Doctor Who
Doctor Who mistake picture

Inferno - S7-E4

Continuity mistake: In episode 1, when the Doctor opens the garage doors with his 'door handle', note the two men in the background, the position of the car behind him and the white pillar. In the next shot, the men and pillar disappear and the car moves to a different spot. In the shot after that, the tanker truck is now parked in front of a pillar. You can see near the beginning of episode 3 that there are two entirely different buildings that the tanker had been filmed in front of. (00:14:25)

Daz

The Ambassadors of Death - S7-E3

Continuity mistake: There are a handful of similar continuity errors, but one that stands out in particular occurs at the end of Episode 1. The Doctor and Liz go into the lab and Taltalian steps out from behind the door wearing glasses and brandishing a gun. However, in the recap at the start of episode 2 he isn't wearing glasses and moves differently.

enter_a_uh

Genesis of the Daleks - S12-E4

Continuity mistake: In episode 6, when the lead Dalek is saying 'Pity? I have no understanding of the word' the lights on the top of its dome stop working. They start working again in the following shot. (00:21:00)

Daz

The Sea Devils: Episode Two - S9-E10

Continuity mistake: In episodes 2 and 3, watch the clock on the wall in the Master's quarters. When the Master pulls a gun on the Doctor and the Doctor quickly pulls the door shut, the clock shows ten minutes to three. In the next episode, after the swordfight is over and the Doctor is being led out by the guards, the clock now shows approximately eight minutes after twelve.

The Claws of Axos - S8-E3

Continuity mistake: As the Master escapes from Axos, he kills the UNIT soldier standing guard outside, whose beret falls off as he slumps to the ground. Cut to the Master standing over the corpse, and the missing beret instantly replaces itself on the head of the corpse.

Matty W

The Daemons - S8-E5

Continuity mistake: After completing the third summoning ritual, the Master turns towards the spot where Azal is about to appear. He has his arms lowered and Jo is stood to his left. In the next shot his arms are up, and Jo has moved to being in front of him.

DaveJB

Genesis of the Daleks - S12-E4

Continuity mistake: When Sarah falls from the scaffolding, a plank of wood saves her from death. Trouble is, she fell a foot from the outside of the scaffolding and most of the plank was inside the scaffolding, therefore her feet would have hit it and she could only have landed with her head pointing inwards. But when we see her, her head is pointing outwards. (00:01:25)

Daz

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).

Robot - S12-E1

Continuity mistake: At one point in the story, the Doctor hurriedly types out a letter to leave for the Brigadier and Sarah Jane, and pins it to the TARDIS. Later when Sarah Jane reads the note, you can see it's been handwritten.

Doctor Who mistake picture

The Caves of Androzani - S21-E6

Continuity mistake: When the Doctor and Peri first land on Androzani, mountains are seen in the background. They disappear when Peri picks up the silica. A couple of shots later, they're back. (This mistake was mentioned on the DVD commentary; the mountain effect was left out for financial reasons).

Daz

The Space Museum - S2-E7

Continuity mistake: In episode one, Vicki passes her hand through a museum display, making the point that the crew cannot interact with their environment. A moment later, she bumps into a statue, making it wobble.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs - S11-E2

Continuity mistake: In episode 3, Sarah is hit on the head by debris knocked loose by the escaping dinosaur. It hits her on the back of her head or shoulders - but the later bruises and scratches are on her forehead.

The Curse of Fenric - S26-E3

Continuity mistake: Near the end of episode 4 of "The Curse of Fenric", when Ace and the Doctor run out of the exploding bunker, the Doctor stumbles in the mud and puts his hand out to stop himself falling, getting mud all over it. The Doctor even stops to look at his muddied hand, in an almost symbolic gesture. Then the director goes in for the close-ups with the Doctor and Ace, and when the Doctor puts his hand up to rub Ace's nose (same hand), it's perfectly clean.

The Robots of Death - S14-E5

Continuity mistake: From time to time in episode four, the "frozen" robots on the command deck can be seen to wobble - the most noticeable is when SV7 is threatening Uvanov over the communicator.

More mistakes in Doctor Who

Terror of the Zygons - S13-E1

The Doctor: You can't rule the world in hiding. You've got to come out on the balcony sometimes and wave a tentacle, if you pardon the expression.

More quotes from Doctor Who

Planet of the Spiders - S11-E5

Trivia: The first thing the Third Doctor does on-screen is collapse out of the TARDIS, which is also the last thing he does in that incarnation.

More trivia for Doctor Who

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

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.