History Literature / ContinuityErrors

* DeconReconSwitch: The story is initially set up as a deconstruction of the Seventh Doctor's methods, with much of Professor Candy's lecture seemingly meant to present him as an egomaniacal and monstrous manipulator who ruthlessly twists people's lives solely to present himself as a hero when he's ultimately nothing of the kind, and there is much questioning of his morality, even from his friends. However, the story ultimately reconstructs the Doctor as a heroic figure: his manipulations are ultimately done only to save people's lives and to make the world better, and while his influence on Andrea's life is underhanded it is also ultimately nothing but positive. If he truly was in it only for his own ego gratification, there would be much easier (and more brutal methods) of manipulating the situation.

In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary the Library -- so large that it doesn't need a name --]] a bored and grumpy Librarian named Andrea Talwinning meets the Seventh Doctor. He needs a specific book about a specific war that's taking place right now in the past. It contains crucial details that he needs to know about, in order to save thousands of lives. The book is off-limits, so Andrea tells him to get lost. Weird, her co-worker notes, because the previous Librarians were all the Doctor's best friends for some reason. The Doctor's companion (Franchise/BerniceSummerfield, nicknamed "Bad Earrings" by Andrea) saunters off towards the shelves to go read the finished version of her own published diary, ignoring the Doctor's warnings about that sort of thing.

->[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E4TheGirlInTheFireplace "What," asked Gwenny, "do monsters have nightmares about?"]]\\

* TimeyWimeyBall: On its own, the story is complex but self-consistent, with its take on time-travel being that things the Doctor does in the past alter the present in "real time" for those who can perceive it. However, the conceit of ''Decalog 3'' is that ''all'' the stories form a big, complicated StableTimeLoop, so even though the history in which Gwendoline survived and became a doctor doesn't exist when Seventh first arrives at the Library because he hadn't saved her "yet", it somehow ''does'' exist when Fourth visits the Gwendoline Talwinning Memorial Institute in the next story, even though that's ''much'' earlier in his personal timeline.

* TimeyWimeyBall: On its own, the story is complex but self-consistent, with its take on time-travel being that things the Doctor does in the past alter the present in "real time" for those who can perceive it. However, the conceit of ''Decalog 3'' is that ''all'' the stories form a big complicated time-loop, so even though the history in which Gwendoline survived and became a doctor doesn't exist when Seventh first arrives at the Library because he hadn't saved her "yet", it somehow ''does'' exist when Fourth visits the Gwendoline Talwinning Memorial Institute in the next story, even though that's ''much'' earlier in his personal timeline.

* RippleEffectProofMemory: Andrea has a rudimentary one, as it turns out.

* DeconReconSwitch: The story is initially set up as a deconstruction of the Seventh Doctor's methods, with much of Professor Candy's lecture seemingly meant to present him as an egomaniacal and monstrous manipulator who ruthlessly twists people's lives solely to present himself as a hero when he's ultimately nothing of the kind, and and there is much questioning of his morality, and even from his friends. However, the story ultimately reconstructs the Doctor as a heroic figure: his manipulations are ultimately done only to save people's lives and to make the world better, and while his influence on Andrea's life is underhanded it is also ultimately nothing but positive. If he truly was in it only for his own ego gratification, there would be much easier (and more brutal methods) of manipulating the situation.

* LossOfIdentity: Andrea is extremely upset when she realises that the Doctor is changing her personality.

* {{Tuckerization}}: The Kantrassi philosopher Orcnell, author of ''Four Seasons and a Wedding'', ie, Creator/PaulCornell, author of the four ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' that end "Long ago in an English winter/autumn/summer/spring" and the one where Benny gets married. The first passage of ''[=4S&AW=]'' includes the phrase "First there is war, then there is peace. First there is love, then there is heartbreak" and Cornell's second NA, in which he introduced Benny, was ''Love and War''. (Which is also the first appearance of the Doctor's claim that he's what monsters have nightmares about, a line Moffat borrows here and elsewhere.)
* YouCantFightFate: PlayedWith.

