Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/Aliens of London


 * For the first time the Doctor states that he is 900 years old, contradicting the last on-screen reference to his age, 953, in Time and the Rani. Although initially rationalized as the Doctor lying about his age, or "rounding down" or perhaps only counting his years of travelling in the TARDIS, the later Voyage of the Damned muddies the waters by having the Doctor give an exact number - 903 - which tallies with the number of seasons/years since this episode. (Other suggested rationales are that the Doctor is counting time differently than done on Earth, or that for some reason as yet unchronicled (perhaps due to the Time War) he has forgotten some years of his life.) The Ribos Operation, among others, also established that the Doctor was not adverse to lying about his age.


 * It's stretching belief a little that no higher minister than Jospeh Green can be found to be acting Prime Minister.
 * Downing Street was panicking and maybe they just grabbed the first MP they could. Remember the Slitheen had been planning this for a while so they would have people everywhere who would be pushing for a rushed descision involving Joseph Green.


 * When the TARDIS doors are wide open, even though it is night, only darkness can be seen outside, despite the fact that the TARDIS lights and the street lights would probably highlight the outside area.


 * The Doctor is excited about the concept of being on Earth for first contact, and says that he did not know first contact was going to happen that day. The Doctor, whose "history is perfect" would know that this is not first contact. Furthermore, he recognizes first contact in 1986 during DW: The Tenth Planet.
 * Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey. The Doctor states multiple times in the revival that time and events are constantly in flux, meaning some details about history can change. Also, the public largely believed that it was a hoax, so history wouldn't necessarily record the event as "first contact."


 * The Slitheen have only three appendages on each hand, yet when they are inside their human skinsuits, they are able to manipulate all five of the hand's appendages.
 * This is probably something to do with the compression field, the slitheen still manage to control their human eyes, even though their real eyes are much bigger.


 * How did Jackie know that the Doctor's ship was called a TARDIS? It was never said in front of or near her before she rang up the public alien helpline.
 * That we saw on-camera.