Marco Polo - S1-E4
Factual error: The story is set in 1289, when Marco Polo was anxious to leave China against Kublai Khan's wishes, so what's Polo doing on the Pamir Plateau?
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".
Remembrance of the Daleks - S25-E1
Factual error: The events depicted are supposed to have taken place at the time of the broadcast of the first Doctor Who story... Saturday 23rd November 1963 at 5:15pm. However, the non-wintry weather and the bright evenings don't fit late November/early December.
Factual error: It is claimed that a meteor shower has been diverted towards the Wheel by a star in M13 (the Hercules Cluster) going nova. As M13 is a globular cluster in the galactic halo, some 34,000 light years away from Earth, it would have to be one almighty nova to affect the course of a meteor shower in our solar system - due to the countless gravitational forces between M13 and the plane of the Milky Way - and been caused at least 34,000 years before the time of the story.
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.
Destiny of the Daleks - S17-E1
Factual error: Davros comments that, between them, The Daleks are carrying half a megaton of explosives - in other words, roughly twenty-five times more explosive force than the Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombs. An explosion of that size should cause enormous destruction (vaporizing everything within roughly two kilometers), yet when the Doctor detonates them they explode with about as much power as a small stick of dynamite each.
Factual error: One of the characters in this story is called "Lord Ravensworth." Yet the story is set in 1813, and Sir Henry Liddell was not ennobled and raised to the Peerage to become Lord Ravensworth until 1821 (eight years later).
The Romans - S2-E4
Factual error: Nero seems to be middle-aged, but the historical Nero was 27 at the time Rome burned.
The Dalek Invasion of Earth - S2-E2
Factual error: The Doctor states that The Daleks invaded Earth because it is the only planet with a magnetic core. In fact, every planet in the solar system has a magnetic core.
Factual error: The story "The War Machines" is (probably) set in London in July 1966. At the time, England, and more specifically London, was hosting the F.I.F.A. World Cup Soccer Tournament. But you wouldn't know it from watching this Doctor Who story... Sir Charles Summers mentions July 12th (1966), which was the day after England played Uruguay at Wembley and the day before Mexico played France. The other matches involving those four were played in London during the time the events of "The War Machines" are supposed to take place, but no mention is made of the fact, there are no foreign football supporters roaming the streets and no flags or posters on display. Did the story take place in an "alternate reality" London of July 1966?
Earthshock - S19-E6
Factual error: As the spaceship approaches the Earth of 65 million years ago, the Earth looks very much like the present day one. Hasn't anyone heard of "continental drift"? The Earth's land masses of 65 million years ago were not where they are now. (This has been fixed on the DVD)
Factual error: Titan is depicted as a Moon-like landscape with no atmosphere. In actual fact, Titan has a nitrogen/argon atmosphere denser than Earth's, and a reddish-orange sky. This was detected almost thirty years before "The Invisible Enemy" was made, so somebody slipped up in doing their research.
Factual error: This story is set in London in 1966 - the Post Office Tower was completed in October 1965). July 12th 1966 was a Saturday, not a Monday.
The Caves of Androzani - S21-E6
Factual error: When the Doctor is trying to land the ship, from the video screen it appears that they are moving towards the planet way too fast to make such a safe and quick landing. Also, the ship doesn't seem to have even penetrated the planet's atmosphere yet it lands seconds later.
Factual error: The story is set in 1943. Jean and Phyllis shouldn't readily know who Jane Russell is, as she didn't become famous until her debut film The Outlaw was a box-office hit after the war, three years later. (Although The Outlaw originally had a limited release in the US [but not the UK] in 1943, it was quickly withdrawn by the censors and not released widely until 1946.) True, they could have read about this film in a newspaper or magazine, but considering the strict wartime censorship then in force, it is unlikely.
Factual error: In 1638, a mathematician calculates that the asteroid will return in 350 years time, on the 23rd of November 1988. But in 1752, Britain's calendar was moved forward 11 days so that it matched with that of the Vatican. This means the asteroid would return on 4th December, so everything that is supposed to happen in this story after 1752 is 11 days out.
Factual error: There are currently well over 700 different native Australian languages, and undoubtedly many more have been extinct for centuries. The chances of a 20th Century European-Australian such as Tegan being able to understand a native Australian language from around 35,000 years ago are so astronomical it is beyond belief.
Earthshock - S19-E6
Factual error: The Cybermen sets four explosive charges around the outside of the door, yet only the middle part of the door is damaged...
The Caves of Androzani - S21-E6
Factual error: Sharaz Jek's monitor that displays the tunnels and his androids is inaccurate. The white blobs are, as we learn later, supposed to represent his androids. He tells the Doctor that the green area is held by the army, yet on the screen the green area is populated by androids, so they could not have had control.
Factual error: While gravitational forces can be "balanced" between planets at very specific points, the notion of balancing them completely to cancel each other out everywhere, as depicted in the Captain's trophy room, is nonsense.
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