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From: ins_bjab@jhunix.UUCP (Jessica A Browner)
Newsgroups: net.tv.drwho
Subject: Re: Inconsistency in "The Time Meddler"
Message-ID: <2088@jhunix.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 4-Mar-86 15:00:12 EST
Article-I.D.: jhunix.2088
Posted: Tue Mar  4 15:00:12 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 6-Mar-86 21:34:32 EST
References: <391@tilt.FUN>
Distribution: na
Organization: Johns Hopkins
Lines: 41

> At some point in "The Time Meddler", Viki goes through the Monk's
> diary, and one of the things she reads is the following:
> 
> "Put 200 pounds in a London bank  in  1968,  leaped  forward  200
> years and collected a fortune in compound interest."
> 
> Very ingenious. However, didn't the Daleks invade earth in  2150?
> Two  hundred years after 1968 would make it 2168, which should be
> *after* the invasion.  Apart from the fact that human society was
> completely  disorganised before the Daleks' invasion, wasn't Lon-
> don supposed to have been completely destroyed by the Daleks? (In
> fact,  I  believe that in an earlier episode someone from the fu-
> ture -was it Viki?- was surprised to hear that  Ian  and  Barbara
> were  from  London, because London _did_not_exist_in_his/her_time
> !!!)
> 
> So, HOW ON EARTH DID THE MONK GET THAT "FORTUNE"?

  The Doctor has always made a point of mentioning that there 
  exists always more than only one possible course of events leading
  to more than one possible future.  (Case in point:  "Pyramids of
  Mars" when the Doctor and Sarah jump forward in time to see what the
  future would be like if Sutekh was not stopped).  For a being with
  time travel capabilities (like the Monk), it is extremely easy to
  access these alternate futures.  That is how he was able to jump
  forward into a future where London had NOT been destroyed and
  collect his fortune.

  Naturally, this type of thing can become quite a problem for the
  scriptwriters, who find it much easier to ignore it and write a
  story in spite of this little incontinuity.

  Take your pick of explanations.

                                                  - Jessica    :-)