(Not sure what I'm talking about? Check out this recent post, if you dare! https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/08/point-of-debate-will-orphan-55-be-our.html)
SOME MORE FUN WITH PLOT HOLES
In Part One, we had two main styles of inconsistencies that we looked at. There were a few more issues that I wanted to examine under these headings but the essay had gone on long enough. So I've saved a few for this second installment.
Before we do anything, though, I'm going to re-post a slight disclaimer I made in Part One:
It's inevitable that any TV show will have plot holes in certain episodes or stories. The very nature of how television is written lends itself to it. A certain amount of content has to be created in a certain amount of time. This can easily lead to mistakes that just don't get caught. Or, in some cases, the creative team does recognize the problem, but just don't have the time to properly fix it
I do hope that this doesn't come across as me just complaining about the show and trying to point out how awful it is. As mentioned previously,plot holes in TV shows are inevitable. I'm just trying discuss them a bit and have a laugh over them. Hope you're amused by all this, too.
Okay, with that out of the way. Let's look at a few more Recurring Plot Holes. These are trends that we've seen over and over again in the history of the show. Oftentimes they appear in both New and Old Who. Since I am, literally, picking up where I left off, I'll continue the numbering system I was using.
Recurring Plot Hole #5: Hiding in Terrible Places
This would be one that's, pretty much, exclusive to Classic Who. It mainly occurred because of the awkward three-camera shooting system that they used throughout most of the show's run. It became difficult to still keep an actor in shot if they hid themselves too well on a set. But, of course, hiding from nasty monsters is a vital ingredient of any good Doctor Who story.
Sometimes, they would line up a shot so that the hiding characters are in the foreground. Placing themselves behind a convenient protrusion of some sort that allows them to watch action going on in the background without being noticed. But, other times, the shots don't line up so well. And the actors are in spots where the evil monster has to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see them. Particularly since the hiding characters have a discussion at, more-or-less, normal volume.
This would be one that's, pretty much, exclusive to Classic Who. It mainly occurred because of the awkward three-camera shooting system that they used throughout most of the show's run. It became difficult to still keep an actor in shot if they hid themselves too well on a set. But, of course, hiding from nasty monsters is a vital ingredient of any good Doctor Who story.
Sometimes, they would line up a shot so that the hiding characters are in the foreground. Placing themselves behind a convenient protrusion of some sort that allows them to watch action going on in the background without being noticed. But, other times, the shots don't line up so well. And the actors are in spots where the evil monster has to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see them. Particularly since the hiding characters have a discussion at, more-or-less, normal volume.
One of the best examples of this happens in Episode Three of Horns of Nimon when the Doctor, Romana and a few supporting characters are trying to hide from the Nimon as he operates his transmat controls. The whole scene is impossible to takes seriously. It looks like something out of a panto.
Another really good one happens in Episode Six of The War Games (I think it's Six - there are so many episode of this story!). The Doctor and Zoe are hiding behind the controls of the console that dispatches the Time Travel capsules. There is an operator at the console who must have been massively engrossed in his job. Not noticing people hiding right beside him who are having an actual conversation would have been impossible if he wasn't. Guards are also rushing around looking for them in that scene. The hiding spot is so terrible that they should have found them in seconds.
Recurring Plot Hole #6: Plot Convenience Technology
This one does happen a bit in both eras of Who, but the classic series has more obvious examples of it.
This is an interesting phenomenon that happens with certain forms of advanced technology. There seems to be certain "rules" to how a device might work that suddenly get broken for the sake of plot convenience.
One of the most infamous incidents of this nature happens in Day of the Daleks with the guerilla soldiers' time travel devices. In all scenes, bar one, you need to be within a certain range of the device to travel in time. But, in one sequence, we have a superfluous guerilla soldier character that needs to be removed from the plot. So the Doctor happens to just activate the guerilla's time travel equipment while the warrior is miles away from it. The extraneous character gets transported away because of this. If anyone should have dematerialized, here, it should have been the Doctor. He was within its gathering range. But the Doctor didn't need to be taken out of the story. So, suddenly, the way the device works changes radically.
Eldrad's ring in Hand of Fear does a similar trick. When the ring comes into contact with a human, it can control their will. But Hand of Fear is horribly short in plot and needs any filler it can get. Dr. Carter gets shot by the energy the ring emits and is rendered unconscious from it. Suddenly, at a point in the plot where we need a few more minutes, Carter starts getting taken over by Eldrad and has a small skirmish with the Doctor which fills up the necessary time needed. Anyone else controlled by Eldrad has to touch the ring for that to happen to them. But, for this filler sequence, the rules change.