* DeconReconSwitch: The story is initially set up as a deconstruction of the Seventh Doctor's methods, with much of Professor Candy's lecture seemingly meant to present an AlternateCharacterInterpretation of the Doctor as a egomaniacal and monstrous manipulator who ruthlessly twists people's lives solely to present himself as a hero when he's ultimately nothing of the kind and much questioning of his morality, and even his friends given to question whether or not his influence is for the best. However, the story ultimately reconstructs the Doctor as a heroic figure: his manipulations are ultimately done only to save people's lives and to make the world better, and while his influence on Andrea's life is underhanded it is also ultimately nothing but positive. If he truly was in it only for his own ego gratification, there would be much easier (and more brutal methods) of manipulating the situation.

* DeconReconSwitch: The story is initially set up as a deconstruction of the Doctor's methods, with much of Professor Candy's lecture seemingly meant to present an AlternateCharacterInterpretation of the Doctor as a egomaniacal and monstrous manipulator who ruthlessly twists people's lives solely to present himself as a hero when he's ultimately nothing of the kind and much questioning of his morality, and even his friends given to question whether or not his influence is for the best. However, the story ultimately reconstructs the Doctor as a heroic figure: his manipulations are ultimately done only to save people's lives and to make the world better, and while his influence on Andrea's life is underhanded it is also ultimately nothing but positive. If he truly was in it only for his own ego gratification, there would be much easier (and more brutal methods) of manipulating the situation.

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: The Doctor's most cunning tactic, according to Professor Candy, is to insert himself into the popular fiction of the worlds he operates on.

'''''Continuity Errors''''' is Creator/StevenMoffat's very first ''Series/DoctorWho'' story, originally published in 1996 in the short story anthology ''Decalog 3''.

->''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E4TheGirlInTheFireplace "What," asked Gwenny, "do monsters have nightmares about?"]]\\

A little man on a podium is preparing to give a lecture at Lunar University. As the holograms of his audience appear one by one, he goes over the lecture one last time. It's about the Doctor, a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E05FleshAndStone "Complex Space-Time Event" (CSTE)]] and an incredible danger to society.

* {{Tuckerization}}: The Kantrassi philosopher Orcnell, author of ''Four Seasons and a Wedding'', ie, Creator/PaulCornell, author the four ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' that end "Long ago in an English winter/autumn/summer/spring" and the one where Benny gets married. The first passage of ''[=4S&AW=]'' includes the phrase "First there is war, then there is peace. First there is love, then there is heartbreak" and Cornell's second NA, in which he introduced Benny, was ''Love and War''. (Which is also the first appearance of the Doctor's claim that he's what monsters have nightmares about, a line Moffat borrows here and elsewhere.)

In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E8SilenceInTheLibrary the Library -- so large that it doesn't need a name --]] a bored and grumpy Librarian named Andrea Talwinning meets the Seventh Doctor. He needs a specific book about a specific war that's taking place right now in the past. It contains crucial details that he needs to know about, in order to save thousands of lives. The book is off-limits, so Andrea tells him to get lost. Weird, her co-worker notes, because the previous Librarians were all the Doctor's best friends for some reason. The Doctor's companion (Franchise/BerniceSummerfield, nicknamed "Bad Earrings" by Andrea) saunters off towards the shelves to go read the finished version of her own published diary, ignoring the Doctor's warnings about that sort of thing.

-> [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E4TheGirlInTheFireplace 'What,' asked Gwenny, 'do monsters have nightmares about?']]\\
'Me,' said a voice from the doorway.\\

Creator/StevenMoffat's very first ''Series/DoctorWho'' story, originally published in 1996 in the short story anthology ''Decalog 3''.

