Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/The Invasion of Time

The less said about the Timewyrm the better but it is here that the Doctor sends his future self a warning, whilst in the Matrix.

Stuart Fell says in the 4th Doctor Handbook that he suggested doing a short jump and landing on the chair which would then collapsed.


 * Stor also has a cockney accent.
 * If, as the Ninth Doctor says, "lots of planets have a north" then it's quite conceivable that many planets, including the home of the Sontarans, can have different accents.
 * The Glaswegian Vardan in this story is further evidence of this.


 * The Doctor forgets his induction, though in later Gallifrey stories such as Arc of Infinity and The Five Doctors, he seems to remember the events very well.
 * He was faking forgetfullness to get out of it. Alternatively, Leela, Andred, or K-9 could have explained what happened between the scene in which the Doctor returns to the warehouse after having stopped Stor and the scene in which the Doctor prepares to leave.
 * By the end of the episode the Doctor knows he is President, even though he may have forgotten the actual induction.


 * What happens to the Sontarans waiting to invade Gallifrey?
 * They are trapped outside Gallifrey when the transduction barrier goes back up.


 * Alternatively, since Stor was their commander and possibly the instigator of the Vardan strategy, and since he has been erased from time, the fleet may never have even arrived (such dangerous time-bending effects perhaps explaining why, efficient and painless a weapon though it may be, the Time Lords banned the use of the Demat Gun).


 * Why don't the Sontaran ships just come in one at a time? The first one got through alright.
 * The Transduction Barrier went back up.


 * After taking ages wandering round the TARDIS, they find their way out rather quickly.
 * It's often easier to retrace your steps when returning along a path.


 * Just after the Doctor takes something similar to fit when the Crown of Rassilon is placed on his head Borusa said "This is unearthly" Even though they are Gallifreyan.
 * Unearthly is just an expression, meaning something like "unnatural". It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the planet Earth.


 * He actually says "This is unheard of."


 * If the Doctor has lost all memory of becoming President after he uses the disintegrator, why does he return to Leela and the others who are waiting for him in the TARDIS workshop?
 * Returning to the TARDIS would be natural. Going to the workshop may have been just a subliminal remnant of his wiped memory.
 * He goes to the TARDIS, presumably to look for Leela, finds no one in the console room, and basically just wanders around inside the ship until he finds someone. Simple.


 * Why did the Doctor contact the Vardans in the first place? If the Transduction Barrier prevented their invading, why take it down? Even as a ruse to trap them, it makes no sense, for Gallifrey was impenetrable.
 * He felt they were so dangerous that they needed to be preemptively stop.
 * But that still makes no sense, because they were of no danger whatsoever while the Transduction Barrier was up. If they were mightier than the Timelords they should have been able to defeat them by their own strength.
 * He seems to honestly believe that they would have found a way, with or without his help. The Time Lords aren't invincible (just ask the Daleks). The Vardans may well have had military capability sufficient to make them a genuine threat eventually, even with the Transduction Barrier.
 * It was implied that the Vardans were initially reaching out to other Time Lords as well as the Doctor. The Doctor knew that if he didn't accept their offer, they would find another willing catspaw (such as the Castellan.)


 * Why would aliens as powerful as the Vardans require to ally themselves to the Sontarans?
 * They brought something to the table in terms of capability (or ruthlessness) that the Vardans didn't have themselves.
 * Powerful as they are, the Vardans are mercenaries. They had no great interest in Gallifrey themselves, and only tried to invade when the Sontarans paid them to help.


 * The Doctor tells Borusa that the Vardans have 'more power than you could possibly imagine'. If so, why do they want the Great Key?
 * Again, the Doctor may just be using the Vardans' inflated egos to manipulate them, and for it to work, he may need the others to believe the Vardans are as powerful as they themselves believe.


 * It is not explained why the Matrix attacked the Doctor.
 * He was involved in an attempt to invade Gallifrey, albeit somewhat unwillingly.


 * Some explanation is offered in Episode 4: that the Matrix has been invaded to prevent the Vardans' home planet being located (though this does not make a whole lot of sense, as if the Vardans already have the capability to infiltrate the Matrix and can travel along energy wavelengths, they already have a ready-made route by which to invade Gallifrey without the Doctor's help).
 * Just because they can access and alter the matrix to a small degree doesn't mean they can take over the entire planet that way.


 * The Sash of Rassilon was on The Master when he disappeared at the end of The Deadly Assassin, yet The Doctor does not seem to be surprised when it is bestowed upon him.
 * It is merely a symbol. Symbols can be replaced.
 * So can technology! A replacement was made.
 * It's also possible, as the expanded universe in some places suggests, that there was more than one sash in the first place.
 * The Master doesn't seem to be wearing it when he returns to his TARDIS at the end of The Deadly Assassin. Maybe it came off when he fell through that crack and then the Time Lords found it when they rebuilt The Panopticon?