Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/The Tomb of the Cybermen


 * In episode one, the Doctor and Jamie hold one of the tomb doors closed with their feet.
 * Hardly an error, just a theatrical device; they had to make sure it didn't open, so Toberman could do it. It's actually not that noticeable.
 * Not a discontinuity/plot hole.
 * Not a discontinuity/plot hole.


 * The Cybercontroller uses a visible harness to lift Toberman over his head.
 * Not a discontinuity/plot hole. Please use appropriate section for "production errors".


 * Toberman returns the favor in episode four by spinning a dummy Cybercontroller.
 * Not a discontinuity/plot hole. Please use appropriate section for "production errors".


 * The Cybermen retreat into their tombs backwards, the film having been reversed.


 * Seems like just a practical consideration, and, again, it's not that noticeable.
 * Not a discontinuity/plot hole. Please use appropriate section for "production errors".


 * Kaftan and Klieg are locked in the weapon testing room, complete with deadly weapon. (The room features a psychedelic target that can hypnotize humans, with a 'subliminal center you're trained to see', which is not a very Cyberman sort of thing.)
 * There's no explicit reason Cybermen wouldn't make use of a subliminal center. Their brains remain largely human.


 * The Doctor's plan to lock the Controller in the revitalizing cabinet would appear sound were it not for the fact he decides to switch on the apparatus which will return the Controller to strength.
 * The equipment will only lock and restrain the occupant if it is switched on. He knows the Controller will eventually get out. It is simply a delaying tactic.


 * Earlier, when the rocket's fuel pumps were sabotaged, Hopper said that it would take three days to repair them, working non-stop. Then at the end of the story, after far less time than that has passed, he walks in and blithely says, "Well, the fuel system's OK. We can blast off any time"!
 * He may be using a different day time. Also, he may be using the 'Scotty Method' of telling your captain something will take longer than it actually will, so he'll think you're amazing.


 * When the archeological team discovers their rocket has been sabotaged and are distressed at the possibility of spending three days on Telos, no one even considers using the Doctor's ship to escape, or at least to hide in.
 * If they had, the Doctor would almost certainly have dissuaded them from doing so (why reveal the TARDIS to strangers?)


 * When Captain Hopper opens the hatch after disarming Kaftan, he pulls an entirely different switch on a different section of the control panel than the one they had identified seconds earlier.
 * Not a discontinuity/plot hole. Please use appropriate section for "production errors".


 * Regarding the shooting of Kaftan: while acknowledging the Cybermen's ruthlessness, the Doctor's "evil must be destroyed" argument (that somehow instantly breaks Toberman's cyber-conditioning) seems rather unjust, under the circumstances. Kaftan has shown herself to be just as ruthless, as well as treacherous, sadistic, and eager to exploit the Cybermen for her own self-aggrandising agenda. The Cyber-Controller, by contrast, is desperate to prevent the extinction of his own very threatened race, and shoots Kaftan only after she has ignored warnings and fired repeatedly at him.


 * His conditioning was already near breaking, he just smashed the controller to the ground, the episode showed tomboman was either mentally disabled, or atleast not particulally all there, and he clearly either loved kaftan or atleast held very highly as he broke into tears when holding her dead body, and people in that state are easily convinced that the killer is evil, plus as the doctor said, the cybermen enslaved him, as well as beat him up, ripped out his arm, cutt him open, replaced several good pieces with metal and machine, and brainwashed him, its doubtful he wouldn't see them as evil after all that. Kaften was clearly evil, but he didn't see her as, the cybermen on the other hand, he was easily convinced.


 * Would Victoria really be able to shoot a Cybermat with a handgun with just one shot?
 * Yes, it appears. It wasn't that far away, and we don't know her background and capabilities in that regard.


 * At the end of the story, the Doctor tells Jamie that this is probably the final end of the Cybermen, but claims that he doesn't like to make predictions. He seems to be forgetting the previous episode where he made the rather large and innacurate prediction that the Daleks had finally been destroyed for good.