Doctor Who Christmas Special: Is the Doctor’s Return to New York City a Plot Hole or Not?
By Leah Tedesco
Doctor Who is full of plot holes and continuity issues, some more obvious than others. Is there a super obvious one in the upcoming Christmas special, or is it a non-issue?
Remember when, in ‘The Angels Take Manhattan,’ the Eleventh Doctor said that he could not go back in time to either visit or rescue Amy and Rory due to a fixed point? Supposedly, the Time Lord could neither go directly to where they were, nor pick them up at another location. For this to make sense, the couple themselves would have to be fixed points, such as is Jack Harkness. Despite this possible plot hole, the couple’s departure from the show was appropriate, as their time with the Doctor had run its course.
In a recent article on Inverse, Corey Plante gives an interesting explanation as to why the area remains off limits to the Doctor, even after Amy and Rory are no longer living. The reasoning is quite complex, but it sort of makes sense if you ponder it until your brain bleeds out of your ears. Plante suggests that this conflict is why the TARDIS is shown to be malfunctioning while attempting to enter New York City in the previews for ‘The Return of Doctor Mysterio.’ Is the damage not worse because the Doctor is not very near to his friends?
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Even if the Doctor could safely return to New York City after his former companions died, Grant Gordon is a child when the Time Lord first visits him, overlapping with when Amy and Rory were still alive. It is unclear exactly what year either of them died. We do not know their exact ages when they were sent back in time, nor do we know the years of their respective deaths. All we know is that an Angel sent them back from 2012 to 1938, and that Rory died at age 82, Amy at 87. Even with this fuzzy math, however, it is likely that their elderly selves breathed the same air as Grant, so to speak.
Whatever it was that kept the Doctor from returning to New York City appears to be either gone, or lessened. He is back once more, and will encounter a superhero called the Ghost. Nardole will also be back, and will be coming along for the ride throughout Series Ten. ‘The Return of Doctor Mysterio’ may not involve Amy and Rory, but perhaps the Doctor could stop by their graves again.
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