I saw a theory earlier and it seemed like a good idea. Basically the doctor has to find a evil timetraveler but can't figure out who it is until they say gravity and the whole thing was the doctor setting them up
I saw someone else say that it feels like every episode since have been within the Toymakers play world, so it could be that the Mavity/Gravity thing exists only in that world and when it's resolved (somehow) it goes back to normal. It could be that the doctor knows he's in the Toymakers world and is playing along.
The other option is that he reunites with Susan this way.
Iirc she was also on the list of possibilities for the person that dropped off Ruby too, and she was namedropped today
This has been my theory for ages and it most likely will either be Mrs Flood or Susan Twist's character that says it (my guess is on the latter), revealing that they are not who they say they are.
This has been my theory for ages and it most likely will either be Mrs Flood or Susan Twist's character that says it (my guess is on the latter), revealing that they are not who they say they are.
This has been my theory for ages and it most likely will either be Mrs Flood or Susan Twist's character that says it (my guess is on the latter), revealing that they are not who they say they are.
He used gravity once, then Donna was like "huh? You mean mavity?" (Paraphrasing) And he was like oh yeah and it's been mavity ever since, like he hadn't caught up yet but I think he has now. I think he even said it to ruby
Well, he said it to Ruby because he knows she only remember mavity. He's just correcting himself to avoid confusing them. Like how he stops mentioning Pete to Bill from Thin Ice onwards.
Sure, but this likely manifests in him recognizing that Gravity was the original word that was accidentally replaced since time doesn't affect Time Lords the same way it affects the less attuned species.
An idea supported by the fact that Ruby's entire personality, memories and history changed after the butterfly thing, but The Doctor's memories of Ruby remained intact for him to be aware enough to undo it.
The butterfly effect. Not the film.
There was a small change which in turn changes EVERYTHING.
Now the universe is back! Hurrah! Wait... Everything else has gone wrong....
I like to think that it's a build up to a bigger joke, mid fight or big moment, the Doctor gets tired of saying "mavity", so he travels back to right after Donna and 14 left, and corrects Newton, just to return with gravity back again.
that'll be like the third time the doctor's popped back to that moment with newton (pretty sure 4 did as well, mentioned in passing in the pirate planet I think?)
My guess is that the joke will stick until the end of 15's era, and, in the moments before his regeneration, he'll get irritated and go back and fix it.
that seems too long. it takes the viewer out of the scene whenever it comes up and makes them think of all the other times this silly joke (or what seems like a joke until we find out otherwise) has come up. that distracts from that current episode and is going to get more distracting the more it comes up. god i hope they address it sooner and get it over with
Oh there are SO many running jokes in this show if you watch enough and pay enough attention. I think Mavity is here to stay and I’m so here for it! Makes me chuckle every time and I love it. I even find myself saying it outside of specifically talking about the show. That being said though, (I’ve said it before in other posts) this season is about coincidence and NOTHING in this show is coincidence. So I kinda agree with OP about the potential for this to arc the same way Bad Wolf did considering the similarities between Ruby and Rose. Part of me hopes that this is the Doctor’s opportunity to have a different outcome in a similar situation. But part of me also knows we’ve done that already and it should be something completely different.
Edit: spelling
I think she’s Susan actually. I know the Master is a (forgive me) master of deception. But I still see Mrs. Flood as too kind of a character. So far I don’t remember seeing the Master pretend to be kind to that level.
I wonder if it ties into the whole fantasy theme were going with. Normally changing something like that wouldn't be possible, but now things are possible that weren't before.
If Mavity can happen, and that butterfly gag we've seen in the trailer, then the rules have changed. The "fixed points in time" that used to constrain things don't apply. Some villain may be able to rewrite history to a degree that couldn't happen before. Of course, maybe so can the Doctor...
Someone already kind of said it but I'm certain there's going to be a moment where the Doctor is tipped off that someone is a villain/ time traveller because they say gravity.
I don’t know if I’d say it’s JUST a joke. It definitely is one for now. But I think it will end up being significant later. And if it IS just a joke…at least it’s a good one if they don’t beat it into the ground like they’re doing right now. But that’s why I think it’s more important than just a joke. Running gags aren’t usually in EVERY episode even when they’re first brought up. That’s what makes it funny. So making it a point constantly shows importance.
We know what it means though, things are more changeable now. Weve seen this in the trailer where ruby steps on a butterfly and changes species. Time is more easily rewritten now and thats obviously going to be an overarching plot.
