10 Doctor Who “Mistakes” That Were Totally Intentional

4. Wrong Time (Aliens Of London)

Doctor Who The End of Time Verity Newman mistake
BBC Studios

The very first two-parter of the revived series was Aliens of London/World War Three, in which the Doctor, Rose, and Harriet Jones (we know who she is) do battle with the Slitheen.

The big green buggers make their presence felt by crashing a spaceship into the river Thames. In perhaps the most famous shot from the episode, the wing of the spaceship cuts through one of the faces of Elizabeth Tower.

Yes, Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben is actually the name of the bell. Pushes glasses up nose.

However, if you look closely enough, you'll notice something wrong with the clock face. The numbers are the wrong way round - they get smaller as they go round clockwise, not bigger.

As it turns out, this was because the team who made the model of the tower were initially told that the left wing of the ship was going to be the one doing the smashing. So, that's how they filmed it.

However, during post-production, it was decided that the right wing looked better. As a result, the shot had to be flipped, which altered the layout of the clock.

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Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.