Time rotor The time rotor , sometimes called a time column , was a component in the central column of the TARDIS console . While the TARDIS was in flight , the rotor rose and fell , stopping when the TARDIS reached a destination . It was associated with the ' whooshing ' noise heard when the TARDIS was in flight . The time rotor was connected to the lower engines ; hence as the TARDIS moved the rotor moved accordingly . As well as signifying the TARDIS ' movement , the rotor was also known to stop working when something went wrong , e . g . the rotor stopped moving as the TARDIS engines stalled . This might be rectified by thumping the console . ( TV : " Doctor Who " ) If the glass protecting the time rotor was damaged , such as when Mels shot it , a poisonous gas would come out of it until the extractor fans were activated . ( TV : " Let ' s Kill Hitler " ) The Doctor ' s TARDIS . As with the rest of the Doctor ' s TARDIS , the aesthetic design of the time rotor occasionally changed throughout the Doctor ' s travels . As it varied through designs , it alternated between being a single column and a series of components that moved into each other from above and below . From the start it took the shape of a short , transparent cylinder containing an assortment of components , which rose and fell , with the components circling and rotating within . ( TV : " An Unearthly Child " , et al . ) The Third Doctor ' s new control console featured a new time rotor with three green inner tubes and a central red one . ( TV : " The Claws of Axos " ) Some time during his travels with Sarah Jane Smith , the Fourth Doctor ' s time rotor had its green inner tubes replaced with red ones . ( TV : " Planet of Evil " ) He occasionally placed his hat atop of it . ( TV : " The Stones of Blood , The Horns of Nimon " ) The Fifth Doctor later gained a new console with a new time rotor . ( TV : " The Five Doctors " ) At one point during the Sixth Doctor ' s travels , a Whifferdill named Frobisher assumed the form of the time rotor . ( COMIC : " The Shape Shifter " ) After the TARDIS console was once again reconfigured due to the Doctor ' s ring interfacing with the chameleon circuit icon system , the time rotor became a cross between its previous design and its original . ( COMIC : " The Chameleon Factor " ) Some time during the Seventh Doctor ' s life , the TARDIS console room and console were reconfigured once again . In this design , the time rotor was a tall , transparent tube which attached to the ceiling as well as the console . Inside were a pair of glowing , opaque , blue - white tube assemblies which would rise and fall in alternation during flight , meshing and unmeshing in the centre . ( TV : " Doctor Who " ) The War , Ninth and Tenth Doctor s ' time rotor also reached the ceiling , and contained a set of glowing , transparent inner assembly of tubes , which glowed both white ( TV : " The Day of the Doctor " ) and later turquoise . ( TV : " Rose " ) When that console room was destroyed and a new one regenerated by the TARDIS , the Eleventh Doctor was greeted by a time rotor which contained transparent , bulbous inner components resembling blown glass . ( TV : " The Eleventh Hour " ) After the Doctor became seclusive following the departure of the Ponds , the TARDIS interior regenerated once again . Because of this change , a new console room and console were introduced , and with them a new time rotor , composed of a hexagonal array of neon turquoise tubes that connected the ceiling to the console ( as its previous incarnations ) . Though while in contrast the newer rotor appeared to be fixed , lights inside the tubes rhythmically flashed in sequence when in flight , stimulate the ' pumping ' motion of the temporal piston . There were also two small crystal - like prisms in the top and bottom centres of the the time rotor that physically pumped up and down . ( TV : " The Snowmen " ) Once he had regenerated , the Twelfth Doctor changed the colouring of the turqoise pipes in the time rotor to a warmer orange . ( TV : " Deep Breath " ) The console in the TARDIS ' secondary console room lacked a visible time rotor ; in its place on the secondary console was a shaving mirror . ( TV : " The Masque of Mandragora " ) Other TARDISes . The design of time rotor and console of the Master ' s TARDIS tended to be similar to the Doctor ' s . ( TV : " The Ultimate Foe " ) The same was also true for the Monk ' s TARDIS . ( TV : " Checkmate " ) The time rotor in the Rani ' s TARDIS was a pair of bare , rotating , metallic rings rather than a cylinder . ( TV : " The Mark of the Rani " ) The Junk TARDIS built by the Eleventh Doctor and Idris featured a short time rotor salvaged from a dead TARDIS , plugged into a similarly salvaged console . It contained lights and metal components . It glowed pink when activated with a touch by Idris . ( TV : " The Doctor ' s Wife " )