FIXING CONTINUITY GLITCHES: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED AT THE END OF THE KEY TO TIME?

PART 1: WHAT THE FANS THINK...



So I was working on my Progressive Doctors essay on the Fourth Doctor when I reached the Key to Time season and realized an interesting sidebar was presenting itself. It had been some time since I've tried to deal with a Continuity Glitch and a huge one was suddenly staring me in the face. Sufferer of ADHD that I am, I set aside my Progressive Doctors essay to tackle it.


PRESENTING THE PROBLEM:

Graham Williams does something very bold with Season 16. In many ways, he should be applauded for it. His Key To Time plotline is the show's first true attempt at an "umbrella season" - as they were called back then. Having a season that tells one long story (albeit, a story broken down into subsections) is a narrative style that has become quite commonplace in modern-day television. But The Key To Time was shot way back in the 70s. So we should be massively impressed with how far ahead of his time Mister Williams is.

So why don't we sing more praise for Season 16? Could it be that, as advanced of a premise as it was, The Key to Time saga does not end on the best of notes?

Armageddon Factor, in general, tries just a bit too hard to be high comedy. Especially when you consider that it is wrapping up a season-long storyline. It should be taking itself a bit more seriously to create a better sense of epic scale. Instead, it's more of just a goofy little runaround with a few rather clever moments.

But those last few minutes of the tale are what really disappoints. Having spent a whole season assembling the Key to Time, the Doctor just breaks it all apart and scatters the segments back across the cosmos. While no one actually used the term "WTF?" back in 1976, that was probably the general sentiment of the audience as the closing credits began to roll...

To the casual viewer, that finale was probably a bit of a letdown. But to the true hardcores who stay up late at night wondering what exactly gas in a Praxis range might  be, the ending to The Key to Time was genuinely baffling. During the opening minutes of The Ribos Operation, the White Guardian goes to great expository lengths to explain to the Doctor that the Universe has reached a critical point. That the Key to Time is needed to bring the entire cosmos to a standstill so he can fix things. If the Doctor doesn't retrieve the Key and give it to him, then all of Time and Space will plunge into eternal darkness and chaos. Also, it is very important that the Black Guardian doesn't get his hands on it. He will use the Key for evil purposes.

This is the central premise of the entire Key to Time season: Find the key. Give it to the White Guardian so he can stop the Universe from collapsing. Make sure the Black Guardian doesn't get it.

So the Doctor splitting the Key back up fulfills part of that mission. The Black Guardian doesn't end up getting his dirty little mitts on it. That's great. But what about the other stuff? All of Time and Space was in trouble - the White Guardian explicitly stated that right at the beginning of the saga. Only by giving the Key to Time to him could this problem be rectified. But that never happens. So why didn't the Universe go to complete and utter crap when the Doctor scattered the segments to the Four Winds (or, maybe, we should say Six Winds)?

The truthful answer was, more than likely, that the writers and the script editor should have been paying better attention to things. But that's hardly a fun answer, now, is it? So let's start by looking at a few interesting theories that explain away this somewhat huge discrepancy. In the second part of this essay, we'll look at my own ideas on the matter.

SOME POPULAR THEORIES....

THEORY #1: THE WHITE GUARDIAN DID HIS THING WHILE THE DOCTOR FROZE TIME

Of the different theories that I've heard, this one seems the most feasible. The basic premise is that during that brief moment in Part 4 of Armageddon Factor where the Doctor and Romana actually had the Key to Time fully working, the White Guardian was able to make whatever adjustments needed to be made to the Universe. Not only are the actual operators of the Key to Time unaffected by its influence while it's in operation, but Guardians are above its influence, too. Unbeknownst to the Doctor and Romana (and the viewing audience), when they put that fake piece in place and actually had all of Time frozen, the White Guardian did what he needed to do to restore the balance of the Universe.

What's nicest about this theory, of course, is that it makes the Quest for the Key to Time complete. The Doctor did truly accomplish his mission and save the Universe rather than just spend a season of the show assembling the segments for a brief moment only to break them up again. Basically, it means there was an actual point to Season 16 rather than making it a bit of a silly runaround that came to nothing.

There is, of course, one huge hole to this theory. If the White Guardian could do what he needed to do when Time was frozen in Part 4 - wouldn't the Black Guardian be able to do the same? I suppose it might be a case of whoever acted the most quickly once the Key to Time was engaged is the one who gets the outcome they desire. And the White Guardian was, somehow, able to act first. Or it could be that whoever's ally is using the Key to Time enables that particular Guardian to do what they want? The Doctor and Romana were acting on behalf of the White Guardian all season. So when they got the Key working, the White Guardian could go to work. While the Black Guardian could only hope to steal away the Key and re-shape the Universe to his design once either he or his servant was in possession of it.

THEORY #2: IT WASN'T REALLY ABOUT GETTING THE KEY TO TIME FOR THE WHITE GUARDIAN

With this premise, we're to believe that the White Guardian was lying to the Doctor in Ribos Operation.  That he didn't truly need the Key to Time, he just needed the Doctor to stop the Black Guardian from acquiring it. In this way, the Doctor is not being a huge unreliable jerk that is leaving the Universe in some kind of a lurch. It was actually only the Black Guardian that needed the Key. He was going to use it to create eternal chaos and suchlike. But, thanks to the Doctor, it was snatched away from him before he could execute his sinister plan.

The theory is interesting but also has a few holes. The first one being that the White Guardian is a being of pure goodness. Would it be in his nature to be able to lie? I suppose we could excuse this away by claiming he was telling a "white lie" (pun completely intended). Sometimes, to accomplish a greater good, we have to tell a little fib here and there.

The next problem, though, is why would he bother to lie? Why not just say to the Doctor: "I want you to get the Key to Time cause if the Black Guardian gets it there will be trouble." Why go to the trouble of creating a story about needing the Key to Time, himself? Perhaps the White Guardian understands the Doctor's psychological makeup and knows that he works better if he thinks he's working to something good rather than just trying to prevent an evil. It's a bit of a stretch. But it's the best I can come up with!

There is a variation on this idea that works even better. Again, the mission the Doctor is sent on at the beginning of Ribos Operation is a false one. But it is the Black Guardian disguising himself as the White one that sends the Doctor on it. This way, all the lieing makes more sense.

THEORY #3: THE POINT OF THE JOURNEY IS NOT TO ARRIVE

I find this one the most creative. Once more, we're back to the idea of a Universe that needs fixing by the White Guardian. In this instance, however, he doesn't need the Key. It's actually the quest to find the Key that fixes things. The Graff Vinda K needed to be thwarted from re-building his empire, Queen Xanxia's attempt to become immortal needed to be stopped, Cessair of Diplos needed to be brought to justice, and so on...

As the Doctor rights the various wrongs that are occuring around him while finding the various segments, he's doing the repair work that the White Guardian needed to execute to set the Universe right. So that when he gets to the end of the quest, he need only scatter the segments again and prevent the Black Guardian from using it.

I like this one quite a bit. But, again, we run into the problem of why the White Guardian didn't just tell the Doctor this right at the beginning. Perhaps he knew, already, that the Doctor would behave so irresponsibly at the end. But he also knew the Doctor would want to see justice done at the various places where the segments had been hidden. It was all part of a great masterplan that the Doctor need not fully understand.




Okay, those are the most popular fan theories that I'm familiar with regarding just what exactly happened at the end of the Key to Time saga. What's my own personal theory? How well does it line up with Popular Fan Consensus? You'll find out shortly when I release Part Two...

And, yes, there was a Rush quote that I threw in to this particular post. Did you catch it?