Theory:SJA television discontinuity and plot holes/The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
You are exploring the Discontinuity Index, a place where any details or rumours about unreleased stories are forbidden.
Please discuss only those whole stories which have already been released, and obey our spoiler policy.

This page is for discussing the ways in which The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith 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.
  • Why does Sarah Jane say "Why is Mr Smith still out?" since when she left Mr Smith was not 'out'?
She possibly meant, 'Why is he still out at this time of night?'.
  • Why do Luke and K9 say "Have a good evening" when it is clear daylight and obviously in the middle of the afternoon?
The actual time is unclear. During the summer period in the United Kingdom, it can still be bright sunlight up till 9pm at night. Additionally she clearly intends to be out for the evening - so they are both referring to that.
  • Why was the clip of the horse race on the television in the Doctor's second the same clip as in Sarah Jane's second?
It could be a replay or a different part that looks the same, also the clip in Sarah Jane's second looks like it's about one second ahead of the clip shown in the Doctor's second. They were meant to be two different seconds next to each other.
  • It's also a bit convenient that the time shown on the two clocks, when the Doctor and the others find out that they're trapped in the one second, all say that its exactly 23 minutes and 23 seconds past 3.
Even if the digital clock was timed to the second the the other clock isn't likely to be. However this is intentionally done to show what second they are trapped in.
  • Mr Smith was permanently deactivated near the end of part 1, so why is he fully working at the end of part 2?
Sarah Jane just reactivated him.
The deactivation seems to be what Sarah Jane did in TV: The Mark of the Berserker.
Sarah Jane never said "permanent deactivation" to Mr Smith but just "total deactivation", which doesn't necessarily mean permanent.
This is a very different circumstance than the others, in that the Doctor has been trapped in a time loop from which the TARDIS is trying to rescue him.
Also, like the HADS, the system that made the TARDIS try to reach the Doctor might need to be set manually and he always forgets except on this occasion.
The Doctor's TARDIS is both implied and specifically stated to be able to alter some of her settings and controls to take the Doctor where he needs to be. She frequently picks her own stops (The Doctor’s Daughter, for one) and has been said to run away from things that frighten her Utopia. In the other referenced stories, the TARDIS was reunited with the Doctor without action needed on her part, and she can actually know that for herself, as her consciousness exists in all times simultaneously (The Doctor’s Wife).
The Doctor indicates that he has been looking at Sarah Jane's future.
  • How did the Doctor know about the wedding in the first place?
The Doctor knows of Sarah Jane's future and may have found out about her wedding, or he may not have known until he got there. The TARDIS is programmed to tell the Doctor when there is an irregular alien presence and it landed, then the Doctor was alerted to the occasion, or he may have been coming to Earth for a different event and landed in the wrong time, as is regularly the case, or one of the Trickster's agents in another time and place may have let slip something about the wedding.
We've seen the TARDIS act for itself to get the Doctor places, we've seen it work to try to land near him, and we've seen the Doctor (or even others) send notes earlier in his timeline when it's important (The Lodger, The Big Bang, Blink).
  • Sarah Jane tells the kids that they were grounded on Earth, even though they only wanted to see the dinosaurs which were on Earth.
Sarah Jane didn't want them to go because their parents wouldn't forgive her. The kids' chatter also indicated they were interested in seeing more things than just the dinosaurs.
And Rani did say: "Or another planet?"
Josh Townsend is dead as of the last Big Finish Productions audio story, and the eventual fate or departure from Sarah Jane's life of Natalie Redfern has never been elaborated on. Regardless, whomever someone stays close to can change in life. Not everyone you meet is invited to your wedding (particularly a hastily-put-together one).
  • Why does the Trickster mention the gate (foreshadowing The End of Time) when surely if he had succeeded in his plan he would probably either had invaded Earth in his own way, or prevented the events of The End of Time from happening (as none of the events were blind chance, they were all for some motive or another).
Due to the prophecy told to him by Ood Sigma and Carmen that "His Song is Ending", the Trickster may be foreshadowing important events as a ploy to compromise the Doctor's personal morale and lead to his victory.
  • Surely a fall down a small flight of stairs wouldn't be enough to kill Peter?
He could have been injured previously, and the stairs were just a final "nail in the coffin", so to speak.
He is not a young man. A simple fall can do a lot of damage to older men. If he fell a certain way he could easily have broken his neck or back, killing him instantly.
Sadly, a fall from a standing position can be enough to kill even a strong and healthy person, if they're very unlucky. I think we can agree that The Trickster is capable of making bad luck for just about anyone.
  • In The Mad Woman in the Attic, Earth was fine 50 years in the future even without Sarah Jane and her crew, so why was the Trickster so sure he would be able to destroy the Earth by getting rid of her?
The Trickster's agents might inspire races to invade.
In the Temptation of Sarah Jane, Sarah Jane saving her parents seemed like a small thing. But that event allowed the Trickster to take form and practically destroy Earth. The future shown to her by the Trickster, showing her how happy she would be, was most likely a ploy to make his plans succeed. But that future didn't take the Trickster into account, which I think the Trickster knew.
Retrieved from "https://tardis.wiki/w/index.php?title=Theory:SJA_television_discontinuity_and_plot_holes/The_Wedding_of_Sarah_Jane_Smith&oldid=3465273"