Doctor Who

Doctor Who (1963)

15 mistakes in season 4 - chronological order

(3 votes)

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.

The Underwater Menace - S4-E5

Continuity mistake: In Episode 1, the TARDIS crew pass out from the change in pressure as they descend into the Earth. However, at the end of episode four, they climb out on foot and suffer no ill effects.

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 Moonbase - S4-E6

Audio problem: In part 4, when the Cybermen are outside The Moonbase controlling the workers, the mouth of the radio operator does not move when he is speaking to them. Furthermore, a few of the Cybermen's mouths outside The Moonbase are stuck open when they have no dialogue.

The Evil of the Daleks - S4-E9

Continuity mistake: (Animated version). Waterfield puts down the photo of the Doctor on his desk but the next time we see his desk the photo is no longer there and then later it's back on the desk again, without Waterfield having moved it.

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 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'.

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

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