Doctor Who

Doctor Who (1963)

7 mistakes in City of Death - chronological order

(3 votes)

City of Death - S17-E2

Plot hole: In episode 4, watch what Romana does to Professor Kerensky's time machine in order to make it work. It is surprising that the time machine works at all, considering she is supposed to be in Paris at the time. Romana wires up the time machine to a British (i.e. 3-pin 240 volts) electric plug instead of a "continental" 3-pin 110 volt plug.

City of Death - S17-E2

Plot hole: The sketch of Romana is different when it's seen outside the café from the one seen inside the café (and just who's doing the sketch, and why?).

City of Death - S17-E2

Revealing mistake: In episode 2, when Scaroth locks the Doctor, Romana and Duggan in the basement dungeon, and Duggan lights the lamp, notice that Tom Baker is standing between that lamp and the actual stage light used to brighten the scene. So, as the lamp is lit in front of him, Tom Baker's BACK (and not his front) glows bright under the increased illumination.

City of Death - S17-E2

Continuity mistake: When the Count's henchmen come into the café to get the Doctor, Romana and Duggan, they usher them all out at gunpoint. When you see them in the location filming in Paris, Duggan's not there...but back at the Count's place (in the studio in London) he's reappeared.

City of Death - S17-E2

Revealing mistake: In episode one, Scaroth's 'Jagaroth skin' on his wrist flaps about. Either that's a badly fitting piece of costume...or he's suffering from severely peeling skin.

City of Death - S17-E2

Plot hole: The Atlantic Ocean didn't exist in Early Devonian times (c.400 million years ago), so Scaroth's ship could not have been where the Doctor claimed. The Atlantic was formed when Europe and Africa separated from North America around 160 million years ago and is still growing. What is now the sea-bed was once covered up by several miles of Continental Shelf. The Early Devonian landscape would have been far from barren as plantlife was well established by then. So, either the Doctor's theory that Scaroth's exploding ship caused the creation of life on Earth is wrong, or it was much earlier than he said.

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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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