Doctor Who
Doctor Who mistake picture

The Pyramid at the End of the World - S10-E8

Continuity mistake: While the Doctor, et al. Are in the pyramid with the Monks, when the Monk tells the Secretary General that if his consent isn't pure it will kill him, Xiaolian is standing right behind him in shots facing the Secretary General and shots facing the Monk, but in the one shot of the Secretary General as he's being vaporized Xiaolian has vanished, but Xiaolian is still standing in the same spot in the shot facing the Monk. (00:26:10)

Super Grover

Doctor Who mistake picture

The Pyramid at the End of the World - S10-E8

Visible crew/equipment: Right before the TARDIS materializes in the lab at Agrofuel, there's an overhead shot of Erica at the desk, and the two green tape X marks on the floor behind her are visible, precisely where Douglas had collapsed and his white protective gear should be. Note there's an earlier overhead shot of the same area before the incident, when Erica brings Douglas the coffee, and those tape marks are not there. (00:32:50)

Super Grover

The Sound of Drums (2) - S3-E12

Factual error: When introducing himself to the Toclafane, President Winters refers to himself as "President-elect of the United States of America." President-elect is the title given to the victor of an American presidential election who has not yet been sworn in, between early November and January 20. This was a mistake on Russell T Davies' part, as he was under the impression it was a longer, formal title for the American president. (00:37:40)

The Christmas Invasion - S2-E2

Factual error: When the Doctor regrows his hand during the swordfight, he says that he can do this because he's still within the first 15 hours of his regeneration cycle, and there's still residual energy in his body. However: In both this scene, and the episode's opening scene, when the TARDIS arrives in London, it is full daylight. The episode takes place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, 3-4 days after the Winter Solstice. London, at 51°N latitude, has a night longer than 15 hours at that time of year, meaning the Doctor should have been out of luck.

Vincent and the Doctor - S5-E10

Factual error: Amy inspires Vincent to paint sunflowers for his iconic Sunflowers painting. The episode takes place in 1890, even though Van Gogh completed Sunflowers two years earlier in 1888. (00:18:25)

The Impossible Planet (1) - S2-E11

Factual error: The graphics depicting the black hole show matter falling directly towards the centre of it. This would only happen if all the matter happened to be heading in that direction already. In reality, matter approaching the black hole at any other angle would swirl around the event horizon, like water going down a plughole.

paolog

Doctor Who mistake picture

The Pilot - S10-E2

Other mistake: After the Doctor tells Bill that Heather's face isn't symmetrical, when he and Bill look into the "puddle" together the Doctor explains that instead of seeing her normal backwards reflection, she's seeing her face "the right way round." The problem occurs in the next shot of the Doctor and Bill seen in the puddle, because the "WOW!" patch on Bill's jacket is properly where it should be, but note everything else is actually backwards. Things such as Bill's color-block top and her denim jacket buttons are on the opposite way. Also note the Doctor's ring has switched hands. Presumably this shot was edited, and the "WOW!" patch was blurred on the left of Bill's jacket then digitally added to the right side, to give the appearance that it's "the right way round" as the Doctor said. (00:20:15)

Super Grover

Rose - S1-E1

Character mistake: When Rose thinks Mickey is dead, she says she'll have to tell his mother. But in Rise of the Cybermen in Series 2, she says that Mickey's mother has been dead since he was a child.

MrMovieBuff

Human Nature (1) - S3-E8

Plot hole: The Doctor leaves Martha a recording with instructions for her for when he's human. However, the flashbacks to the incident that led to him using the Chameleon Arch don't leave enough - or any - time for him to have made the recording, presenting his decision to use the device as a spur-of-the-moment one that he immediately acts upon.

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

Suggested correction: He would have been planning the change to human for a while now, not just made it up on the fly. So he could have made a recording before the opening scene.

The episode makes it pretty clear that he and Martha got taken by surprise by the Family's attack. The Doctor also explicitly says, when he gets out the Chameleon Arch headset, that he never thought he'd use it. The flashbacks consistently present his decision to become human as one made as an urgent, in the moment one.

Gridlock - S3-E3

Plot hole: Martha tells the kidnapping couple to switch off all their engines so the Macra don't notice them. Yet during this scene, the car remains hovering above ground, meaning the engines must be engaged in some way, and the Macra should still hear them. And these things don't hover when deactivated - the car was shown to be parked on the ground at the start of the episode.

The Idiot's Lantern - S2-E10

Character mistake: The Doctor gets excited about the major events of 1953 and mentions that everything was "off the ration" (that is, the food rationing put in place in the UK during the Second World War had ended). Rationing actually ended the following year. (00:05:55)

paolog

The Eleventh Hour - S5-E1

Continuity mistake: After the Doctor steps through the hologram of his past selves and introduces himself to the Atraxi, in a wide shot, there's a red jacket lying on the ground to the left of Rory. In a close-up of Amy and Rory immediately following, the jacket has suddenly leaped into Rory's arms, to join the other clothes he's holding. When the Atraxi flies away, the red jacket is back on the ground again. (00:53:55)

skater49th

Utopia (1) - S3-E11

Continuity mistake: When the Doctor gets the rocket to work by tinkering with the boost reversal circuit, he picks it up with his left hand, sonics it, and then transfers it to his right hand, all in a shot where he has his back to the camera. In the next shot, facing him, he's holding it in his left hand as he pulls something off the device. The shot after that, facing Professor Yana again, the circuit is back in his right hand. (00:18:50)

The Satan Pit (2) - S2-E12

Doctor: So, that's the trap. Or the test or the final judgment, I don't know. But if I kill you, I kill her. Except that implies, in this big grand scheme of Gods and Devils, that she's just a victim. But I've seen a lot of this universe. I've seen fake gods and bad gods and demi-gods and would-be gods - out of all that - out of that whole pantheon - if I believe in one thing... Just one thing... I believe in her.

More quotes from Doctor Who
More trivia for Doctor Who

Chosen answer: The Master knows that deep down, he deserves death for the crimes that he's committed throughout his life, and since he regards The Doctor as his arch-foe, he expects it to be at his hands. The fact that The Doctor is still willing to forgive him for all of his crimes hurts him more deeply than death would.

Captain Defenestrator

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.