-----

In [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E8SilenceInTheLibrary the Library -- so large that it doesn't need a name --]] a bored and grumpy Librarian named Andrea Talwinning meets the Seventh Doctor. He needs a specific book about a specific war that's taking place right now in the past. It contains crucial details that he needs to know about, in order to save thousands of lives. The book is off-limits, so Andrea tells him to get lost. Weird, her co-worker notes, because the previous Librarians were all the Doctor's best friends for some reason. The Doctor's companion (BerniceSummerfield, nicknamed "Bad Earrings" by Andrea) saunters off towards the shelves to go read the finished version of her own published diary, ignoring the Doctor's warnings about that sort of thing.

The story ends with a catalogue entry confirming that the Doctor has borrowed the book ... only instead of being called ''Massacre On Deltherus 5'', it's now called ''Miracle On Deltherus 5''.

!!Tropes

-->"Most troubling of all, everyone on record as having known the Doctor insists that he is [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E05FleshAndStone a good man, a hero]] in fact. But did they think that for themselves? [[ParanoiaFuel Or did he think it for them?]]"

* {{Tuckerization}}: The Kantrassi philosopher Orcnell, author of ''Four Seasons and a Wedding'', ie, Creator/PaulCornell, author the four Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures that end "Long ago in an English winter/autumn/summer/spring" and the one where Benny gets married. The first passage of ''[=4S&AW=]'' includes the phrase "First there is war, then there is peace. First there is love, then there is heartbreak" and Cornell's second NA, in which he introduced Benny, was ''Love and War''. (Which is also the first appearance of the Doctor's claim that he's what monsters have nightmares about, a line Moffat borrows here and elsewhere.)

* {{Tuckerization}}: The Kantrassi philosopher Orcnell, author of ''Four Seasons and a Wedding'', ie, Creator/PaulCornell, author the four Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures that end "Long ago in an English winter/autumn/summer/spring" and the one where Benny gets married. The first passage of ''[=4S&AW=]'' includes the phrase "First there is war, then there is peace. First there is love, then there is heartbreak" and Cornell's second NA, in which he introduced Benny, was ''Love and War''. (Which is also the first appearance of the Doctor's claim that he's what monsters have nightmares about, a line Moffatt borrows here and elsewhere.)

* {{Tuckerization}}: The Kantrassi philosopher Orcnell, author of ''Four Seasons and a Wedding'', ie, Creator/PaulCornell, author the four Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures that end "Long ago in an English winter/autumn/summer/spring" and the one where Benny gets married. The first passage of ''[=4S&AW=]'' includes the phrase "First there is war, then there is peace. First there is love, then there is heartbreak" and Cornell's second NA, in which he introduced Benny, was ''Love and War''.

-->"Most troubling of all, everyone on record as having known the Doctor insists that he is a good man, a hero in fact. But did they think that for themselves? [[ParanoiaFuel Or did he think it for them?]]"

* YouCantFightFate: PlayedWith.

StevenMoffat's very first ''Series/DoctorWho'' story, originally published in 1996 in the short story anthology ''Decalog 3''.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Professor Candy's view of the Doctor, with specific attention paid to the fact he has a telepathic field that affects his companions' perceptions. Obviously, we're not meant to agree with him.

* CallBack: Bits of the story have been referenced, in chronological order, in: [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho050Zagreus "Zagreus"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E4TheGirlInTheFireplace "The Girl In The Fireplace"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E8SilenceInTheLibrary "Silence In The Library" / "Forest Of The Dead"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E05FleshAndStone "Flesh And Stone"]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E13TheBigBang "The Big Bang"]], and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler "Let's Kill Hitler"]].

* {{Tuckerization}}: The Kantrassi philosopher [[PaulCornell Orcnell]], author of ''Four Seasons and a Wedding'', ie, the four VirginNewAdventures that end "Long ago in an English winter/autumn/summer/spring" and the one where Benny gets married. The first passage of ''[=4S&AW=]'' includes the phrase "First there is war, then there is peace. First there is love, then there is heartbreak" and Cornell's second NA, in which he introduced Benny, was ''Love and War''.

'[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho050Zagreus Me]],' said a voice from the doorway.\\