Doctor Who and continuity: Did it always matter?

We look back on Doctor Who’s relationship with continuity, and ask ourselves if too much of it can be a bad thing.

Like any sci-fi based series, a lot of Doctor Who fans care about continuity. We care about events happening in order (or rather, in something like a time travel show, a particular order). We want the series to both remember and acknowledge its own past, while still telling original stories, of course.

This can extend to beyond the TV series, however. The most recent episode of the series, The Haunting of Villa Diodati, featured a meeting between the Thirteenth Doctor and Mary Shelley. The Eighth Doctor once traveled with Mary Shelley in the audios, but on-screen, it’s implied that they had never met before this adventure.

What’s particularly interesting about this example is that – during Steven Moffat’s era, at least – there have been more than a few acknowledgements in the show to stories in other media. These include the Eighth Doctor referencing his Big Finish companions in The Night of the Doctor and the multiple origins of the Cybermen referenced in The Doctor Falls.

Ignoring your own history

But perhaps even more interesting is that, once upon a time, continuity didn’t matter too much in the TV series. When it began, the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan claimed that she had made up the name TARDIS herself. But, much later in the series, we see Time Lords constantly use the word.

Perhaps a more interesting example is how much the origins of the Daleks change over time. In the original story The Daleks, the Daleks had mutated from a race called the Dals. Considering the only other intelligent race on the planet were the Thals, this makes a lot of sense.

But when the Doctor went back in time to their very creation in Genesis of the Daleks, it was discovered that the Daleks had mutated from the Kaleds, instead. What’s particularly interesting about this discrepancy is that both stories had been written by the same writer: Terry Nation.

But the best continuity problem has to be the destruction of Atlantis. Not only were there three reasons given for it in Doctor Who. Not only were two of those causes actually shown on screen. But two completely different reasons for Atlantis’s end were broadcast only a year apart! The Daemons strongly implied that the titular race had destroyed the mythical city, while The Time Monster showed its destruction at the hands of another powerful being altogether.

What changed

As you can see from these examples, continuity didn’t use to be an issue, and the writers and production team had much more freedom to play with it. They didn’t care about contradicting earlier stories, or even themselves.

So why is it so important now? Well, the key reason is that it’s a very different age. When Doctor Who was originally made – especially in the Sixties – it was intended to be watched only once. This remained mostly true in the Seventies, too, although omnibus editions of some serials were broadcast, such as Genesis of the Daleks or The Green Death. But, for a long time, the only way for fans to experience a story not broadcast on television was through the Target novelizations.

Compare this to now. Doctor Who – classic and new – is available on DVD, Blu-Ray and streaming. It’s easier now more than ever for viewers to go back and watch previous episodes. It’s also a lot easier to spot when continuity clashes, as well.

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Losing creative freedom

Continuity can be enjoyable. It can be fun when a story acknowledges the past, or even sets things up to be paid off in a later episode. Steven Moffat’s big timey-wimey arcs like the Silence and River Song relied on continuity to a huge extent. How much those arcs paid off is a matter of opinion, but it has to be said, it was fun to see long-term storytelling used like that. Certainly, that wasn’t something that could have happened during the early years of the series.

However, it is a shame that writers don’t quite have the freedom for creativity that they once did. Genesis of the Daleks ignored key parts of established Dalek history, and yet it’s also considered to be one of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever made. That’s not something that could happen now, sadly. Continuity can be fun for fans, but it can also be restricting, too.

What are your thoughts on continuity? Do you think the writers of the early seasons had more creative freedom? Do you think continuity should be respected, or do you think writers should have more freedom to tell their stories, regardless of the show’s history? Let us know in the comments below.