of the Melkur, emitting from what is presumably the audio-link-up of the Master's TARDIS, and of the Master himself. To the audience, this is not enough of a difference to make them sound like different people. However, the Doctor also 'fails' to recognise Captain Tancredi's guard in City of Death (TV story), or the blind vicar in Remembrance of the Daleks (TV story) as being so obviously Vaughn's henchman Packer in disguise, any more than he accuses either Omega or Eldrad of being Azal dressed up, despite their actor's unique dulcet tones, so just because two characters look and sound alike to us, can't be taken to confirm that they do 'in universe'. The Doctor does noticeably find Melkur extremely familiar; he just can't place who it is until he first hears and sees the villain inside his TARDIS, so presumably the in-universe voice distortion is slightly more pronounced. When he does learn the truth, he clearly feels that he ought to have realised sooner.

Equally, to use a cross-media example, just because Walter Donovan from Indiana Jones and Scaroth are the same actor, does not mean that Donovan *is* Scaroth.

• Nyssa claims that the guards knocked unconscious by the ion bonder will "sleep for quite a bit yet", yet they're waking up not even 30 seconds later when Kassia and the other Consuls discover them.