Doctor Who

The Runaway Bride - S3-E14

Character mistake: When the Doctor is taking Donna to 4.6 billion BC to watch the formation of the Earth, he says that it is the furthest back the TARDIS has ever been. But in the 5th Doctor episode "Castrovalva", the TARDIS drifted to 13.2 billion BC and the formation of the galaxy. (00:40:35)

Josman

Utopia (1) - S3-E11

Character mistake: When the Futurekind spy starts sabotaging the silo's systems, and Chantho notes that they're losing power, she says, "We're losing power-tho!" - forgetting the "Chan-" prefix that she starts anything she says with, in order to not swear by her species' standards. (00:27:00)

42 - S3-E7

Character mistake: The question to unlock one of the doors asks for the next number in the sequence 313, 331, 367. The Doctor gives the answer as 379 with a convoluted (albeit correct) explanation of happy primes, but there are much simpler solutions. The difference between the first and second numbers is 18 and the difference between the second and third is 36 (which is 2 x 18), suggesting that the difference between the third number and the next could be either 54 (= 3 x 18), giving 421 as the next number, or 72 (= 2 x 36), giving 439. It's likely that the Doctor would see that the answer is ambiguous, and yet he confidently states that the most complicated answer is correct. (00:08:45 - 00:09:15)

paolog

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

Suggested correction: If you know what a happy prime is, like the Doctor does, it might be simpler than your idea because you gave 2 options - 421 and 439. The idea of a pattern is there should be only one answer that fits, which would be the case if they're all happy primes.

Good point, except as I have mentioned, there are other answers that fit.

paolog

But the sequence of happy primes is recognized. Using your logic, what would be the preceding numbers?

Bishop73

The Shakespeare Code - S3-E2

Character mistake: After the Carrionites kill Lynley, the Master of the Revels, by using the doll to make him drown on dry land, the Doctor says, while examining the body, that he's never seen a death like it. In the Third Doctor serial "The Mind of Evil", involving a monster that could make people relive their worst fears, a character died in exactly that fashion. (00:13:10)

More mistakes in Doctor Who

The Satan Pit (2) - S2-E12

Doctor: So, that's the trap. Or the test or the final judgment, I don't know. But if I kill you, I kill her. Except that implies, in this big grand scheme of Gods and Devils, that she's just a victim. But I've seen a lot of this universe. I've seen fake gods and bad gods and demi-gods and would-be gods - out of all that - out of that whole pantheon - if I believe in one thing... Just one thing... I believe in her.

More quotes from Doctor Who

Season 2 generally

Trivia: "Torchwood" is an anagram for Doctor Who. Russell T Davies came up with it during the filming of Series 1 to label the tapes in order to prevent theft and potential leakage, and decided to use the name in the show proper.

More trivia for Doctor Who

Season 1 generally

Question: 1. Why was Rose not allowed to touch her past self without creating a paradox and causing those creatures to appear and eat everyone, but Amy was allowed to touch her younger self without any repercussions? 2. Why was Rose able to have the time vortex in her head for a few minutes and it only knocked her unconscious whereas the Doctor had it inside him for about 30 seconds and it basically killed him and caused his regeneration?

strikeand

Chosen answer: 1) When Stephen Moffat took over he ignored a lot of what had been developed before (there is not in-universe answer). 2) It would have killed Rose, so the Doctor absorbed the energy. His body regenerated before the energy could do a significant amount of damage that would prevent regeneration.

More questions & answers from Doctor Who

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.