Doctor Who

Pyramids of Mars - S13-E3

Visible crew/equipment: In episode four, after Marcus opens the second door in the pyramid (the one with the hidden switch), someone wearing a white shirt can be seen through the opening.

The Android Invasion - S13-E4

Revealing mistake: In order to save money filming the lift-off of Crayford's rocket from Oseidon, the producers decided to use stock footage of a Saturn 5 blast-off. Unfortunately, that meant the words "UNITED STATES" in large red lettering are seen on the side of the rocket...which is a little bit of a giveaway, especially as the rocket is supposed to be a BRITISH space probe.

The War Games - S6-E7

Plot hole: Despite being asked to memorise all the locations and war zone commanders, Zoe's photographic memory lets her down: her first words to the Mexican leader are 'Who are you?'.

The Robots of Death - S14-E5

Revealing mistake: Watch the scene where Uvanov sticks a Laserson probe into the head of one of the Vocs (V4) as it is strangling the Doctor. After he shoves the probe in, you can quite see the suit's helmet come away from the rest of the suit.

Matty W

The Moonbase - S4-E6

Audio problem: If you listen carefully to the soundtrack of part four of "The Moonbase", some 'chatter' and 'feedback' from the floor manager's headphones can be heard. (At the time this particular episode was recorded, there was just a one-week gap between recording Doctor Who and transmission, so there was no time available to re-record the episode, and this mistake had to be left in).

The Happiness Patrol - S25-E2

Revealing mistake: When Ace and Susan are sitting underneath the huge pipe about to be executed by the Fondant surprise, it's obvious that the actresses aren't sitting directly underneath the pipe, but slightly behind it.

The Invasion of Time - S15-E6

Plot hole: In the middle of chasing the Doctor, Stor abandons the idea of controlling Gallifrey in favour of destroying it for no readily apparent reason.

The Twin Dilemma - S21-E7

Audio problem: In episode 1, the Doctor hits something on the central console (not the door control) and walks towards the door. The door doesn't open, but the sound of the door opening is still heard.

The Talons of Weng-Chiang - S14-E6

Continuity mistake: Magnus Greel puts Leela in the distillation chamber and switches it on. Cue red lights, special effects, and Leela writhing about. Then the Doctor arrives and throws a battle-axe into the works. Sparks fly, and the machine stops, presumably broken. Later, however, when Greel is pushed into the chamber, it turns on and does its thing just as if nothing had happened to it. Oh, and the axe thrown earlier disappears too.

The Daleks - S1-E2

Continuity mistake: The Dalek the crew ambush in episode three has a magnetic block in its sucker and, after the attack, a mud-covered eyestalk. At the beginning of episode four, the eye-stalk is visibly clear of mud, yet is later seen plastered with mud once more.

The Keys of Marinus - S1-E5

Continuity mistake: In episode one, Barbara activates her travel dial only seconds before the others. But in episode two, she's been at Morphoton for quite some time - long enough to change clothes, pick fabrics and get food.

The Daleks - S1-E2

Revealing mistake: When the Thals are using sunlight to blind the Dalek cameras in Episode Six, wide shots of the Dalek city show it moving back and forth from bad matte combination.

The Wheel in Space - S5-E7

Factual error: It is claimed that a meteor shower has been diverted towards the Wheel by a star in M13 (the Hercules Cluster) going nova. As M13 is a globular cluster in the galactic halo, some 34,000 light years away from Earth, it would have to be one almighty nova to affect the course of a meteor shower in our solar system - due to the countless gravitational forces between M13 and the plane of the Milky Way - and been caused at least 34,000 years before the time of the story.

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 Doctor: This is a situation that requires tact and finesse. Fortunately, I am blessed with both.

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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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