Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: When the host of the conch game says "One condition; it must include..." he has his hand open, left one off the conch, and in the next shot both are on the item. (00:01:10)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: Florence states unequivocally that she does not want the plant next to her; she says it with a hand on her hip, which becomes a hand in mid-air in the next shot. (00:04:55)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: Humphrey pulls out of the padded envelope a roll of "sticky tape." In the reverse shot, the slip of paper he scribbles on sticks out considerably more than before. (00:06:55)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: JP arrives at the station holding the evidence bag with the gun. When he gives it to Florence, the action is repeated in two shots, and the gun lies in the evidence bag in a position that mirrors the initial one. (00:15:25)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: During the conversation when Humphrey refuses to declare the case closed, Kris Marshall's left arm points at different heights or is just under his chin, changing at every cut. (00:19:40)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: At Catherine's, Goodman witnesses the sister of the victim being drunk and disorderly. He leans with his arm on the back of the chair to get a better view, but blatantly in the reverse shot he also raises his hand to rest his chin on it - all gone when we get back to the original angle. (00:20:50)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: A drunk Izzy Cartwright puts her hands all over DI Goodman's face. She sobs with Goodman's head between her hands, index and middle finger in front of the ear - next shot and she is holding that pose but now in the preauricular position we have only the index. (00:21:15)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: Impervious to hangovers as usual, DI Goodman is back at work in the morning. During the scene, DS Florence Cassell's hair is messy when the camera is to her right staring at Dwayne, way more neat in the shots of the room with the camera to her left. (00:21:50)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: Dwayne chickens out of the team-building exercise and the phone rings. Goodman puts momentarily his hands to his hips but leaves instantly the position letting the jacket loose - yet at the cut with everyone trying to storm back in saying "I'll get it", he has still his hands on the hips, keeping the jacket pulled back. (00:22:45)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: After the failed team-building exercise, news from the pathologist reopen the case. In the close-up of Danny John-Jules saying "Great...", he has his hands on his hips, but in the rest of the sequence his arms are along his sides. (00:23:20)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: Humphrey is rewriting the timeline of the murder (s); he adds 12 AM on the board, and the green line is touching the red number two. That's in the wide angles, because in close-up when he adds "Suffucated", the line is shorter and does not touch the hour anymore. But the mistake does not end here; when he walks away after this close-up, you can see that the time written on board is back to "3 AM", the wrong one. (00:24:20)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: There are two separate scenes in a market area. In the first, Dwayne is working his special islander charm and explains to JP in person and to DI Goodman on phone something about an altercation the victim had with the tour guide Bill Williams. They go from the station to his impounded office and interview him. Then they reach Dwayne and JP back at the market. Many minutes must have passed then, and yet in both scenes there are always the same extras (guy with a red and white striped tee, for instance) as passersby. (00:25:50 - 00:28:05)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: The clothing on Stuart Howe's shoulder is laid out differently between the different angles - as shown by the red lining on display or not. (00:33:30)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: When Humphrey apologizes for interrupting, he says it's an annoying habit of his - he says that with a cut in the middle of sentence that is not linked well at all - he has his hand up to his mouth all of a sudden, and his lips are not moving. (00:38:25)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: Humphrey sits amongst the suspects for the denouement. When he says "Trust no-one", Florence behind him has both hands joined - but she was in a different position, grabbing her wrist, in the previous shots. (00:39:30)
Episode #4.7 - S4-E7
Continuity mistake: The first part of Humphrey's exposition of the facts is about Dominic Claydon's apparent attempted murder. He hangs his head low in shame. At the cut, the pose became an instant facepalm. (00:39:55)
Episode #4.8 - S4-E8
Continuity mistake: Humphrey knocks over the flower pot. Florence reacts in one shot from behind raising her arm, but the arm is down again in the instant reverse. (00:00:50)
Episode #4.8 - S4-E8
Continuity mistake: Everyone is in the cell examining the corpse. The prison guard nods when Dwayne says that they did a complete sweep of the courthouse; his arms are folded. Next shot, his arms are down his sides, and only a second later he folds them. (00:04:55)
Episode #4.8 - S4-E8
Continuity mistake: Goodman and Cassell are doing the whiteboard routine; when Humphrey asks about the 'refreshments', his marker is uncapped, while it has the lid in the shot before and after. (00:13:05)
Episode #4.8 - S4-E8
Continuity mistake: Inside Erol Dumas' kitchen, Florence holds the envelope with the money putting her fingers on the empty glove. During a quick cut on Humph though she suddenly wears the glove for the ending of the scene. (00:19:05)
Answer: There's probably no particular reason. Sets and props on long-running TV shows often change as needed and for various reasons throughout a series run.
raywest ★