Doctor Who
Doctor Who mistake picture

Midnight - S4-E10

Revealing mistake: In the opening scene the Doctor and Donna are speaking over the phone. The purple phone Donna is holding shows the slot where a cable should be plugged in, but there is none. (00:00:25)

ItsDesm

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: This shouldn't be considered a mistake. While it's true in real life this phone has a slot for a cable, they're on an alien planet and this is unknown technology. In-universe there's no way of knowing what that slot is for, and there's no reason to think the phone needs to be plugged into anything.

Bishop73

Turn Left - S4-E11

Revealing mistake: When the Doctor and Donna run back inside the TARDIS to find the console room lit up in red and the Cloister Bell ringing, what's visible outside of the doors as they run in isn't the bright Shan Shen street the TARDIS is parked on but the dark soundstage the set was built in. (00:47:49)

The End of Time - S4-E17

Revealing mistake: Adams, the female Vinvocci, has a tendency to wrinkle her forehead, which makes the fact that her spiky head is a cap the actress is wearing very obvious.

The Eleventh Hour - S5-E1

Revealing mistake: When an Atraxi ship appears over the village green, there's a shot where the Doctor, Amy and Rory turn to look at it, and they're standing in bright sunshine with their shadows visible - despite the fact that the Atraxi have surrounded the planet with a forcefield that dims sunlight, so those shadows shouldn't be possible. (00:36:05)

skater49th

Victory of the Daleks - S5-E3

Revealing mistake: When the TARDIS dematerialises and causes wind to blow against Churchill and Amy, their clothes are affected - but the cigar smoke in the air is unaffected, and actually drifts towards the vanishing TARDIS. (00:14:25)

LizzieWD

Flesh and Stone (2) - S5-E5

Revealing mistake: When the Doctor's jacket is being held by a Weeping Angel while he's monologuing about why they haven't killed him yet, he moves at one point and the Angel's hand moves with him, despite the fact that they're normally effectively stone in situations like this. (00:12:16)

The Big Bang - S5-E13

Revealing mistake: In the museum after the Doctor, Amy, young Amy and Rory escape the Stone Dalek, the Doctor uses the Vortex Manipulator to go back in time to tell Rory in 102 AD to let him out of the Pandorica. The third time he goes back, Amy moves despite being dead. (00:19:38)

Casual Person

The Big Bang - S5-E13

Revealing mistake: When the Doctor travels back in time after being shot by the stone Dalek, falls down the stairs and tells himself that he has 12 minutes to live we never see either of the 2 Doctors' faces onscreen at the same time, and if you look at the hair on the Doctor that's dying it is completely different to Matt Smith's. That's because it is Gordon Seed, Matt Smith's stunt double.

THGhost

The Impossible Astronaut - S6-E2

Revealing mistake: When the Doctor is struck by the green light emitted from the astronaut, his right thigh momentarily disappears due to the animation. (This is even more visible when looking at the still of this shot on the Doctor Who website). (00:07:06)

Let's Kill Hitler - S6-E9

Revealing mistake: When River grabs a gun off one of the soldiers she just knocked out with regeneration energy, the actor sits up slightly, even though the soldier is supposed to be unconscious. (00:24:44)

Let's Kill Hitler - S6-E9

Revealing mistake: Mels is shot in the stomach by Hitler, leading to her regeneration. Rory, when checking the wound, says he's going to try and stop the bleeding. However, when she stands up while glowing with regeneration energy, and in every scene afterwards where Mels/River is wearing that dress, there is no bullet hole or bloodstain visible.

More mistakes in Doctor Who
More quotes from Doctor Who
More trivia for Doctor Who

Season 1 generally

Question: 1. Why was Rose not allowed to touch her past self without creating a paradox and causing those creatures to appear and eat everyone, but Amy was allowed to touch her younger self without any repercussions? 2. Why was Rose able to have the time vortex in her head for a few minutes and it only knocked her unconscious whereas the Doctor had it inside him for about 30 seconds and it basically killed him and caused his regeneration?

strikeand

Chosen answer: 1) When Stephen Moffat took over he ignored a lot of what had been developed before (there is not in-universe answer). 2) It would have killed Rose, so the Doctor absorbed the energy. His body regenerated before the energy could do a significant amount of damage that would prevent regeneration.

More questions & answers from Doctor Who

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.