Recurring Plot Hole #7: Things That Kill Supporting Characters But Not Leads
Both New and Old Who have clear examples of this.
Every good adventure needs to have danger. And the danger needs to be demonstrated so that we can see how lethal it is. For the most part, you don't to take out a major character just to show how potent a peril is. Instead, a writer takes out a secondary character with the threat. If a Lead then has to deal with that same problem later, we know the situation is serious.
Now, if that Principal Role finds a clever way to escape the danger they're in that the Support didn't, that's enjoyable story-telling. But that's not always the way things go in Doctor Who. Sometimes, the danger just, suddenly, doesn't work properly. Simply because we can't kill off a main character.
The Rani's over-contrived bubble traps in Time and the Rani are a great example of this. They take out a a hapless Lakertyan in Part One to show how they work. A Tetrap gets killed later on, too. He doesn't even get a ricochet like the Lakertyan did. The monster is killed in one fell swoop. But then, we get Mel in one of them. It ricochets several times and then lands safely in a convenient body of water. No explanation is given of why the bubble trap didn't work on her. She's just allowed to live because she's a companion and, therefore, can't be taken out. That seems the only rational explanation.
This happens in New Who, too. Smile uses this plot hole during a crucial moment. The Doctor and Bill visit a colony that got wiped out by emoji bots and the insect-like flesh-eating robots that they control. We see, quite clearly, that if you look too sad - you're dead. This happens with Bill and the Doctor but, somehow, they're allowed to leave the colony without getting killed. Again, the only explanation that seems to suit the situation: they're too important to the story to be executed!
Recurring Plot Hole #8: Friction Doesn't Work
This is not just a plot hole that's exclusive to New Who - it really only seems to happen during the RTD era!
Apparently, Russell T. Davis fails to understand that when two surfaces rub against each other really fast for an extended period of time - it can really cause some damage. Particularly if one of those surfaces is just a garment of clothing that is protecting some flesh.
Both The Next Doctor and New Earth have a total disregard for this basic law of physics. I believe I complained about the one in Next Doctor a bit during my ranking of Christmas Specials (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/11/book-of-lists-christmas-specials-from.html). It's that sequence where the very silly-looking Cyber Shade drags the Doctor and Jackson Lake at top speed along the floor of a warehouse for what appears to be several long minutes. The two gentlemen laugh hysterically when the merry chase is over. They should have been in terrible pain. That level of friction against a splintery wooden floor should have ripped away their pants and stripped a considerable amount of flesh, too. But it doesn't happen, here.
New Earth abuses this law of physics even worse as the Doctor slides along an elevator cable at top speed for what seems to be an abundance of floors. Yes, he's hanging on to a pulley as he does this so his arms would be safe. But he's wrapped his legs around the cable to help steady himself. Even if he's trying not to hold his legs too close to the cable (which doesn't seem to be the case - they look to be clinging quite tightly), moving along a metal cable at that speed would do serious tissue damage even if there was just the slightest nick. Once more, pants and layers of skin should have been heavily stripped away by the time the Doctor reaches the bottom of the lift shaft. But, instead, he's just fine.
Recurring Plot Hole #9: Silly Ways in Which a Villain is Defeated
I may go on for quite a bit with this one. As it does happen on quite a few occasions in both the New and Classic Series. I'll try to stick to some of the really obnoxious ones.
The Dalek in Death to the Daleks that gets so upset over prisoners escaping that it self-destructs is definitely quite ludicrous. Especially if you start extrapolating the idea. If a Dalek always does this when its enemies get away, this could really change the tide of a war. Imagine a whole battlefield full of Daleks and humans about to square off. The humans suddenly just run away and hide. The entire Dalek army has a panic attack and then dies. Battle over.
The Shakri in Power of Three almost manages to not come off as silly when he is defeated. The Doctor does some mysterious dialogue about how the one they meet near the end of the story was "never really there to begin with" when the strange being just suddenly disappears for no readily apparent reason. But why would you just leave your control centre completely unprotected like that? Especially when you seem to have weird box-faced attendants who could protect the place for you even though you were "never really there to begin with". Naturally enough, moments after the Shakri is gone, the Doctor foils his plans.
