Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/The Time Meddler

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

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• After finding a wrist watch Steven questions how this could be in the twelfth century when he has already been told they are in the eleventh century.

People often get confused with dates, also Steven is from the future so he likely doesn't know much about this era of history.

First, it sounded to me as if he was questioning how they could be in the * tenth* century. Second, the story doesn't show him being directly told which century they were in. The Doctor had originally postulated the helmet as being a 10th OR 11th century item. The Doctor hadn't seen his companions since confirming the exact time period. Finally, finding a 10th century artefact (usually) eliminates earlier centuries from further consideration - not later ones.

• The Viking helmet the doctor finds at the beginning was never worn by any real Vikings.

In the Whoniverse this helmet may have been worn by Vikings although not in the Real World. Also time is in flux.

The viking helmet might have been The Monk's who bought it with him, maybe he planned to alter history so that they did wear them.

Additionally, although there is no clear evidence that the Vikings commonly wore such helmets in reality, there is indeed evidence to suggest that similar helmets were at least used in ceremonial roles by the Vikings' ancestors. It's entirely plausible that some Vikings did wear horned helmets at times, albeit probably rarely.

Vikings did wear horns on their helmets, but only on special occasions.

• Why do the Vikings not only trust the monk but obey him, shortly after they meet?

As this is known to be a ability of Time Lords, the Monk may have used some slight hypnosis on the Vikings, however in a more subtle way than the Master's "You Will Obey Me" routine.

The Monk indicated his support for their king and identified The Doctor and his companions as the enemy (Sven already knew this of The Doctor). So they took the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" approach.

• The Doctor seems to forget at the end that he has left a space age rocket launcher in 1066, isn't that dangerous?

He probably did know and since he has a TARDIS he could easily leave with his companions then go back to 1066 for a little while to retrieve it later.

But he had no ability to control where the TARDIS landed at that time (and there was no indication that he would have that ability before meeting an untimely or timely end), so he couldn't easily go back and retrieve it later.

Although potentially dangerous, it most likely would have been largely disregarded and eventually rusted away. If he did indeed simply forget (which was not uncommon for him to do at this point in his life), he wouldn't have been able to do much about it if he remembered later.

• The monk must be mad if he thinks that his Viking friends won't stop him destroying their fleet.

Bearing in mind he has no qualms about blowing an entire fleet of Vikings to perdition, it is safe to assume he will find it equally unproblematic to stab or shoot Sven and Ulf in their backs when they have outlived their usefulness.

The vikings have absolutely no knowledge of guns. What exactly would make them think The Monk is trying to destroy the fleet?

• Why doesn't the monks TARDIS have a lock? All other ones do (the Master's, the Rani's, etc.).

Since the Monk is a renegade and a Time Meddler, he may have had his TARDIS slightly damaged and his lock lost in a run-in with the Time Lords.

Most cars come with locks, but some people are simply not in the habit of locking them. The Monk doesn't typically have to worry about random humans getting anywhere near his TARDIS without him being around, so why bother locking it?

There was a cable leading from inside his TARDIS which Steven and Vicki followed, so he couldn't have shut and locked his TARDIS.

The Monk's also shown to be more than a little irresponsible.

• In The Pandorica Opens, the Doctor states that the stones in Stonehenge are giant transmitters for the Alliance, and in this story, the Meddling Monk says that he helped building Stonehenge. Then can the Monk retroactively be considered a part of the Alliance?

Maybe, why not? In any case, any discontinuity here lies in the later story, not this one.

The Monk may have helped unaware that The Alliance was also involved.