10 Doctor Who Mistakes You Can NEVER Unsee

Doctor Who: a show about time, space, aliens, cool hats... and production goofs.

Doctor Who The Day Of The Doctor Matt Smith script
BBC

In any given series of Doctor Who, the overall quality of the episodes can fluctuate wildly.

One week, we might get something dull like The Curse Of The Black Spot, only for the following week to deliver us an all-time classic like The Doctor's Wife.

Regardless of quality though, one thing that every single episode of the modern era has in common is that they all contain production mistakes, whether it's a minor, unnoticeable slip up, or sometimes, even an immersion-shattering clanger.

Continuity blunders, spelling errors, logic gaps, crew members caught in the shot, visual effects gaffes, you name it: there are literally hundreds of them scattered throughout the last sixteen years of Doctor Who, and while the vast majority will slip right under the noses of viewers like a sneaky Silent, some are a little bit bigger.

In fact, there are some that will prove impossible to unsee once you've spotted them, so be warned: the following mistakes will eat away at the back of your mind when you watch their respective episodes - and you won't be able to forget them.

10. Wrong Number (The Impossible Planet)

Doctor Who The Day Of The Doctor Matt Smith script
BBC

The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit is a cracking story from Series 2, and it's very hard to find any major faults with it. But since we're here to nitpick and point out funny mistakes... here's one from the very end of the first episode.

When the Tenth Doctor and Ida are descending into the core of the so-called impossible planet, we're shown a screen that displays their oxygen levels, which continually deplete as they get lower and lower beneath the surface.

Or at least, they're supposed to continually deplete.

The oxygen percentage goes from 96 to 81, and then, a couple of shots later, from 40 to 31. So, you'd expect the next shot to be lower than 31, but for some reason, it bounces all the way back up to 45, before descending into the 30's all over again.

These numbers are quite in-your-face too, taking up most of the screen - it's not like they're off to the side on some tiny monitor - so the mistake is rather glaring.

In this post: 
Doctor Who
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

WhoCulture Channel Manager/Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture. Can confirm that bow ties are cool.