But if we were to give out awards for the silliest way in which a villain is defeated, it would have to go to Azal the Daemon in The Daemons. Suddenly self-destructing because you don't understand the idea of one person being willing to sacrifice her life for someone else is, pretty much, the cheapest cop-out ending I've seen in the history of the show. Especially when you consider that Azal is meant to be an ancient being. He's never seen this demonstrated before?! I mean, I get that he's this proud arrogant creature who would have a hard time understanding such a gesture. But blowing up over the witnessing of such an act comes across as just a lazy way of getting out of the corner the writer painted himself into. Like he was just sitting in front of his typewriter thinking: "We've got five minutes left to this story and I really don't know how to get the Doctor out of this. Let's just make up a ludicrous conclusion but mask it in something vaguely poetic and beautiful. Everyone should fall for it!"
There is a special section to this category, though. It takes place mainly during the Sylvester McCoy era. There were certain villains and/or monsters that were defeated in a somewhat silly manner but it's still done in such a cool way that we don't mind.
Fenric is a great example of this. Getting Evil Incarnate to seal itself inside a flask because it couldn't solve a chess problem seems as ludicrous as Azal destroying himself. But, somehow, we love the imagery of it all. We can totally see Doctor Seven carving out the chess pieces and placing the challenge in front of him. And we're okay with that. Did he challenge the Master to a game of tiddly winks, afterwards? And, because the evil Time Lord lost, he had to surrender himself to Daleks and be put on trial by them?!
There's also the Seventh Doctor's unique ability to monologue his opponents into submission. He manages to talk a roof sniper into surrendering his gun to him during Happiness Patrol. In reality, the sniper seemed like a bit of a homicidal maniac. He should've just shot the Doctor down. But we're willing to suspend our disbelief because the Doctor's monologue is so well-written and well-delivered that we buy the whole scene. It might even be one of the best moments in the entire history of the show. "Throw away your gun." is certainly a simple-but-beautiful statement of his core ethics.
But that scene in Happiness Patrol pales in comparison to what happens just one story before it. The Doctor confronting the Black Dalek in Remembrance of the Daleks is actually very similar to the scenario I just described a few paragraphs previously in Death to the Daleks. It is, essentially, a Dalek getting so upset over a development that it destroys itself. I should be mocking this sequence, too. But, again, it's about what's on the page and how McCoy speaks it. All of it just comes across as completely brilliant. When it could have so easily just been laughable.
There is a special section to this category, though. It takes place mainly during the Sylvester McCoy era. There were certain villains and/or monsters that were defeated in a somewhat silly manner but it's still done in such a cool way that we don't mind.
Fenric is a great example of this. Getting Evil Incarnate to seal itself inside a flask because it couldn't solve a chess problem seems as ludicrous as Azal destroying himself. But, somehow, we love the imagery of it all. We can totally see Doctor Seven carving out the chess pieces and placing the challenge in front of him. And we're okay with that. Did he challenge the Master to a game of tiddly winks, afterwards? And, because the evil Time Lord lost, he had to surrender himself to Daleks and be put on trial by them?!
There's also the Seventh Doctor's unique ability to monologue his opponents into submission. He manages to talk a roof sniper into surrendering his gun to him during Happiness Patrol. In reality, the sniper seemed like a bit of a homicidal maniac. He should've just shot the Doctor down. But we're willing to suspend our disbelief because the Doctor's monologue is so well-written and well-delivered that we buy the whole scene. It might even be one of the best moments in the entire history of the show. "Throw away your gun." is certainly a simple-but-beautiful statement of his core ethics.
But that scene in Happiness Patrol pales in comparison to what happens just one story before it. The Doctor confronting the Black Dalek in Remembrance of the Daleks is actually very similar to the scenario I just described a few paragraphs previously in Death to the Daleks. It is, essentially, a Dalek getting so upset over a development that it destroys itself. I should be mocking this sequence, too. But, again, it's about what's on the page and how McCoy speaks it. All of it just comes across as completely brilliant. When it could have so easily just been laughable.
SELDOM-MENTIONED PLOT HOLES
That's Recurring Plot Holes. The other topic we covered in Part One were Seldom-Mentioned Plot Holes. These are structural issues that seemed like blatant problems right from the first time I watched the story but few people ever seem to talk about. Again, I'm picking up from where I left off with the numbering during the first part.