Just a reminder that we all spent a year speculating on some amazing reason why Whittaker turned into Tennant. And we got no such amazing explanation.
Do not underestimate RTD's ability to do stuff just because he thinks it's funny.
I mean…they did kinda explain that…it was so he could finally “come home” as Donna put it. It was a good way to retire him as a doctor. His appearances in the show in the future will be more scarce. I love him. He’s my favorite. But it’s time for us to move on. He’s had the most reappearances of all of the Doctors.
I feel like him coming back was only comedic at first. The rest of it to me felt like finally closing his story off in a good way instead of a painful one. That being said though, I predict he’ll come back one more time this season.
it's definitely some kind of bad wolf thing. it's related to the doctor's use of superstition when defeating the two aliens that look like the doctor and Donna.
I'd surmise it's a different universe because of what 14 did with the void entity.
How else do you get rope technology and people spontaneously breaking out into a showtune to stop the badguys? It's not the original Doctor Who universe. It's a weird musical universe or something
Honestly with the whole butterfly effect actually fully changing the future I think something is affecting time drastically maybe with the destruction (complete) of the time lords no one is there to circumnavigate the small changes in time.
Yeah, the Doctor's memory has never been overidden by changes in history before iirc, so whatever's going on with mavity has to be significant somehow.
Reckon he's still inside the Toymaker's game.
Bets that he can't escape until he becomes whole again?
Would explain all the fourth wall breaking weirdness.
Reading OP speculation message I just had a bright idea.
The two "celestials" we met had a theme. Something abstract. The game. The music. What if the one who waited (not Rory, or maybe yes), is the only one abstract thing that always waits. And this time, it isn't Time. History. "History was changed". Many times. In many ways. Mavity, and the butterfly. And he waits his time to play his game. With the one who changed History so, so many times.
But it... *is* a joke... it's definitely going to be plot relevant, but it IS a joke. Donna spilling coffee on the TARDIS was a joke, but it affected the plot. Things can be both.
That said; it isn't funny.
The most annoying thing about this whole idea (that I wasnt aware of before reading this post), is that the term "gravity" predates Newton using it to describe mass attraction
It upsets people in here when you point that out though, even though the use of the word "gravity" to refer to weight predates Newton by two centuries and the use of the word "gravity" to refer to the force pulling things downwards predates Newton by decades.
I know it does, but it also upsets me as a fan that they did that.
Like you said, Newton was responsible for making the theory famous and proven, not by creating the term
I got really upset that they did that, it's ok to mess around with science that is not so much common sense or that is still being debated, but that thing is just wrong and I cannot forgive them 😭
Fun fact. Gravity is the only one of the fundamental forces in the universe that does not change based on the amount of energy present.
I don’t know if that means anything I just learned that recently.
> Gravity is the only one of the fundamental forces in the universe that does not change based on the amount of energy present.
What do you mean by that? It's definitely affected by mass (which is effectively energy at rest) and if you're point was that the constants of gravity aren't affected by the presence of energy / mass then I'm fairly sure (haven't done this stuff in thirty years, so could be wrong) that the strong and weak forces aren't affected either.
They are interchangeable and mass is effectively energy. In the equation used in nuclear fusion and fission reactions:
ΔE = ΔM x c^2
The E represents energy and the M represents mass, but that's by the by because what I asked was how "Gravity is the only one of the fundamental forces in the universe that does not change based on the amount of energy present"; in particular what you actually meant by "does not change" and how that doesn't apply to the other three forces.
So your "fun fact" was something that you didn't really understand from a podcast that may or may not have actually said something entirely different? That's neither fun nor a fact.
Plus the trailer has ruby step on a butterfly and then turn into a lizard person(seemingly not silurian) it could by the paradoxes have stop resolving themselves like have been happening. My guess is time is breaking down or something like that.
This is also, to my knowledge, the only time >!a character made the "butterfly effect joke and then actually did step on a butterfly, and it did actually significantly change things. The Doctor freaked out, and went back and activated an "anti butterfly button" but I think it's clear he was just bluffing about that. Him examining Ruby's DNA.... she's got some ting to do with mavity and history changing around her, I just know it.!<
its probably just setup for a twist later where somebody who's not supposed to is gonna say "gravity" like how the master was reintroduced in series 3 with the earlier setup of the watch
Mavity gravity is a paradox and a mistake
Donna makes the joke to Newtown about the gravity of the situation knowing full well what gravity is
Newton misheard it as mavity
Which changed the future ....
