Doctor Who

Daleks in Manhattan (1) - S3-E4

Plot hole: The guy working for the Daleks offers the homeless men in Hooverville a dollar a day to go into the sewer because the Daleks need more people. Most of the people refused and one called it slave wages. If they were not getting paid until they came back, and since the Daleks were planning on experimenting on them, the people weren't going to come back; why not offer them a large amount of money big enough to entice them but small enough not to be suspicious?

Doctor Who mistake picture

Evolution of the Daleks (2) - S3-E5

Revealing mistake: When Dalek Sec picks up the remains of the radio and turns it in his hands, the "Hamilton" label on the front of the radio is written backwards, indicating that the shot has been flipped horizontally. (00:05:00)

Evolution of the Daleks (2) - S3-E5

Continuity mistake: After the Doctor slips Martha the psychic paper, when he and the Daleks leave, Martha is shown bringing her hand close to her body and opening the wallet with the paper. In the close up, she repeats the two actions. (00:12:05)

Doctor Who mistake picture

Evolution of the Daleks (2) - S3-E5

Continuity mistake: When Martha is searching for how the Daleks changed the design of the Empire State Building, she is examining the plans for the top of the tower. In the first shot where the new plans are visible, the upper right shows a more detailed picture of a plate of Dalekanium. Seconds later, when we can see the new plans again, it's the same side view but the enlarged picture of the plate with the Dalek bumps is gone. These are still the same new plans (the old plans are on her right) and there was no time or reason for Martha to take another page. (00:24:40)

Evolution of the Daleks (2) - S3-E5

Other mistake: After the hybrid Dalek Sec explains the Daleks' plan to harness the power of a solar flare to the Doctor, when the Doctor asks how many minutes until the flare arrives, Sec says it's in 11 minutes. A fair amount of action and backstabbing later, when the Doctor and Laszlo arrive at the top floor of the Empire State Building and after the Daleks take back control of the elevator, the Doctor says that the solar flare arrives in 6 minutes. It is a considerable stretch for everything that happens between those two moments to take place in only five minutes.

The Lazarus Experiment - S3-E6

Continuity mistake: When Martha compares the Doctor's tuxedo to James Bond, he's adjusting the bowtie. The position of his hand changes between the wide shot and the close-up as he responds, "James Bond? Really." (00:04:25)

The Lazarus Experiment - S3-E6

Continuity mistake: After Martha hugs her mother, when Francine asks what the occasion is and Martha responds that she's just pleased to see her, in a shot facing Francine she has her right hand on the side of Martha's head. In the next shot, facing Martha, Francine is moving her hand to the position it was in the previous shot. (00:06:15)

Doctor Who mistake picture

The Lazarus Experiment - S3-E6

Continuity mistake: After Lazarus emerges from the pod, when he announces himself to the crowd, in a wide shot, his arms are lowered, but in a close-up immediately afterwards his arms are raised. (00:09:15)

The Lazarus Experiment - S3-E6

Continuity mistake: During the reception, the newly rejuvenated Lazarus takes a tray of hors d'oeuvres from a waiter and starts eating them while talking to Lady Thaw, just as the Doctor and Martha walk up. Later in the conversation, just as Lazarus says to the Doctor that what happened inside the capsule was exactly what was supposed to, the tray vanishes. (00:11:10)

The Lazarus Experiment - S3-E6

Continuity mistake: When Lazarus begins transforming into the giant scorpion monster the first time, he's holding a tumbler of alcohol. When he drops to the floor as Lady Thaw asks what's wrong, the glass has vanished. (00:15:20)

The Lazarus Experiment - S3-E6

Continuity mistake: When Francine calls Tish over to ask her if she's seen Martha and the Doctor anywhere, Leo is taking a drink from a nearly-empty glass of champagne. When Leo is next seen on camera, as Francine asks Tish if Martha had ever mentioned the Doctor to her before, he's drinking from a much fuller glass of champagne. (00:16:00)

The Lazarus Experiment - S3-E6

Revealing mistake: When the Doctor and Martha get out of the elevator and enter the reception room in search of Lazarus, they pass by the string quartet. The violinist and cellist are only miming the actions of playing, as their bows aren't actually touching the strings of their instruments. (00:18:05)

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

Chosen answer: The Master knows that deep down, he deserves death for the crimes that he's committed throughout his life, and since he regards The Doctor as his arch-foe, he expects it to be at his hands. The fact that The Doctor is still willing to forgive him for all of his crimes hurts him more deeply than death would.

Captain Defenestrator

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.