A completely stupid and nerdy question.

[Dirk Gently]

Yes, but it obviously didn't work.

[Andrew Curnow]

For all we know, it did obliterate the Master's timeline (although since it was already obliterated, would it be 'available'?). It's not as if there's anything in TSE/JEnd to suggest either way - the Doctor doesn't say, "Hello Martha, haven't seen you since that business with the Master" does he. So maybe that now never happened at all, not just happened but then never happened.

Right, I trust that's that cleared up!

[Zbigniev Hamson]

I honestly don't even remember what the reality bomb is, but didn't somebody say before that it didn't get used anyway? Surely if it DID get used then it would have much bigger consequences for the show, such as killing Rose and her entire family seeing as she lives in a parallel universe now.

And in any case, if the Master's alternate timeline was obliterated, then what symptoms are you expecting to see? Seeing as it was already obliterated anyway at the end of the story that it was in. Are you expecting your DVD of the story to vanish or something?

[Logo Polish]

It didn't get used in the story, no, meaning that the question is academic. The various other universes, timelines etc are still supposed to be in existence by the time Journey's End finishes. Doesn't matter what it was supposed to do, as it never got the chance. The Wirrn were supposed to wipe out the crew of the Ark, but they didn't.

[Perry Vale]

As no-one picked up on my earlier point, just when was 'Midnight' set? I'm assuming in our future? Yet, the lost moon of Poosh is still lost, and has never been found, even though the Doctor returns it at the end of Journey's End.....

[shada pavlova]

Midnight is set in the early 27th century.

The Time Traveller's Almanac says so.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Must be true then.

[Dirk Gently]

Yet, the lost moon of Poosh is still lost, and has never been found, even though the Doctor returns it at the end of Journey's End.....

It was returned, to its place where it was lost to, not from. Davros found it, used it & the Doctor replaced it. Davros is now the only person that knows where it is because its back where he found it. OK?

[Perry Vale]

Erm, no, not really.

[shada pavlova]

Must be true then.

It's an official BBC publication, so short of a date being firmly established in the episode itself, it's pretty much a definitive date. Like in The Making of Doctor Who, they state that The War Games is set in the year 309906, and now most people accept that.

Look at it like this, if RTD specifically stated that the Shan Shen sequences of Turn Left were intended to be set in the 85th century, wouldn't it be nice and simple for everyone concerned to just go along with that, especially if it fits in with other established continuity?

[Andrew Curnow]

they state that The War Games is set in the year 309906, and now most people accept that.

I don't know I'd go that far - I for one have never even heard it mentioned before!

Mind you, I take the Target definition of SIDRAT as Space & Inter-Dimensional Robot All-purpose Transporter as being gospel, so what do I know?

Bloody Mac Hulke!

[Logo Polish]

The date for The War Games is based on a reference to the Doctor's trial in that earlier story which Engin gives in The Deadly Assassin. It could possibly be a serial number of some sort, although even if it is a date it's more likely to be a Time Lord one than an Earth one, and might only be referring to the date of the Gallifrey scenes in that story rather than the rest of it. It might not simply be a year either, it could be something like 30.99.06, for example. The reason it's been used in reference books is because it's the nearest thing there is to a possible date that's been given for the story. The stuff that turns up in these reference books is sometimes just based on fan theories or interpretations of something, and can still be open to question, whether or not the book might be making the BBC any money.

[cyberchris35]

I was watching The Stolen Earth last night on BBC3 and while I was watching it a silly question came to me, is the Torchwood Rift centred on Cardiff so where ever Cardiff goes it goes or is it at the same location as Cardiff and doesn't move. What I mean is in The Stolen Earth they use the Rift energy to call the Doctor but the Rift will be back where the Earth used to be not in the Madusa Cascade. So how can Torchwood use the Rift?

[Pip Madeley]

That's a very good question - I wonder what RTD would say?

[shada pavlova]

I think the rift is "ingrained" in the section of space-time that Cardiff occupies, so much so that it can be used to "pull" the earth without it coming off.

It also may or may not have something to do with the 8th Doctor novel Interference, which claims that after the Time Lords defeated the Vampires, they sealed off all known entry points into E-Space with giant "stoppers" the size of planets. It went on to say that if these stoppers are ever compromised, then the pent-up energy of millions of years of suppressed time will be unleashed.

Which is pretty worrying for Earth, when one considers Inferno.

But back to my point, perhaps the rift was once part of a Time Lord navigational system for moving the "stoppers" around. It would explain why the Doctor instantly knows how to get the Earth back home. Maybe the Daleks knew about this and that was why they invaded Earth in 2157, to harness the power of the Rift, and use it for their own time travel experiments. Maybe they did just that, and then sent a kill-squad to get rid of the Doctor in revenge for defeating them. You never know. Maybe the Fendahl discovered the purpose of the Rift, so the Time Lords erased its planet to preserve their secret.

Sorry, I'm just rambling now.

[Si Hunt]

I don't know the answer, but I'm sure it has something to do with Yartek, leader of the alien Voord.

Si.

[Andrew Curnow]

His eyes are definitely too close together.

[P-Bal]

SEEK SEEK SEEK WITH THE BONES!

[shada pavlova]

Come again?

[Zbigniev Hamson]

It's an official BBC publication, so short of a date being firmly established in the episode itself, it's pretty much a definitive date. Like in The Making of Doctor Who, they state that The War Games is set in the year 309906, and now most people accept that.

That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. My opinion has always been that if it's not stated on screen, then it isn't true. Or isn't necessarily true at any rate. And that books and audios don't count at all and even this leads to countless inconsistencies and contradictions as it is.

But these are both just opinions, and neither of us is "right".

[Rob McCow]

To me Sholakh, TO MEEEE!!!!

[shada pavlova]

That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. My opinion has always been that if it's not stated on screen, then it isn't true. Or isn't necessarily true at any rate.

But it WAS stated on screen. In The Deadly Assassin.

[Si Hunt]

But how can it be, given you used the phrase "short of a date being firmly established in the episode itself".

Si.

[shada pavlova]

...Because I haven't actually SEEN The Deadly Assassin.

[Si Hunt]

How do you know it's stated on screen then?

Si.