Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/The Pyramid at the End of the World

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This page is for discussing the ways in which The Pyramid at the End of the World 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: 

* This is point one.
::This is a counter-argument to point one.
:::This is a counter-argument to the counter-argument above
* This is point two.
::Explanation of point two.
::Further discussion and query of point two.

... and so on.
  • Bill says the current president (of the United States) is "orange". Even if we were to go under the assumption that the president at this point in the DWU was a different "orange" man and not Donald Trump, this goes against what was depicted in the simulation in Extremis where the unnamed president appears to be a pale-skinned man.
It was a simulation. We can't be sure it is 100% accurate, more like 98,99. Regardless, whose to say the president isn't orange in another sense; it was never clarified she meant skin.
Also, real-life politics do not align with those in the Whoniverse. In the Whoniverse it is implied that Barack Obama succeeded one Arthur Coleman Winters as president, and that in the second half of the 2000s the prime minister of the UK was Harriet Jones.
  • Although they are referenced, the otherwise total absence of UNIT is difficult to reconcile given its mandate is to investigate things such as a pyramid appearing out of nowhere. Certainly once the Doctor realized they were looking for a specific event he should have called in the entire might of UNIT. In addition, the previous two appearances of Boat One suggest the aircraft itself is operated by UNIT.
Perhaps they were there, it's just the other three nations go priority, bring representative of the 3 strongest nations.
  • Why didn't the lab suits have their own oxygen supply?
No oxygen supply because the suits aren't for breathing. I'm no scientist but my guess is that the suits are probably more to prevent the scientist from introducing bacteria from their breath into the environment.
Why does Erica need to wear the bottom half then?
To not look foolish?
With your answer she only had to wear head gear. The suit isn't required!
  • Why did the airlock/door have that strange comination lock? Surely, it would be retina print, hand print, card swipe or keypad?
Anything in the general direction of "not enough money" should qualify as a satisfactory reason for having a combination lock rather than something more spohisticated e.g. government funding cuts
I've never seen a lock in real life, or on tv, that resembled anything like the one used in this episode!
So? Whoinverse isn't ours.
I thought that was obvious!
Manual combination and lock and key locks are used in nuclear reactors in case the power fails. It is safe to assume the lab would have a similar system.
  • How did the Monks observe the humans before the invention of CCTV?
They're an advanced alien race; they probably had other means, and then simply hacked into CCTVs once they became common.
They would've had other ways of doing so but hacking CCTV is easier so once CCTV became widespread they would switch to that.
What were those mysterious other ways?
Nobody knows, that's why they're mysterious
  • Considering that Bill was standing next to Nardole when he was giving a visual description to the Doctor through a microphone, why hasn't Bill worked out the Doctor is blind?
Maybe Bill just assumed Nardole was offering a description of his view from all the way back so the Doctor knew that Nardole could warn him if something the Doctor wouldn't be able to see happened. Simply put: Bill was more interested in the situation and simply assumed that there was a good reason for it.
  • How did the airlock reset itself?
Automated system
It didn't got to zero.
Do we know that it has to go to zero?/might be faulty
  • Why did Erica use her bag to stop the door from shutting?
She probably didn't have a doorstop and needed something.
But, she didn't return to her apartment!
She was leaving it open for her partner.
Doesn't the partner know how to turn a handle to open a door?
Maybe not/conveniance?
  • Why was Douglas allowed to continue working when he was clearly intoxicated?
He wasn't drunk, he was hungover. In general employers will expect you to continue working with a hangover because it's your own fault. Perhaps in a lab setting this was an oversight of the employer.
  • We see three submariners leaving the pyramid. An active nuclear submarine carries more than three personnel.
Perhaps it's just first three of many more.
No one else came out!
In the Doctor Who universe, three is a sufficient number for an active submarine.
Ridiculous!
Not really, it is fiction, that's kinda why we like it.
Perhaps the three crew members were the ones that pressed the buttons to fire the missile.
  • Why did Douglas use his bare hands to transport the gunk, when he should have been wearing protective gloves?
Well, he was hungover...
