Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/The Ark in Space


 * If there are thousands of people on Nerva, why is there only 1 shuttle and a transmat with only 3 pads?
 * The Shuttle may be larger than what we see and there are probably more transmat pads throughout the station. Vira does say that getting everyone down to Earth via transmat will be a long task.


 * Why do they teleport to the Earth rather than take the TARDIS?
 * The TARDIS can be unreliable at times.


 * There is a piece of very poor editing done when the half-mutated Noah confronts Vira and the Doctor as they move along the corridor (probably done to remove the more grotesque aspect of the scene). Noah is still talking and then somehow the door slams shut, cutting him off. Yet it is not clear who does this or what exactly happened.
 * One of the three could have pushed the button to seal the door. Vira and the Doctor have a good motive for doing exactly that!


 * The people needed to use a device on their hearts to complete the revival - how would this have worked if no-one was around to help them with it?
 * It's not part of standard procedure; the system had already malfunctioned due to the Wirrn's interference.


 * The Wirn falling out at the first cliffhanger interrupts the Doctor talking - but he's not talking at the start of episode 2.
 * Or we just don't hear him.


 * When Sarah is trapped in the control room, why is the switch for the door on the opposite side of the room?
 * Why not? All functions for the room are controlled from the console.


 * Once the auto guard has been switched off, the Doctor and Harry test it by sticking their heads out!
 * That's where their eyes were located. They heard it deactivate and were cautiously looking to verify.


 * Humanity in the future is divided into functional groups, like insects, but Rogin wakes up as a fully fledged Holmes wide boy.


 * The slime trail which the Doctor and Harry chance upon is clearly visible to the audience from the start of the scene.
 * The trail was supposed to be there but in the story the Doctor and Harry do not see it at the start of the scene.


 * One of the frozen humans can be seen blinking.


 * Can all of the Wirrn really fit into that small cockpit?


 * Why doesn't the Doctor want to wake everybody up and take them to Earth in the TARDIS? His reasons make it sound like he's just making the game more interesting.


 * Several of the cyrogenic cells are empty, but there are no slime trails leading to them. With space at a premium it doesn't make sense to have empty cells, but the lack of slime trails means the Wirrn didn't take the bodies either. So where'd they go?


 * Why is the table screwed down to the floor? None of the other furniture is. Plus as the Doctor and Harry start to move the table there's no mounting in the floor where the screw was.


 * In the human-preservation chamber there are at least two levels of cells, but there are no ladders. How do the people get down when they wake up?
 * Given how readily the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver as a thermal lance in the previous episode, and how readily it went through reinforced metal, why doesn't he cut a quick hole here to get some air?


 * The space station noticeably "wobbles" as it orbits above Earth in the opening shot.


 * The empty chamber that held Dune is tinted or stained orange-yellow here, but it was the same colour as the others in the previous episode.
 * When Vira climbs out of the cryogenic capsule, the styrofoam comprising the capsule sqeaks.


 * Without space-faring technology, how do the Wirrn launch themselves into space, and how do they avoid burning up during planetfall?
 * While I'm not sure how they reach escape velocity, re-entry could likely be accomplished by spinning a durable chrysalis/coccoon, or a mixture of spun, silken material and debris, similar to the approach of the Caddisfly larvae.