Series 5-7: all the timelines, plot holes, and ways to fill some of them

[ibishtar]

I’ve attempted to make sense of the plot of Series 5-7 of Doctor Who (up to and including The Time of the Doctor). I’ll have to heavily summarise this in order to put it in infographic form, but here’s the full version of my write-up in case anyone’s interested. I’ve pointed out all the timeline changes as long as they pertain to the series arc (

Comments

[gehayi]

My GOD, this is a mess. I knew that it was convoluted, but not nearly as complicated as that.

[ibishtar]

The number of times I wanted to give up while typing this...

[shinyopals]

on the one hand, I am in awe of this post. on the other, I got to T2 before I gave up because THIS SHOW IS STUPID.

[ibishtar]

Thanks! That's a perfectly reasonable reaction, I flounced numerous times while writing it.

[glowing_fish]

This was kind of what I was getting at with my post in the DW community.

But for me, it is the narrative and emotional inconsistencies that bother me more than the logical ones. That Rory's wedding ring exists after he disappears doesn't really bother me--- it makes emotional sense.

What I didn't like is that the entire Season 6 arc, where we have this gigantic menace that has been controlling human history, is just dismissed as a minor splinter group. It's like there were so many climaxes but they were all just kind of hand-waved.

[ibishtar]

Yeah, I agree. I've avoided talking about how morally terrible I found a lot of things in S6, and the complete failure to make any sense in the portrayal of the character's emotional responses to the events in that series, because that's something that just breaks my heart and makes my blood boil. There's been a lot of critique online on the issues of Moffat's characterisation, I feel many others have already explained it better than I could. That's why in this post I decided to concentrate just on the plot mechanics, which hasn't been analysed in all-encompassing way as much, and is also easier for me to think and write about.

That's a good point about the perceived scale of the Silence on Earth in S6 versus their description in TTotD.

I'll check out your post!

[jesterlady]

Ooh, you're good.

[ibishtar]

Thanks!

[somniumdraconae]

The last paradox regarding Madam Kovarian's plan actually leading the Doctor to Trenzalore and creating the crack (exactly what they wanted to prevent) is a literary trope that dates back to ancient Greece (Oedipus Rex), and I rather like that it was used, personally.

[ibishtar]

That is true, but it's also like, if the Silence's plan seemed stupid before...

[shipaholic]

Same!