Seldom-Mentioned Plot Hole #9: Claws of Axos
Bill Filer was a very fun character in this story. I wish he'd come back for a second appearance. Or, perhaps, even become a regular ongoing character. He was this great square-jawed hero who also was quite clever (square-jawed heroes are usually only good for brawn - not brains!). He was the one who figured out the Doctor was going to do a runner with the Master rather than try to save the Earth. Something no one else suspected in the slightest.
Apparently, the writers of the script really adored Bill Filer, too. So much that, at a critical point in the story where he should have been killed, he's allowed to survive.
Bill is abducted by Axos fairly early on in the story. He completely discovers the alien's sinister plans while in captivity. In a later episode, he manages to escape and get back to the nuclear power center to have an exciting battle with the Axon copy of himself. But then more Axons show up to kidnap the Doctor and Jo. And, oddly enough, allow Filer to live. Sure, he's unconscious. But he's eventually going to wake up and tell the rest of humanity the truth about Axos. In fact, he's so dedicated to discrediting Axos that he's actually muttering about it while he's still asleep!
One would think that when they had Bill Filer at their mercy, the Axons would have killed him. They knew that he knew the truth about them and would spread the word. And Axos can be quite ruthless when it needs to be. Look what it did to that poor hobo at the beginning of the tale. So the logical conclusion would be to take Filer out. Or, at the very least, take him back to the ship. But, instead, they just leave his unconscious form with UNIT.
It's almost as if the strange phallic-shaped control node aboard the ship ordered: "Filer is too likeable of a character. He must be allowed to live."!
Seldom-Mentioned Plot Hole #10: The Sea Devils
I actually pointed out an inconsistency in this story the last time I wrote about plot holes. But I recently re-watched this adventure for my very first REVIEW OVERVIEW (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/09/review-overview-tales-of-homo-reptilia.html) and realized there was another one that I failed to mention. And it seems as equally-preposterous as leaving swords near the entrance of a high-security prison cell!
At one point in the adventure, the Doctor has been incarcerated in the same prison as the Master. Jo comes along and busts him out. They then try to reach the nearby beach. Perhaps in hope to flag down a passing ship. To be honest, the whole escape plan is a bit of a plot hole in itself since they're meant to be on an island!
But the issue I really want to tackle happens when the Doctor and Jo discover that they must descend a steep cliff-face to reach the beach. Fortunately for them, there is a nearby life preserver station with a long rope that they can use to assist them in their climb.
My question is: why would anyone put such a thing at the top of a cliff?! Shouldn't it be on the beach, itself? Think about it for a second: someone is drowning in the sea. In order to save them, you must spend several long minutes climbing a steep surface to get to the life preserver (if you can actually make the climb!). There's a good chance that, by the time you reach the necessary means to rescue them, the hapless drowning victim will be long dead.
The life preserver station being placed where it was makes no real sense. It was put there as a sheer plot convenience. Which makes it all seem quite silly. As I said in the REVIEW OVERVIEWER, Malcolm Hulke really does seem off his game, here.
Seldom-Mentioned Plot Hole #11: Planet of the Daleks
It boggles my mind that people don't ever seem to talk about this one. You may have noticed that I do pick on Pertwee stories a lot in this. This is one more reason why I'm not all that fond of this era. No disrespect to the late Terrance Dicks, but he does seem to not care too much about plot holes. There are some doozies in this period. This might be one of the biggest ones.
Terry Nation is trying to make Planet of the Daleks a story that is constantly full of peril. He actually does a fairly good job. But there is one danger that he creates that, pretty much, defies all sense of logic!
It happens close to the beginning of Part One. The TARDIS gets covered in these nasty spores that, apparently, make it air-tight. Because oxygen can't get in from outside, the Doctor must rely on emergency internal air-pumps that are nearing empty. What a terrible plight! He will suffocate unless help can arrive in time.
The question is: wouldn't the TARDIS be air-tight all the time?! It travels in space. If it wasn't air-tight, there would be some serious problems! So suddenly cutting it off from the outside world by smothering it in spores shouldn't really have this effect. There should just be an internal oxygen supply of some sort, already, that wouldn't be dependent on air from beyond the TARDIS.
Even if the time ship was, somehow, dependent on getting air from environments beyond it (perhaps it re-stocks on air when it lands?!), such tiny emergency air tanks are pretty damned silly. The TARDIS is meant to stretch on endlessly beyond the console room. There's no way such small tanks would be the slightest bit useful to provide air for such a large place. The whole sequence just doesn't really make any sense. It's there just because Nation wants a constant threat to be going on. Which is fine. But if you want to plot a story that way, the danger has to have some kind of actual logic to it!
