Best drama TV factual errors of 2013

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Peaky Blinders picture

The Noose - S4-E1

Factual error: It's Christmas Eve 1925. Tommy and his son leave a mince pie for 'Santa and Rudolph', but there was no reindeer called Rudolph until the 1930s. The character's author hadn't even graduated by 1925, and only began writing a book about a red-nosed reindeer in 1939.

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Orange Is the New Black picture

Friends in Low Places - S4-E8

Factual error: Tiffany asks a guard where he would go if he could travel back in time. He says he would return to 1999 to attend a Judas Priest concert he missed. He says he wasn't able to get close to Rob Halford. The problem is Rob Halford was not the lead singer of Judas Priest in 1999. Tim 'Ripper' Owens was.

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Vikings picture

Burial of the Dead - S1-E6

Factual error: The snakes in the King of England's pit are all constrictors. They do not have venom and are too small to see a human as prey, yet they show a man dying from a bite by one of these snakes.

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The Fall picture

Strangler - S2-E4

Factual error: When printing the image of the painting, Stella uses the printer driver "Microsoft XPS Document Writer" - which would save the output to a file. However, she still gets a printout from the printer in the office. (00:02:30)

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Microsoft XPS Document Writer creates a document in XPS format then prints said document. I use it at work. It works in the same way as "print to PDF".

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Agents of SHIELD picture

Purpose in the Machine - S3-E2

Factual error: When examining the sand, Bobbi states "According to carbon dating..." Fitz finishes by saying "It's a billion years older than the earth." However, carbon dating is only good at determining the age of something to about 60,000 years old. The only thing carbon dating could tell about the sand is that it is 60,000 years old or older. It certainly couldn't determine that the sand was 5 billion years old.

Guy

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House of Cards picture

Chapter 35 - S3-E9

Factual error: When Doug Stamper sits down at his laptop and throws the contents of his cup at the screen, the image immediately freezes and distorts. This would not happen so quickly in a real world event. It may eventually happen but not instantaneously. (00:23:10)

Mike Walker

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Full Circle picture

Houserman & D'andres - S3-E3

Factual error: The Secret Service Special Agent identifies himself to Mr. Houserman as a Treasury Department Agent in the employ of the United States Secret Service. After 9/11, the US Secret Service was moved from the Treasury Department to the Department of Homeland Security. (00:05:00)

Snag.1

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Granite Flats picture

Season 1 generally

Factual error: The events of the first season take place in 1962, however, the JAG lawyer representing Sergeant Jenkins wears the Vietnam Service ribbon, authorized in 1965, and the Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, authorized in 1964.

goofyfoot

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Reign picture

Show generally

Factual error: Somewhere in season one Mary refers to Germany. But since this was set in the 16th century it would've been Prussia.

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Ray Donovan picture

Yo Soy Capitan - S2-E1

Factual error: Terry calls Frances but he only dials 5 numbers. The minimum phone number especially in Los Angeles is 7 digits. (00:16:55)

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Bonnie and Clyde picture

Night Two - S1-E2

Factual error: In the scene where Bonnie gives Clyde the unloaded pistol through the jail bars, that gun was not manufactured until after 1972. It is a Bauer .25 ACP semi-automatic stainless steel pistol. Bonnie and Clyde's reign of lawlessness ranged from 1931 to 1934.

blooiris

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Atlantis picture

The Queen Must Die - S2-E12

Factual error: In the last minutes, the show looks forward to future challenges, in effect a preview of the never-made 3rd series. The oracle says they must find "the golden fleece, woven long ago by the Stygian witches." But the golden fleece, or indeed any fleece, is not a woven fabric. (Today's fleece is a modern invention).

Spiny Norman

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The Following picture

Pilot - S1-E1

Factual error: The FBI agent introduces himself and says "Mike Weston - I did my thesis on Joe Carol at the academy." FBI agents are required to have a university degree, but they don't write thesis' at the academy. A person is either in a university or at Quantico getting trained. They are not writing papers at Quantico. They need the degree beforehand to get in. (00:10:30 - 00:11:30)

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