larryl@sun.uucp (Larry Laskowski) (08/23/85)
*** Line eater, line eater, where are you? *** In several recent postings, people have pointed out the various inconsistencies that have crept into story lines and "details" regarding TARDIS operation, etc. One class of "inconsistencies" which I find to be particulary enjoyable involves the effects of the Doctor's actions on universal history, and his firsthand knowledge of the causes of these events. In particular, in "Castrovalva", the TARDIS hurtles off to EVENT 1 (Hydrogen Inrush), which as we all know leads into the BIG BANG. Yet, in "Terminus", we find out that the big bang was caused by an alien ship automatically jetisonning its unstable fuel! He seems to never know about his interaction, even in cases when it seems that he should; maybe he forgets? If you don't watch all of the episodes, you might miss those little things, so it makes the show much more interesting. I find that because of some of these inconsistencies, the show actually gets MORE enjoyable for me and lets me ignore the little ones like the TARDIS spinning in space. Larry Laskowski (usual disclaimer) uucp ...sun!larryl
kyrimis@tilt.FUN (Kriton Kyrimis) (08/25/85)
In article <2691@sun.uucp> larryl@sun.uucp (Larry Laskowski) writes: >One class of "inconsistencies" which I find to be particulary enjoyable >involves the effects of the Doctor's actions on universal history, and >his firsthand knowledge of the causes of these events. In particular, in >"Castrovalva", the TARDIS hurtles off to EVENT 1 (Hydrogen Inrush), which >as we all know leads into the BIG BANG. Yet, in "Terminus", we find out >that the big bang was caused by an alien ship automatically jetisonning >its unstable fuel! I wouldn't talk about inconsistencies, when I refer to the Doctor. We never know for sure whether the *universe* where a story takes place is the same as the universe of the next one, since the TARDIS is quite capable of (unpredictably) moving through alternate universes. (Remember Jon Pertwee's trip to a sideways universe in "Inferno", and Tom Baker's e-space). Therefore, in one universe the big bang could have been caused by a hydrogen inrush (i.e. the *usual* way...), and in another by the events described in "Terminus" (Are these two events really incompatible? If I remember correctly, Terminus's motors were nuclear ones, and hydrogen (actually water), could well be what one would term as "fuel"). -- Kriton (princeton!tilt!kyrimis) ------ "It is... um... somewhat... uncomplimentary, Captain; Herbert was a minor official notorious for his rigid and limited patterns of thought." ------