Cotterpin Doozer wrote:

Invid wrote:

As former Script Editor Terrance Dicks said in the introduction to the first New Adventures book, if continuity gets in the way of a good story, you throw out continuity

See, my problem with this idea is that it often seems to be applied both proactively and comprehensively when a creative team simply want to have free reign, and that has nothing to do with the quality of the story that's ultimately produced. Throwing out some small aspect of the continuity is acceptable as the last resort in an effort to make a good story workable. Ignoring it in its entirety is unacceptable as the first gambit of a new author with no ideas for working in an established universe. If you can't make any of your ideas work without first wiping the slate clean and starting from scratch, then you probably shouldn't be working with an existing property.

Although Doctor Who is a case where there had never been any continuity, or attempt to keep it, until the 80's when the fanboys took over the show. Unless you were the one who wrote the old episode, and you had your script, it was up to your faulty memory to try and bring up a past event. Every new production team DID wipe the slate clean, doing things their own way. That's why the show lasted so long (and is why the new show is already getting creaky from all the new baggage).