Theory:Doctor Who television discontinuity and plot holes/The Keys of Marinus


 * Given that the keys were deliberately hidden, how can it be that Arbitan doesn't know where they are?
 * He probably ordered them hidden, their location kept a secret from him, so he couldn't be interrogated about them.


 * The radiation counter is on the opposite side of the console to its location in The Daleks
 * However the TARDIS does seem to move controls around, adding new ones and taking others away.


 * In episode 1, who stabs the Voord who is lying in wait for Susan in the pyramid?


 * Wasn't it rather callous of Arbitan to arrange for the soldiers to give up their lives and be frozen solid in the ice, just in case someone came to steal the key?
 * Yes, however he obviously considered it a necessary sacrifice. As mentioned above, it may be that it wasn't Arbitan who hid the key, and that the soldiers themselves sacrificed themselves for the good of the planet.


 * In episode 5, why does Ian arrive in a different place to the others (i.e, the room with the final key in its display case), given that they were standing together when they left their last location?


 * While walking around the TARDIS force field, Susan can be seen walking in front of Ian and into the barrier with no ill effects.
 * The force field is an hallucination. They are both hallucinating it to be in different positions and are oblivious to the inconsistency they generate between them.


 * In Episode 6, does Ian not notice that "Arbitan"'s head is about twice as big as last time they met?
 * Judging from Ian's careful answers to Yartek's questions, I would say that Ian has surmised that "Arbitan" isn't who he says he is, which is why he gives Yartek the false key.
 * Ian specifically told Barbara that he knew it was an impostor because he didn't know who Altos was.


 * Despite arriving in Morphoton only seconds before the others Barbara is able to change clothes, meet the city leader, learn the cities history and be generally treated as an honoured guest.
 * Given that the Morpho Brains have telepathic powers, it is entirely possible that information has been "planted" in Barbara's mind about the city and its leader. And it doesn't take that long to change clothes...


 * How did Arbitan get a force field round the TARDIS?
 * The force field is only in the time travelers' heads. Using the power of the Conscience and his one remaining key, over a short distance, Arbitan is capable of creating the crude illusion of a force field within their minds. This explains the otherwise puzzling fact of how we, the audience, are able to observe Susan walking in front of where Ian clearly believes the boundary of the barrier to be - i.e. they are both hallucinating it to be in different positions and are oblivious to the inconsistency they generate between them.


 * As DWM's Time Team asked when they saw this story, why didn't Arbitan tell Sabetha about the traps in the jungle building in Episode 3?


 * Why is Ian so ready to barter his travel dial - his only life-line back to the TARDIS - for a piece of fur from Vasor?


 * When Ian and Altos rescued Barbara from Vasor and force him to guide them to the caves, why didn't they also take back their travel dials? Then they wouldn't have had to bother with repairing the bridge but could have left as soon as they found the key. Surely they didn't let him keep the dials simply as security for the furs after he had tied up Altos, tried to kill Ian and attempted to rape Barbara?


 * Several of the cliffhangers do not match up with the reprise.