From: ph9991_manfr@rivers.acc.uwrf.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Re: Wanted: DW bloopers...
Date: 27 Jan 93 16:14:23 -0600
Organization: University of Wisconsin - River Falls

> Ah, not FIRST episode.  Just _A_ new episode.
> 
> If it were the first episode, that would set the story on the day after
> the Kennedy assassination -- when Britain's TV schedules were still
> completely disrupted with news broadcasts.  And there wasn't even a mention
> of this in the story.
> 
> My guess?  Remembrance of the Daleks takes place around 28th December... the
> broadcast of "The Dead Planet", and the viewing public's first hint of the
> Daleks.
> 

First of all, "An Unearthly Child" is very definitely in 1963 sometime,
from dialog given in episode two of that serial at least plus later stories
featuring Ian and Barbara where they tell people they're from 1963 and so on.
Exactly what month it was is unknown, although whenever it was, we know it
was chilly weather and there was quite a bit of fog around, suggesting
either the end or the beginning of winter.
The episode quite definitely did NOT take place on Saturday, November 23
or even the Friday of the assassination because a) school was in session 
and b) Barbara tells Susan "see you in the morning" as she leaves the
classroom where they talked, suggesting there was school the next day as
well.

"Remembrance of the Daleks" has numerous continuity conflicts in its attempts
to link back to "Child," which I never noticed until the second or third
viewing.  The first time through I thought they were cool, now I treat them
as "good tries" (but it's still an all-time classic story nevertheless).  
Assuming Harry keeps a good up-to-date calendar, "Remembrance" is definitely
sometime in November of 1963, because that's what the calendar on the wall
in his cafe is.  
I would guess that both "Child" and "Remembrance" take place in early 
November of that month, because if they hadn't, and it was post-the-23rd
I would expect SOMEONE in the story to mention the assassination and maybe
paranoically say something like "I wonder if the Daleks have anything to
do with that."  
Before someone says it, I know Ben Aaronovitch's novel definitely suggests
post-the-23rd for the date, but I don't care about that because it isn't
canon, and because he had the day of the week wrong when he talked about
the assassination.  (Friday, not Saturday Ben)

While I'm at it I might as well run down the list of errors in "Remembrance
of the Daleks"...
1) Sign outside the scrapyard if misspelled "Forman" instead of "Child"'s
	"Foreman"
2) Susan did not leave her French Revolution book behind in Ian's science
	lab, she must have left it in the other classroom where Barbara
	talked to her, if indeed she left it behind.
3) The French Revolution book's cover is the type seen in the non-canon
	pilot episode for "Child," not the finished version.
4) If that room is supposed to be Ian's science lab, then it's on the
	wrong floor of the building.  In the Coal Hill School establishing
	shots in "Child," we see Barbara come out of a room on the same
	floor as the bulletin board, call to Susan inside the room to tell
	her to wait and she won't be long, then walk down the hall and
	go into another room which is Ian's science lab.  
	In "Remembrance," the lab is up on the second floor of the school,
	whilst the bulletin board is on the first floor.
5) The TV announcer announcing "Doc..." gives the time as a quarter past
	five.  This comes in Part Two between breakfast and lunch!  
	And even if it were a quarter past five, it should be pitch dark
	outside if it's November!  

I won't go into the Dalek inconsistencies and the continuity-busting done
there, because I consider that genuine, i.e. it should be there because
the Doctor is in effect altering history in this story, and he already
has back in "Genesis of the Daleks," so I am of the opinion that the
Dalek time-line is now fragmented in at least two places that may have
skewed some stories such as "Daleks' Masterplan" into an alternate
universe or timeline.  

I also want to point out one other thing about "Remembrance," because I 
think it's something Ben Aaronovitch completely forgot about when he came
to do his quite excellent novel.  
Recall the scene where Mike gets the message on the piece of paper from his
Mum that the Group Captain is expecting everyone, and then adds at the end,
"He's specifically ordered that Ace remain here."  Ace bends over to look
at the note, and Mike smiles suspiciously and crumples the message up in
his hand before she can look at it.  As they leave, he goes into that 
"Have dinner ready" spiel.  
In the novel, Ben seems to have totally forgotten the purpose of this scene,
which is Mike trying to "teach" Ace to be a "good wife" circa 1963, or
perhaps much earlier in time than that.  In the book, the message seems
genuine and Mike sort of says his lines afterwards as a simple joke.  
Maybe it was intentional, but it's the kind of little thing that a writer
can forget they put in their original stuff when they come back some
months later and look it over.  I liked the original there.

Well, that's all I can think of right now.

Steven.K.Manfred