  • Erica is aware that the amount of chemical used that killed the plants was excessive, why wouldn't Douglas have realised before typing in ten times the amount?
He probably meant to type in "11.89" and was simply too hungover to realise that what he'd actually entered was "118.9".
Not probably, he definitely meant to type in 11.89.
  • Why can't the Sonic Sunglasses detect body heat?
They probably just weren't designed with that in mind, and the Doctor wouldn't have been able to modify them to have that feature when he couldn't even see what he was doing.
He could have used the Sonic Screwdriver to modify the Sonic Sunglasses!
While he was actually wearing them? Trying to modify a pair of glasses that are currently sitting on your head would be extremely tricky even for a person with functional eyesight. Not to mention the risk that his impaired eyesight might cause him to enter in the wrong settings on the screwdriver and accidentally drill a hole in his head or something similar.
  • From what I can make out, as it's a very bad edit, Nardole moves the TARDIS from the lab Erica was in to another lab. Why?
To avoid any toxic material from getting into the TARDIS and then being taken to all of time and space.
Toxic material did get into the TARDIS! Knocked out Nardole.
  • In what situation would three military leaders make a decision when it's their governments that would do that?
In emergencies, where there's no time to wait for a bunch of politicians to debate over something.
They had plenty time!
Earths going to die in minutes, they certainly didn't have a lot of time.
  • Why couldn't Erica have stopped off at a chemist or supermarket on her way to work and picked up a set of replacement reading glasses? Reading glasses don't need specific prescriptions (unlike distance glasses), so she could have just grabbed a pair of generic glasses and used them as a temporary replacement.
She was probably in a rush and didn't have time.
And we don't know whether or not those weren't prescription lenses. Some reading glasses do require prescriptions.
All reading glasses has a prescription! Anyone can buy over the counter reading glasses in various prescriptions, ranging from +.50 to +4.00
Well simple answer: If I broke my glasses before work and knew that someone at work had decent eyesight, I would replace them after work when its more convenient for me.
  • Why isn't Bill killed when she wants the Monks to help the Doctor? Its the love of the Doctor that she gives, not the love to the Monks! (Which is the whole point of the episode)
She feels gratitude to the monks for being able to fix the Doctor's eyesight, allowing him to survive. Also, she is the Doctor's companion and therefore has the ability to fool the monks, just as Clara, after being taken over by the Zygons, is the only human ever shown fighting back and even taking control back. Because she's the companion.
The Monks want her love and consent BEFORE they help the Doctor. Gratitude afterwards is meaningless! Where did Bill get this ability to fool the Monks? Because she's the companion isn't a good enough reason!
The monks know that she will love them for giving the Doctor his eyesight back and consequently saving his life.
So, why didn't this work for the 3 military leaders?
Cause they were out for protection, strategy rather than utter devotion
Exactly what Bill did. She did it to protect the Doctor, strategy rather than utter devotion!
  • The end of the episode annoyed me to no end, and still does. Doctor's use of sonic sunglasses to bypass his blindness is thoughtlessly used in anyway the plot needs it to be. Early in the episode, the UN Secretary General shows him a tablet computer and the Doctor's sonic sunglasses clearly cannot reproduce its digital display, prompting the Doctor to ask for verbal exposition. Later, at the end of the episode, the Doctor assembles the makeshift bomb, and suddenly he is able to recognise digits on its interactive screen.
  • Sonic sunglasses can transmit video via wi-fi (as seen in Under the Lake), and Bill was holding a smartphone. Was it so difficult to say "Bill, forget the Monks, I'm sending you a vid, tell me what numbers you see."?
  • Surely there would be a way of shutting down the Lab's venting system? It's basic health and safety, ALL systems have an off switch somewhere, at least couldn't The Doctor, or one of the lab technicians have cut the power so the vent system didn't work?
  • It's a constant with the series, but the Sonic Screwdriver has some serious 'pick and choose' moments with it's function. It's been shown to open alien combination locks that change 'a billion, squillion' times a second, it's lit candles, knocked a knife out of river's hand. And yet it, nor the glasses, have the ability to open a 2010s 4 diet combination lock?
Because it’s too simple. The lock has simple drums that rotate to unlock the door, hardly anything electric or metal to interface with.
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