From: teexijd@ioe.ac.uk (IAN DAVENPORT)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Re: the five doctors
Date: 17 Nov 92 18:30:55 GMT
Distribution: rec
Organization: Institute of Education, University of London

In <1992Nov16.233544.1534@tms390.micro.ti.com> nsmith@tms390.micro.ti.com (Neal Smith) writes:

>Now, for anyone else... there were a couple of minor ones, and I
>don't like to get nit-picky, so I'll go straight to the only one that
>really bothered me.

><minor spoilers ahead for the 5 Doctors, press n to skip>











>When the second Doctor and the Brigadier are in the tower, they
>come across holograms of Jamie and Zoe.  The Doctor realizes that
>they can't be real, because they have been sent back to their own
>time stream with their memories erased, and therefore would not 
>remember him.  (Of course, he ignores the fact that they could
>have been timescooped from before there memories were erased,
>but that's easily ignored; he assumes they would have told him
>about the experience.)  The problem is, that right after (and
>I mean immediately) they are returned to their time, the TimeLords
>force a regeneration on him; he now lookes like Jon Pertwee.  :-)
>[This happened in WarGames].  The point is, he did not do any
>travelling in the TARDIS, with the face of his 2nd regeneration,
>after learning what happened to Jamie and Zoe.  He should not
>have known!  Furthermore, either he is scooped when he is
>travelling with them (so they should be with him), or he is
>scooped before he knows them (and he should not recognize them).
>It is this assumption that he knows everything that has happened
>to him later that is inconsistent.  (I mean, if he can't even
>remember being there previously as the First Doctor, and can't
>remember that it is a trap that Borusa should be caught in, as
>the First Doctor deduces, then how can he remember something
>that hasn't happened yet?)

Weeellll... On Troughton knowing about the memory wipe, it's just possible
that just before his regeneration the Time Lords let him pop back to see
the brig, to relax him for the coming regeneration (you know how badly these
hectic regenerations go). Mind you, you would of thought that they would
have sent him back to a younger Brig, around the early days of UNIT.

On the later Doctors not knowing the final secret, this problem also comes
up in The 2 Docs, but I put that down to either the drug they fed the Doc,
the genetic mangling he received, or the odd time-field effects of the
Kartz-Rheinmer module.(sp?) In this case, we can either assume that the later
Docs keep schtum so as to preserve what's left of causality, or that they
are given timely memory wipes as they leave.

>There are about 5 other (three, sir!) excuse me, 3 other

Methinks you were closer first time, this thing is riddled with holes.

>minor inconsistencies that bug me, but I have seen some explanations
>for those that work, even if they don't jibe well, so I'm willing
>to ignore those.  (What they are is left as an exercise for the
>bored viewer.)  Anyone want to explain this one?

>-----------------------------------------------------
>From Neal Smith (nsmith@tms390.micro.ti.com)
>The expressions opined here are mine.
>If you want TI's opinion, you'll have to ask marketing...
>-----------------------------------------------------

>>
>>Canada Remote Systems  - Toronto, Ontario
>>World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044

>Wait, where'd you come from?  NO, I WAS ONLY JOKING, I THOUGHT WE
>AGREED TO PUT THE KNIFE UP, AARGH... ACH.. GR.. gggg... rrrccch...

>#TIMEOUT: No carrier.

Ian J Davenport    MULLARD SPACE SCIENCE LABORATORY    ijd@uk.ac.ucl.mssl

"There are three things you should know about the wise old woman..."
"1. She is wise."
"2. She is old."
"3. She is a WOMAN!"
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho