Factual error: The Police motorcycle in front of the Olympic runner is an S registration, meaning it was registered in 1998. The episode is set in 2012, and there is no way the Police would have such an old vehicle on active duty.
The Doctor Dances (2) - S1-E10
Factual error: Look closely at some of the freight wagons at 'Limehouse Green' railway station: several of them appear to have 'British Rail Freightliner' livery. This episode is set in 1941, but British Rail did not exist until 1948, and the Freightliner Division did not exist until the 1980s.
Factual error: A reflection of a full Moon is shown near the end. When Earth is viewed from the Moon earlier, over half of it is illuminated by the Sun. For it to be full Moon, the entire Earth would have to be dark. In addition, the place where the hospital was transported to was dark, and not sunlit. (00:37:45)
Factual error: The Globe has (and had) 20 sides, not 14.
Factual error: The Koh-i-Noor, as depicted in this episode, looks absolutely nothing like the real diamond. The episode's gemstone is about the size of the palm of the Doctor's hand, and shaped in a stereotypical brilliant cut. The real Koh-i-Noor is much smaller and oval-shaped.
Factual error: The Viking village has tubs of electric eels in the boathouse, which prove instrumental to the plot as the power source of the makeshift electromagnet used to relieve several of the attacking aliens of their helmets. The problem is that the Vikings live somewhere in northern Europe, and this episode takes place in the 800s. Electric eels are native to the Amazon and Orinoco rivers of South America, which at this point in history no one in Europe knew existed.
The Sound of Drums (2) - S3-E12
Factual error: When they are running over the bridge, supposedly in London, you can see the Heddlu sign on the police station (Heddlu is Welsh for police). You can also see a Cardiff bus at the bus stop underneath.
Factual error: When the Immortality Gate is activated, there's a wide shot of Earth as the wave from the device goes around the planet. In another instance of a mistake made by a few previous Christmas specials, despite this taking place on Christmas Day, the North Pole is looking very, very sunny for what's supposed to be the dead of winter. (00:54:50)
Factual error: The establishing shot of Bedlam Hospital shows it with 18th-century neoclassical architecture, in an episode set in 1599, in the Elizabethan era. (00:23:20)
Factual error: Near the end of the episode, the full moon is shown in the daytime sky, well above the horizon. This is impossible, as any celestial body lit by the Sun has its full phase only when it is directly opposite the Sun; thus, a full Moon rises at sunset and sits high in the sky only during the night. For the Moon to be in the sky during the day as shown, it would have to be visibly of a phase other than full.
Suggested correction: The moon is not actually completely full. It's in a gibbous phase (opposite of a crescent), which can indeed be seen in the daytime.
Factual error: The rank insignia of the Soviet officers is completely inaccurate. The captain wears the epaulets of a captain first rank (captain) and the sleeve insignia of a captain second rank (commander). Lieutenant Stephashin wears the epaulets of a senior lieutenant and the sleeve insignia of a captain third rank (lieutenant-commander). The third officer wears the epaulets of a captain second rank and the sleeve insignia of a captain third rank.
The Bells of Saint John - S7-E8
Factual error: Clara determines the location of the enemy's base of operations: floor 65 of The Shard. However, there are multiple issues with this conclusion. Firstly, floor 65 is a residential property, not an office location; offices in The Shard occupy floors 2 through 28. Secondly, the view of 30 St Mary Axe from Miss Kizlet's window puts the office below 180m, the height of the latter building. This would mean the office must be below floor 50. Finally, when the Doctor rides his motorcycle up the side of the building, 30 St Mary Axe is again seen, this time significantly below his location, and on the wrong side of The Shard. Not only then does the office's height change, but also which side of The Shard it is on. (00:36:06 - 00:38:40)
Factual error: At the end, when the Doctor shows her companions the asteroid named for Rosa Parks, it's depicted in a dense asteroid field which looks absolutely nothing like the (very sparse) asteroid belt does in real life.
Factual error: When the shot zooms out from Earth across the Solar System before revealing the narrator, Jupiter and Saturn are shown. Although scaling is somewhat exaggerated, Saturn appears to be closer to the Sun than Jupiter, which it most definitely is not in real life. (00:57:57)
Factual error: Kandoka labour laws require companies like Kerblam! to have a minimum of 10% organic staff. The villain claims that, as a result, only 10% of humans are employed, at all. These are two completely different quantities: if 10% of the cars in one parking lot are blue, this doesn't indicate that 10% of all cars are painted blue, but that's effectively what the episode thinks. The fact that no-one else, including the Doctor, calls him on this further magnifies the mathematical error.
Factual error: During the rooftop scene, Donna checks her watch and says that it's half past three, or 3:30 PM. In London on December 24, that's roughly 45 minutes before sunset. However, not only is the angle of sunlight during this scene much higher than it should be for the date and time, the Sun proceeds to remain up for some time longer, including during the wedding reception and when the Doctor discovers the tunnel underneath H.C. Clements leads to below the Thames Barrier, even though it really ought to have set by then.
Factual error: After PC Forrest is killed by the Boneless, her nervous system is flattened and displayed on the wall, appearing as a mural. However, there are far too many nerves around where her liver would have been and not nearly enough around her brain.
Factual error: During the chase on the motorway, many deciduous trees sporting lush green leaves can be seen in the background, in sharp defiance of the fact that it's supposed to be Christmas Eve and their branches should be bare. In addition, despite having chosen to wear a sleeveless wedding dress, Donna is remarkably unbothered by the fact that it should be fairly brisk outside, probably somewhere around freezing.
Factual error: During the standoff after the Doctor forces Jex over the town's boundary line, Amy manages to make a revolver accidentally fire off twice in a row. Revolvers like that need to be cocked between each firing, which didn't happen the second time. (00:23:54)
The Vampires of Venice - S5-E6
Factual error: Isabella is a black girl living in 1580 Venice. So how is it that she has perfectly straight hair, when modern hair care products won't be invented for centuries?
Suggested correction: When the reflection of the full Moon is viewed it is night time several hours after we saw the Earth from the Moon.
Peter Wallace
Yeah, no, the phases of the Moon don't work like that. New Moon and Full Moon are two weeks apart. Since the Moon appears to be, judging by the appearance of the Earth, between New and either First or Last Quarter, it is impossible for a Full Moon to be visible later that night.