Doctor Who: 10 Huge Plot Holes The Writers Hoped We Forgot

3. UNIT Inconsistencies

Dates, ages and years can cause huge problems of inconsistency in most shows; Ross from Friends was 29 was three years, for example. Luckily, the Doctor's a time traveller, so he avoids much of those problems; his human friends aren't quite as lucky, though. In 'Mawdryn Undead', it's claimed that the Brigadier retired in 1976; 'The Invasion' though, three Doctors prior and UNIT's first proper story, takes place in 1979, from what we can work out. Oops. Former script editor Terrance Dicks once claimed that he'd avoid dating UNIT stories because of the confusion, and there was even a reference to the mistake in 'The Sontaran Stratagem', when Ten claimed he worked for UNIT, "During the 1970's, or was it the 80's?" Even the UNIT tie-in website waded in by adding a "UNIT History" page to the site, claiming that it started in 1968. There's pretty much no way to retcon the mistake over the Brigadier's retirement though. Just put that one down to human error.