Doctor Who

The Gunfighters - S3-E8

Factual error: Billy Claiborne, the only member of the Clanton gang to survive the O.K. Corrall shoot-out, is conspicuous by his total absence in this story. Maybe that's how he survived?

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The Gunfighters - S3-E8

Visible crew/equipment: In the fourth part, as the mortally wounded fighter is falling against the back wheel of the cart, the camera is positioned low and its shot is panned upwards, revealing the top of the cyclorama, a large concave backcloth that has been pulled around the studio walls (presumably BBC Studio 1) to give the impression of daylight in these studio-shot but supposedly external scenes.

The War Machines - S3-E10

Factual error: This story is set in London in 1966 - the Post Office Tower was completed in October 1965). July 12th 1966 was a Saturday, not a Monday.

The War Machines - S3-E10

Factual error: The story "The War Machines" is (probably) set in London in July 1966. At the time, England, and more specifically London, was hosting the F.I.F.A. World Cup Soccer Tournament. But you wouldn't know it from watching this Doctor Who story... Sir Charles Summers mentions July 12th (1966), which was the day after England played Uruguay at Wembley and the day before Mexico played France. The other matches involving those four were played in London during the time the events of "The War Machines" are supposed to take place, but no mention is made of the fact, there are no foreign football supporters roaming the streets and no flags or posters on display. Did the story take place in an "alternate reality" London of July 1966?

The War Machines - S3-E10

Plot hole: It is highly unlikely that the discovery of a dead down-and-out's body in an empty warehouse would be reported in a national newspaper, especially as the discovery had to have been made when the newspapers were already being printed.

The Smugglers - S4-E1

Continuity mistake: The rhyme the Doctor recites in episode 3 is different from the original rhyme heard in episode 1. (Apparently, the Doctor [William Hartnell] forgot his lines in episode 3, when he came to the point of reciting the rhyme. So he just improvised what he thought they were, rather than what had been scripted).

The Tenth Planet - S4-E2

Factual error: During every outdoor scene in Antarctica, heavy blizzards are shown raging constantly. In reality, such blizzards are extremely rare at the South Pole, thanks to the almost total absence of precipitation Antarctica is effectively a desert, as the air is very dry: with very little moisture in the air, rain or snow is almost impossible.

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 Power of the Daleks - S4-E3

Revealing mistake: The Daleks that appear in this and other Doctor Who stories were rather expensive, so some ingenuity was required to make the small number available look like they were more than they were. Tricks employed in "The Power of the Daleks" included making four Daleks look like an army by having them circle around the set a few times (note the delay between the fourth Dalek exiting and the "fifth" Dalek entering), and the blatant use of photographic blow-ups in place of "real" Daleks.

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Planet of Giants - S2-E1

Trivia: This Doctor Who story was originally scripted and produced as a four-episode story, but, just two weeks before transmission, upon viewing the story, co-creators Sydney Newman and Donald Wilson felt that the final two episodes (Episode 3, 'Crisis'; and Episode 4, 'The Urge to Live') should be combined into a single episode. The new 'condensed' episode incorporated the opening titles of 'Crisis' with the closing credits of 'The Urge to Live'.

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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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