Does rebooting the universe erase or change most of Series 5?

[Lyon_Wonder]

Since the Doctor rebooted the universe and closed the crack, does this mean the events and episodes of series 5 from the time the 10th doctor regenerated into the 11th up to rebooting the universe in "Big Bang" either never happen or happen differently since the crack's no longer here?

 

[Skywalker]

Amy, Rory, River, and the Doctor all remember everything, so even if it didn't actually "happen," it sort of still did.

 

[Jax]

I think Moffat said somewhere everything that happened did happen. As reboots go it was a very soft one when you really think about it.

 

[Sci]

The sense I got was that Series Five basically took place in an erased timeline, the same way the Year That Never Was did from "Last of the Time Lords."

 

[The Wormhole]

It all still happened. We're still going to continue to see Power Ranger Daleks.

 

[Sci]

It all still happened. We're still going to continue to see Power Ranger Daleks.

I assumed that that was an example of what the Doctor was talking about -- about effects continuing even without causes.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I suspect that all the events that took place in the future and past happened, but none of the events in Leadworth happened.

 

[The Wormhole]

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I suspect that all the events that took place in the future and past happened, but none of the events in Leadworth happened.

Which would only erase The Eleventh Hour, the final scene of the Weeping Angel two parter and the pre-credits teaser of Vampires of Venice. Hardly a serious impact on continuity and canon.

 

[Snaploud]

The really mind-bending thing is that River deals with a crack in the universe post-Pandorica (earlier in the doctor's timeline but later in River's timeline). We saw it in the "Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone" two-parter.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The Doctor remembers all these things as having occurred, and I'm betting that River Song does, too - for whatever illogical reason. Wouldn't be surprised if Amy eventually has some dialogue references back to events that she "shouldn't" remember.

It's Doctor Who, after all.

 

[Peter the Younger]

I think the more interesting question is, did all the events of previous seasons happen? Amy didn't remember the Dalek invasion of Earth in Victory of the Daleks, does that mean The Stolen Earth never happened, or just that Amy herself has some weird Sam Becket Swiss Cheese memory thing going on?

Personally I wouldn't mind over-writing the five or six alien invasions from the RTD era, it was getting quite ridiculous.

 

[Stevil2001]

I suspect that this is a question we'll never really have answered. At least until 2033, when the show is off the air, and a writer of the Missing Adventures feels the need to "explain" how "Vincent and the Doctor" and "The Lodger" happened in the reality where Rory never died.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I believe that this is what was meant when the Doctor realized in "The Time of Angels" that time can be re-written and events remembered. This was banged through the entire season and reinforced with the events of the finale imo.

 

[Shatnertage]

"What happened, happened" but apparently "dead is [not] dead."

In other words, I've got no idea, and I'll file this next to 40+ years worth of contradictions.

 

[Bones2]

I've read quoted from Moffat that it's pretty much to explain why people on Earth can still be surprised when aliens show up and any other slight continuity irregularities that might crop up, but it's unlikely to be specifically refereced ("history has been wibbled").

 

[Sci]

I think the more interesting question is, did all the events of previous seasons happen? Amy didn't remember the Dalek invasion of Earth in Victory of the Daleks, does that mean The Stolen Earth never happened, or just that Amy herself has some weird Sam Becket Swiss Cheese memory thing going on?

The Cracks obviously erased the Dalek Invasion from her memory in her parents-less timeline. But the Cracks themselves were erased from history and never happened, which means that her parents were restored -- and so was the Dalek Invasion.

I've read quoted from Moffat that it's pretty much to explain why people on Earth can still be surprised when aliens show up

That seems silly. I mean, everyone knows about acts of terrorism, but people still get surprised when one happens. Knowing that something can or has happened is not the same thing as expecting it to happen.

 

[Bones2]

Well, there's been an alien attack or invasion or some sort on earth pretty much every new Who year. We know the planet Earth in Who isn't quite the same as ours, but the casual watcher who thinks it's pretty much set on ours would probably expect humans to be surprised if an alien shows up.

 

[Sci]

Well, there's been an alien attack or invasion or some sort on earth pretty much every new Who year. We know the planet Earth in Who isn't quite the same as ours, but the casual watcher who thinks it's pretty much set on ours would probably expect humans to be surprised if an alien shows up.

Doctor Who is such a large, mainstream hit in Britain that I doubt most viewers are unaware of the fact that aliens are known to the public.

And RTD has said in press statements about the upcoming fourth series of Torchwood that it's set in a world where everyone has known about aliens for some time, but that doesn't mean they aren't surprised when they appear or attack.

 

[Irvy]

It's a bit wibbly wobbly, timey whimey. The Doctor, Amy, River and Rory's personal timelines were changed, but they seem to have retained their original timeline memories as well. Rory even remembers being plastic.

They're all complicated events in space/time. Their souls have walked down 2 paths at the same time.

 

[P0sitr0nic]

Just remember, when the Doctor meets River outside the church after the wedding, the diary has all its words back. Which means that everything that had been erased, was brought back into existance when he was. So S5 happened sliiightly differently.

Rory was with them with Vincent.

Vincent: "Stay here with me Amy!"
Rory: "..Hey?!"

 

[Bones2]

Doctor Who is such a large, mainstream hit in Britain that I doubt most viewers are unaware of the fact that aliens are known to the public.

Well you say that. The Deadly Assassin got around 12 million viewers while Doomsday got 8 million. But you wouldn't expect a casual viewer in the 70s to be able to tell you much about Time Lord society. An average person watching an episode of new Doctor Who set on present day Earth (which is far more of them than I'd like) would expect people to be mostly in the dark about alien existence and not watching the skies every Christmas Day expecting the next attack. It's probably why big things like the huge Cyberman stomping around Victorian London and the Journey's End Dalekery were mentioned as not being remembered (though that was pre-The Big Bang, so make of that what you will).

And RTD has said in press statements about the upcoming fourth series of Torchwood that it's set in a world where everyone has known about aliens for some time, but that doesn't mean they aren't surprised when they appear or attack.

Yeah, I wondered how it would gel with the continuity of TW and SJA, but you'd have to ask Moffat. Here are the quotes from DWM:

Q: So, what exactly has or hasn't happened in the DW universe, now that the series is over? Are all bets off, as far as DW's 'history' as we know it?

A: "More like all bets that we feel like ignoring are off . The increasing problem in DW is that the people in the show live on a completely different planet from us. They're like "Look, more aliens, planets in the sky, ho hum!"

But history has wibbled. Without being too explicit about it, we can have characters surprised at the existence of aliens again. If we feel like it.

But let's be honest - it's only us fans that give a toss about all this.

So don't expect any "History Has Wibbled" scenes.

This is just a way for us all to justify continuity errors to ourselves, so we can sleep at night.

Don't all thank me at once. N'night."