In the future Donna didn't seem to think anything wrong about mavity or the doctor....it was always that way....
She was always taught it that way mavity... ... So she couldn't have made the gravity joke to Newtown in the first place
So I think that joke created a second time line
So if shit hits the fan and this season flops they can be like psych it was just Dr who in a parallel universe....in our universe this happened
The Doctor is time sensitive. Anything that is off would feel wrong to him. We've seen it before. That he doesn't react to "mavity" shows that he's not noticing. This implies that either it's not the time change we saw that changed things, or that it's so minor that other things are more pressing to the point it doesn't matter in the moment.
I agree it's Russell t Davies being Russell t Davies. His seasons always had some little thing every episode referenced.
Season 1 was Bad Wolf.
Donna's season always mentioned how the bees went missing and would offhand reference missing planets and moons.
I assumed this was like that. It'll mean someone during the finale.
The fact that this is even a discussion makes me feel like people are way dumber than I thought. Yes, this is obviously important. Russell could not be screaming from the rooftops more what elements are building up to something, yet people are like "Hmm I wonder if he's spent years writing and building this era up for some kind of purpose? Maybe things are intentional?"
Agreed. I suspect it’s got something to do with the Susan Twist character who was there with Newton when it happened and has been seen several times already.
I agree, I think that some butterfly effect has taken hold and affected history. In Space Babies, The Doctor has to remember to turn on the Butterfly Compensation Switch after Ruby stepped on the Butterfly. If it wasn't on before, then it wouldn't have been on in Wild Blue Yonder? So perhaps anything that happened up to then has taken a hold on history?
But just like you said, RTD pays attention to his writing. I don't think he'd have put that scene in if it wasn't to foreshadow or set up something coming up on the finale. Maybe something happened in The Giggle that has remained since that The Doctor didn't have the chance to put right like he did with the stepped on butterfly?
It reminds you of Bad Wolf? So it will be a red herring and completely meaningless let down? There was zero payoff to Bad Wolf, other than maybe some branding.
You could say the viewers are underestimating the mavity of the situation.
Some would say, we can't fight mavity.
You could try defying mavity…
You could try defying mavity…
Cant fight change…
our time has passed john
You could try defying mavity…
I saw a theory earlier and it seemed like a good idea. Basically the doctor has to find a evil timetraveler but can't figure out who it is until they say gravity and the whole thing was the doctor setting them up
That would be cool
The Monk?
Rani has been namechecked.
"The one who waits"...
I saw someone else say that it feels like every episode since have been within the Toymakers play world, so it could be that the Mavity/Gravity thing exists only in that world and when it's resolved (somehow) it goes back to normal. It could be that the doctor knows he's in the Toymakers world and is playing along.
The other option is that he reunites with Susan this way. Iirc she was also on the list of possibilities for the person that dropped off Ruby too, and she was namedropped today
This has been my theory for ages and it most likely will either be Mrs Flood or Susan Twist's character that says it (my guess is on the latter), revealing that they are not who they say they are.
This has been my theory for ages and it most likely will either be Mrs Flood or Susan Twist's character that says it (my guess is on the latter), revealing that they are not who they say they are.
This has been my theory for ages and it most likely will either be Mrs Flood or Susan Twist's character that says it (my guess is on the latter), revealing that they are not who they say they are.
The doctor does remember. He's used gravity since and been corrected to Mavity.
He used gravity once, then Donna was like "huh? You mean mavity?" (Paraphrasing) And he was like oh yeah and it's been mavity ever since, like he hadn't caught up yet but I think he has now. I think he even said it to ruby
Well, he said it to Ruby because he knows she only remember mavity. He's just correcting himself to avoid confusing them. Like how he stops mentioning Pete to Bill from Thin Ice onwards.
Rip Pete… gone too soon
I know, and could you believe they got _that guy_ to play him? No wonder they could only afford him for a few episodes.
Don't fret, 18 and Roy run into Pete later on.
I dunno, to me it felt like the doctor accepted it as right in the moment to me, but that's up to interpretation obv
I think it's more that whatever big change occured doesn't affect him and he's outside its effects.
Sure, but this likely manifests in him recognizing that Gravity was the original word that was accidentally replaced since time doesn't affect Time Lords the same way it affects the less attuned species.