Seldom-Mentioned Plot Hole #12: Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon
And now we'll take a gigantic leap from the Third Doctor Era to the Eleventh. Which is happening, mainly, because I made a similar jump in my viewing habits. I was watching some Second and Third Doctor stuff for a bit and now I've decided to enjoy Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen.
Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon is an excellent story. I have the utmost respect for it. I even consider it an Unsung Classic (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2017/03/unadulterated-boorish-opinion-unsung.html). But there is one gigantic plot hole to it.
The Doctor's method of dispatch for the Silence is utterly brilliant. A great example of using his own enemy's power against them. And the confrontation he has with them as he plants their subliminal suggestion into the moon landing footage is an utter delight to watch.
Here's the problem: Rory and Amy have probably already seen that footage sometime in their lives. River Song probably did too - particularly since she's an archaeologist. But it's possible the conditioning she received from the Silence might work against the post-hypnotic suggestion. Rory and Amy, however, should already be trying to kill Silences any time they see them. Even though the Doctor doesn't put in the suggestion until the end of the story, they should still be seeing it there when they viewed the footage in their own personal past.
This is not an example of the "needing to go around once" principle that sometimes occurs in time travel (Holy crap! Another Damned Link! But if you want further clarification, read about it, here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/11/analytical-crossing-time-streams-part-1.html). Such paradoxes only occur to people who are crucial to the various causes and effects that must occur to create the results of crossing time-streams (ie: Rose had to "go around once" before finally crossing her own timestream to save her Dad in Father's Day - she was central to the action). I wouldn't say Amy and Rory were that important to the implanting of the subliminal message. The Doctor was, yes. So he would understand that he needs to execute his plans and create the effect that he does. But his companions were not entirely necessary to this. The Doctor could have achieved it fairly easily without them. So they should have felt the effects of what the Doctor had done to the moon landing footage even before he does it. In fact, their reactions could have almost been a clue to the Doctor to tell him what he needed to do.
I assume, of course, that Amy and Rory did see the footage at some point in their lives. As the Doctor so, rightfully, points out: it's something we all see. And yet, both Rory and Amy witness the Silence several times before the thrilling conclusion of the tale but they never react accordingly. They're scared by them and then forget when they look away. But they never seem to try to inflict any kind of violence against them. Which they should be doing. The footage they saw would have, already, had the message implanted in it.
Seldom-Mentioned Plot Hole #13: Asylum of the Daleks
Admittedly, I have seen this one brought up once or twice by other people. But, in my opinion, not enough!
There is a fun little attempt to name-check some past Dalek stories as the Doctor enters the Intensive Care Section of the Asylum. Oswin mentions that these Daleks hail from certain wars and then mentions a slew of planets, Superfans, of course, recognize the names of the planets as they are featured in certain stories from the Classic Series.
The thing is: most of the references make little or no sense. Daleks from these various battles should not be in the intensive care unit.
Spiridon is about the only planet that is all that feasible. There were some Daleks left alive at the end of the story that were stranded there. I would imagine a rescue ship eventually came for them. Perhaps being stuck on Spiridon for a while as they waited for the ship made them a bit crazy. It was a pretty hostile planet. It could even be possible that some of the Daleks that were buried in the ice volcano were dug up but ended up being severely damaged from the experience.
Vulcan might also be possible. It's hinted that some Daleks may have survived their defeat at the Doctor's hands. Like the Daleks on Spiridon, they might have also been recovered. They could have experienced some pretty adverse effects from their experiences and needed to be sent to the Asylum because of them.
Aridius, however, is a sillier planet to mention. About the only Dalek that suffered any legitimate trauma was the one that fell in the hole that Ian and the Doctor lured it into. Was the experience so brutal that it caused the need for intensive care?!
Then there's Kembel and Exilon. Both stories involving these planets had absolutely no survivors. The Daleks on Kembel were aged to death by their own Time Destructor. The Daleks on Exilon were all blown up in their ship. So there could be no Daleks from these battles in Intensive Care because none of them survived the battle.
So, at least, three of the five planets mentioned shouldn't have intensive care patients that were affected by their exploits on those worlds.
Continuity references can be great fun. But they do need to make a bit of sense!
There you go: a bunch more plot holes. Believe it or not, I still had a few more but I really do think I've rambled on long enough,. But it does look like there will be a Part Three sometime down the road....
Did you miss Part One? Here's the link:
