Doctor Who

Marco Polo - S1-E4

Factual error: "Peking" is mentioned several times in this story, but this is an anachronism - this story is set in the year 1289 when Peking (now called Beijing) was known as "Khan-balik".

100,000 BC - S1-E1

Revealing mistake: Susan is supposed to be running through a forest. It is painfully obvious that, in fact, she is simply running on the spot against a back-projected film, and the branches that hit her are simply studio stagehands, hiding just out of shot, hitting the actress with twigs.

Marco Polo - S1-E4

Other mistake: In episode seven, Kublai Khan refers to backgammon as a game of cards....obviously he's not an experienced backgammon player.

Doctor Who mistake picture

The Daleks - S1-E2

Visible crew/equipment: About 90 seconds into Episode Two, the shadow of the boom mic equipment moves across the wall, and crosses Ian's face and shoulder. (00:01:29)

100,000 BC - S1-E1

Continuity mistake: When Ian and Barbara enter the TARDIS for the first time, Susan operates the door switch. Later on, when the Doctor electrocutes Ian, he uses the exact same switch.

Matty W

The Keys of Marinus - S1-E5

Plot hole: Yartek tried to disguise himself as Arbitan by wearing Arbitan's robes and pulling the hood over his giant rubber head. Strangely enough, no-one seems to notice that "Arbitan" is now suddenly speaking with a completely different voice, and now has a two-foot-tall-head.

100,000 BC - S1-E1

Character mistake: When Ian is trying to escape from the TARDIS in episode 1, he says, "He closed the door from over there, I saw him." It was in fact Susan who closed the door.

Inside the Spaceship - S1-E3

Other mistake: William has a bit of a nightmare, completely throwing the others during one scene by saying the same line ("It's not very likely") twice, and fumbling the line "You knocked both Susan and I unconscious". He also omits the scripted explanation for the melted clocks.

Marco Polo - S1-E4

Continuity mistake: The caption slide at the end of episode two reads: 'Next Episode: The Cave of Five Hundred Eyes'. While the title slide comes up at the start of episode 3, it simply says "Five Hundred Eyes".

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Suggested correction: The original episode survives only as audio, so this mistake, if correct, must apply to one of the reconstructed versions (either telesnaps or animation), which probably therefore needs specifying.

The Daleks - S1-E2

Continuity mistake: In episode three, Temossus claims the Thals have been travelling for four years. But in episode five, Ganatus claims it is one year.

The Daleks - S1-E2

Revealing mistake: In episode one, when Ian notices the breeze, a wide shot of the forest shows the background dropcloth is moving. (00:02:10)

The Daleks - S1-E2

Revealing mistake: The supposedly heavy statue Ian drops down the lift to destroy the pursuing Dalek in episode four wobbles when he first touches it.

The Daleks - S1-E2

Revealing mistake: In the Dalek city, it is unfortunately obvious that the "tunnels" behind the actors are just photographic blow-ups, as you can see the bottom of the wall meeting with the floor.

100,000 BC - S1-E1

Visible crew/equipment: The boom mic makes an quick appearance about 18 minutes into episode one. It is in the upper left corner when the camera switches from a close up of the Doctor and Susan to a medium shot of all four characters.

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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Show generally

Question: In which season and episode is Gallifrey destroyed, or is it just a shocking new plot development for the new series?

Answer: It was never destroyed on-screen; it was intact at the end of the TV movie, and destroyed by the start of the 2005 series. It was destroyed in the novel "The Ancestor Cell," but in a completely different manner to what happened in the series.

DaveJB

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