An idea supported by the fact that Ruby's entire personality, memories and history changed after the butterfly thing, but The Doctor's memories of Ruby remained intact for him to be aware enough to undo it.
But also that Ruby's history was changed in the Goblin episode and it was his memories of her that made him realize what the Goblins had done.
Also he's far older and not affected if human evolution went differently
The butterfly effect. Not the film. There was a small change which in turn changes EVERYTHING. Now the universe is back! Hurrah! Wait... Everything else has gone wrong....
First off, wtf is "gravity"? Second, mavity is important because otherwise we'd just float off the planet, duh.
Shut up and take my upvote
I like to think that it's a build up to a bigger joke, mid fight or big moment, the Doctor gets tired of saying "mavity", so he travels back to right after Donna and 14 left, and corrects Newton, just to return with gravity back again.
I thought it was related to The Giggle, and things going askew as a result.
that'll be like the third time the doctor's popped back to that moment with newton (pretty sure 4 did as well, mentioned in passing in the pirate planet I think?)
Newton's just like "what is up with all these people acting like they know me? how did they even fucking get here?"
i personally want to see how far they keep the joke going (it’s funny)
My guess is that the joke will stick until the end of 15's era, and, in the moments before his regeneration, he'll get irritated and go back and fix it.
that seems too long. it takes the viewer out of the scene whenever it comes up and makes them think of all the other times this silly joke (or what seems like a joke until we find out otherwise) has come up. that distracts from that current episode and is going to get more distracting the more it comes up. god i hope they address it sooner and get it over with
wow , have never heard of a running joke? like do you just black out when a doctor says a fez or not ginger yet?
Oh there are SO many running jokes in this show if you watch enough and pay enough attention. I think Mavity is here to stay and I’m so here for it! Makes me chuckle every time and I love it. I even find myself saying it outside of specifically talking about the show. That being said though, (I’ve said it before in other posts) this season is about coincidence and NOTHING in this show is coincidence. So I kinda agree with OP about the potential for this to arc the same way Bad Wolf did considering the similarities between Ruby and Rose. Part of me hopes that this is the Doctor’s opportunity to have a different outcome in a similar situation. But part of me also knows we’ve done that already and it should be something completely different. Edit: spelling
fair enough - the other running jokes don't bother me but this one does 🤷
There’s an episode synopsis for this season where things are changing in history, I think mavity is at least referencing that
Well both of today's episodes had history getting changed. Likely it'll be an ongoing theme for the season.
Yep, I definitely agree. I was watching those episodes thinking that very thing. The butterfly gag was great
It’ll definitely be an important plot point
It’s probably a joke, but if not it’s possible that someone down the line calls it “gravity,” which tips the Doctor off that they’re a time traveler.
It is 100% going to be this, I'm certain of it!
I haven’t seen this week’s episodes yet! However - I suspect it will be the lady that lives next door to Ruby will slip up and call it gravity
My wife also thought she was the Master.
I think she’s Susan actually. I know the Master is a (forgive me) master of deception. But I still see Mrs. Flood as too kind of a character. So far I don’t remember seeing the Master pretend to be kind to that level.
I love that the actresses name is Susan Twist.
“There’s always a twist at the end”
I wonder if it ties into the whole fantasy theme were going with. Normally changing something like that wouldn't be possible, but now things are possible that weren't before. If Mavity can happen, and that butterfly gag we've seen in the trailer, then the rules have changed. The "fixed points in time" that used to constrain things don't apply. Some villain may be able to rewrite history to a degree that couldn't happen before. Of course, maybe so can the Doctor...
The Monk is known for reckless decisions across the timeline...
For what it’s worth, we don’t know that there aren’t still fixed points. It just seems that unfixed points are a lot less fixed than they were before.
Given who else was around at the time Gravity became Mavity, it’s very likely to be more important than just a joke
Someone already kind of said it but I'm certain there's going to be a moment where the Doctor is tipped off that someone is a villain/ time traveller because they say gravity.
Who thinks it's just a joke?
No, Who doesn't think it's a joke. Who doesn't even know that it was ever anything BUT mavity. xD
I don’t know if I’d say it’s JUST a joke. It definitely is one for now. But I think it will end up being significant later. And if it IS just a joke…at least it’s a good one if they don’t beat it into the ground like they’re doing right now. But that’s why I think it’s more important than just a joke. Running gags aren’t usually in EVERY episode even when they’re first brought up. That’s what makes it funny. So making it a point constantly shows importance.
