Doctor Who

The Twin Dilemma - S21-E7

Revealing mistake: Watch Elena's monitor screen just before she taps some keys and gets the display of information about the XV773 freighter. It's filled with a mass of tiny text which initially looks like just gibberish - but if you look closer, you'll see it's actually the computer program used to create the information display. Someone has even typed in the RUN command at the bottom of the screen, so that all the actress had to do was press the ENTER key and an instant faked "information readout" appears.

Robot - S12-E1

Plot hole: The SRS has, at their command, a robot who can punch through armor plate and dig through solid rock. So why do they go to such great lengths to get the disintegrator gun - only to use it to open a safe the robot could easily have ripped open?

The Robots of Death - S14-E5

Continuity mistake: In episode four, when the Doctor is patching the communicator into the android's head, he takes off the communicator's top, yet it is back on a few seconds later.

The Aztecs - S1-E6

Revealing mistake: In the final fight, Ixta sends Ian staggering into the altar, which slides out of position across the floor. Also, at one point the edge of the raised set they're fighting on is visible briefly.

Matty W

Black Orchid - S19-E5

Factual error: In episode 2, the policemen from 1925 recognise the TARDIS as a police call box, even though TARDIS-style police boxes weren't introduced until four years later, in 1929.

The Seeds of Doom - S13-E6

Revealing mistake: The fake snow in episodes one and two is effective - with the exception of when the Doctor is digging up the second Krynoid pod, where it is painfully obvious the snow is styrofoam packing peanuts.

The Tenth Planet - S4-E2

Factual error: In the first close-up view of Mondas, the planet is spinning rapidly so that we can see that its continents are identical to Earth's. But this would mean that Mondas is spinning on its axis once every few seconds - tens of thousand of times faster than Earth. This would be such a fast rotation that the planet would not be able to hold together under the centrifugal force.

The Curse of Peladon: Episode Two - S9-E6

Continuity mistake: As Jo walks along the castle ledge to escape from The Ice Warriors' room, there is, at one point, a quick shot of a piece of the ledge breaking off under Jo's shoe and falling down the cliff face. However, the shoe isn't Jo's. If you look closely, you'll see that the shoe in that brief shot is more pointed and of a darker colour than the shoes Jo is wearing, and has a strap across the ankle instead of being a slip-on.

The Ark in Space - S12-E2

Deliberate mistake: In episode three, the Doctor and Vira meet a half-changed Noah. He holds a gun on them, then drops it at Vira's feet and the door is suddenly closed. This is because the scene was originally longer and involved Noah begging Vira to kill him before the Doctor shuts the door. It was trimmed down to get it past BBC censors.

The Leisure Hive - S18-E1

Revealing mistake: In episode 1, watch out for the wires pulling K-9 along the beach. (Unlike a real dog, K-9 didn't take well to the soft sandy surface and sank into the sand. Pulling K-9 along on wires provided an illusion of movement when the motor inside wasn't up to the job).

The Doctor: This is a situation that requires tact and finesse. Fortunately, I am blessed with both.

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The Chase - S2-E8

Trivia: Such was the popularity of Doctor Who in Britain in the mid-1960s that even the Beatles wanted to make an appearance in the show. So a scene was written into "The Chase" to allow them to appear. The idea had been devised of including a scene on the Time and Space Visualiser depicting a Beatles fiftieth-anniversary concert in 2015, with the Fab Four dressed up as old men. John, Paul, George, and Ringo themselves were interested in the proposition, but it was vetoed by their manager, Brian Epstein. It was then thought that an appearance by the Beatles on Top of the Pops might be used instead, but no such footage was available. Fortunately, the Beatles were scheduled to perform "Ticket to Ride" at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith on April 10th, 1965, and that footage was used instead.

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Earthshock - S19-E6

Question: In Earthshock, season 19, at the end of episode 3, the Cyber Leader views his troops marching down the corridor. Each column is headed by a Cyber Leader. Is this a mistake, or is there more than one Cyber Leader allowed per army?

Answer: In 'The Five Doctors', three separate Cyberleaders are definitely used. So it's likely that Cyberleaders are like unit commanders, of which a fair-sized army might have several.

Daria Sigma

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