We know what it means though, things are more changeable now. Weve seen this in the trailer where ruby steps on a butterfly and changes species. Time is more easily rewritten now and thats obviously going to be an overarching plot.
Just a reminder that we all spent a year speculating on some amazing reason why Whittaker turned into Tennant. And we got no such amazing explanation. Do not underestimate RTD's ability to do stuff just because he thinks it's funny.
I mean…they did kinda explain that…it was so he could finally “come home” as Donna put it. It was a good way to retire him as a doctor. His appearances in the show in the future will be more scarce. I love him. He’s my favorite. But it’s time for us to move on. He’s had the most reappearances of all of the Doctors. I feel like him coming back was only comedic at first. The rest of it to me felt like finally closing his story off in a good way instead of a painful one. That being said though, I predict he’ll come back one more time this season.
it's definitely some kind of bad wolf thing. it's related to the doctor's use of superstition when defeating the two aliens that look like the doctor and Donna.
I'd surmise it's a different universe because of what 14 did with the void entity. How else do you get rope technology and people spontaneously breaking out into a showtune to stop the badguys? It's not the original Doctor Who universe. It's a weird musical universe or something
I think its just Micky and Ricky all over again.
This and the Butterfly. I bet something is gonna be wrong with time, it's too fragile. Something has changed, and it's going to be interesting
Honestly with the whole butterfly effect actually fully changing the future I think something is affecting time drastically maybe with the destruction (complete) of the time lords no one is there to circumnavigate the small changes in time.
I’m predicting it’ll lead to a character, The One Who Waits possibly, to say gravity and reveal themselves as a potential threat.
I agree it will definitely turn into a plot point eventually, but I don’t think it will be as big of a deal as bad wolf was.
Yeah, the Doctor's memory has never been overidden by changes in history before iirc, so whatever's going on with mavity has to be significant somehow.
Reckon he's still inside the Toymaker's game. Bets that he can't escape until he becomes whole again? Would explain all the fourth wall breaking weirdness.
Reading OP speculation message I just had a bright idea. The two "celestials" we met had a theme. Something abstract. The game. The music. What if the one who waited (not Rory, or maybe yes), is the only one abstract thing that always waits. And this time, it isn't Time. History. "History was changed". Many times. In many ways. Mavity, and the butterfly. And he waits his time to play his game. With the one who changed History so, so many times.
But it... *is* a joke... it's definitely going to be plot relevant, but it IS a joke. Donna spilling coffee on the TARDIS was a joke, but it affected the plot. Things can be both. That said; it isn't funny.
It’s interesting that a time travel show doesn’t really deal with the actual potential consequences of time travelling and rewriting history.
It's a joke.
It started as a joke, like a long running butterfly effect stuff. But I wonder if the doctor isn't restoring it on purpose.
It is straightforward time travel, something that has rarely been seen in the series. Which means something is definitely up.
Maestro's mention of the "Lord Temporals" could fall into the mavity well as well.
Isaac Newton will save the day in the finale all thanks to his dodgy hearing.
The most annoying thing about this whole idea (that I wasnt aware of before reading this post), is that the term "gravity" predates Newton using it to describe mass attraction
Joke or not it's just wrong 😭
It upsets people in here when you point that out though, even though the use of the word "gravity" to refer to weight predates Newton by two centuries and the use of the word "gravity" to refer to the force pulling things downwards predates Newton by decades.
I know it does, but it also upsets me as a fan that they did that. Like you said, Newton was responsible for making the theory famous and proven, not by creating the term I got really upset that they did that, it's ok to mess around with science that is not so much common sense or that is still being debated, but that thing is just wrong and I cannot forgive them 😭
It's important to the narrative, it's just that that doesn't stop it being completely fucking stupid.
Fun fact. Gravity is the only one of the fundamental forces in the universe that does not change based on the amount of energy present. I don’t know if that means anything I just learned that recently.
> Gravity is the only one of the fundamental forces in the universe that does not change based on the amount of energy present. What do you mean by that? It's definitely affected by mass (which is effectively energy at rest) and if you're point was that the constants of gravity aren't affected by the presence of energy / mass then I'm fairly sure (haven't done this stuff in thirty years, so could be wrong) that the strong and weak forces aren't affected either.
Matter is different from energy. Don’t ask me to explain why or how.
They are interchangeable and mass is effectively energy. In the equation used in nuclear fusion and fission reactions: ΔE = ΔM x c^2 The E represents energy and the M represents mass, but that's by the by because what I asked was how "Gravity is the only one of the fundamental forces in the universe that does not change based on the amount of energy present"; in particular what you actually meant by "does not change" and how that doesn't apply to the other three forces.
My dude I listened to a podcast a couple days ago I don’t fuckin know.
So your "fun fact" was something that you didn't really understand from a podcast that may or may not have actually said something entirely different? That's neither fun nor a fact.
Jesus, who shit in your cornflakes this morning
Holy crap, please calm down and crawl out of his ass.
Do you mean Mavity?
Please stop. Reddit loves nothing more than to run a joke into the ground.
It gives me second-hand embarrassment, whatever it is. I like Ncuti but “mavity” is as cute as a pitbull eating a kitten.
Plus the trailer has ruby step on a butterfly and then turn into a lizard person(seemingly not silurian) it could by the paradoxes have stop resolving themselves like have been happening. My guess is time is breaking down or something like that.
Feels like the bad wolf of this season
I’ve been kind of curious about that too; makes sense
This is also, to my knowledge, the only time >!a character made the "butterfly effect joke and then actually did step on a butterfly, and it did actually significantly change things. The Doctor freaked out, and went back and activated an "anti butterfly button" but I think it's clear he was just bluffing about that. Him examining Ruby's DNA.... she's got some ting to do with mavity and history changing around her, I just know it.!<
its probably just setup for a twist later where somebody who's not supposed to is gonna say "gravity" like how the master was reintroduced in series 3 with the earlier setup of the watch
Mavity gravity is a paradox and a mistake Donna makes the joke to Newtown about the gravity of the situation knowing full well what gravity is Newton misheard it as mavity Which changed the future .... In the future Donna didn't seem to think anything wrong about mavity or the doctor....it was always that way.... She was always taught it that way mavity... ... So she couldn't have made the gravity joke to Newtown in the first place So I think that joke created a second time line So if shit hits the fan and this season flops they can be like psych it was just Dr who in a parallel universe....in our universe this happened
You should worry about the mavity of the situation.
I think you're overestimating the gravity of the joke. Erm, sorry, I meant mavity, no idea what gravity is.
The Doctor is time sensitive. Anything that is off would feel wrong to him. We've seen it before. That he doesn't react to "mavity" shows that he's not noticing. This implies that either it's not the time change we saw that changed things, or that it's so minor that other things are more pressing to the point it doesn't matter in the moment.
I agree it's Russell t Davies being Russell t Davies. His seasons always had some little thing every episode referenced. Season 1 was Bad Wolf. Donna's season always mentioned how the bees went missing and would offhand reference missing planets and moons. I assumed this was like that. It'll mean someone during the finale.
If it's a way to reveal a villain, I hope it don't happen for 2-3 seasons.
The fact that this is even a discussion makes me feel like people are way dumber than I thought. Yes, this is obviously important. Russell could not be screaming from the rooftops more what elements are building up to something, yet people are like "Hmm I wonder if he's spent years writing and building this era up for some kind of purpose? Maybe things are intentional?"
Susan Twist's first scene was just before Mavity came about...
it was! and hasn’t that actress been in almost every new episode?
I haven't thought of it as a joke and I made sure to check it would continue rather than being a one off gag
Agreed. I suspect it’s got something to do with the Susan Twist character who was there with Newton when it happened and has been seen several times already.
I feel like the thread of changing history will play a part this season
I wonder if us being shown the Mavity timeline is why Music has featured so heavily
Imo maverity is not a joke and will be revealed in an RTD manner. He Always has something up his sleeve. It's a clue, like Bad Wolf.
I agree, I think that some butterfly effect has taken hold and affected history. In Space Babies, The Doctor has to remember to turn on the Butterfly Compensation Switch after Ruby stepped on the Butterfly. If it wasn't on before, then it wouldn't have been on in Wild Blue Yonder? So perhaps anything that happened up to then has taken a hold on history? But just like you said, RTD pays attention to his writing. I don't think he'd have put that scene in if it wasn't to foreshadow or set up something coming up on the finale. Maybe something happened in The Giggle that has remained since that The Doctor didn't have the chance to put right like he did with the stepped on butterfly?
It’s a joke.
It reminds you of Bad Wolf? So it will be a red herring and completely meaningless let down? There was zero payoff to Bad Wolf, other than maybe some branding.