The Doctor ' s Gladstone bag A series of Gladstone bag s were used by the First and later the Seventh and Eighth Doctor s on several occasions . The bag included many objects which the Doctor used to escape specific situations . Technology and functions . The Doctor ' s Gladstone bag was a notable source for many objects for which the Doctor had use . ( COMIC : " Shark Bait " , et al . ) By one account , the Gladstone bag , much like the TARDIS , was bigger - on - the - inside , explaining how so many convenient items could be packed inside . However , this was revealed to be a dream being had by the Eighth Doctor , and although he also had one of the bags in his real TARDIS , it is hard to gauge how much of said account applied to the real Gladstone bag . ( COMIC : " The Land of Happy Endings " ) The Seventh Doctor ' s Gladstone bag seemed to have regular dimensions on the inside . ( TV : " Doctor Who " ) The Gladstone bag didn ' t always carry everything that the Doctor needed , as he once cursed himself for not packing it with water . ( COMIC : " Plague of the Black Scorpi " ) History . The earliest account of the First Doctor using one of these bags was on a sand planet , where the TARDIS sunk into an underground cave . In order to pass a watery area in the cave , the Doctor pulled several pairs of flipper s in order to allow them to swim across . When his companion and grandchild John was attacked by a giant crab , the Doctor stopped it with an electroliser . The bag was left in the water , and the Doctor left the planet without retrieving it . ( COMIC : " Shark Bait " ) The Doctor brought another bag to Christmas - land , where he met Santa Claus . In order to help Santa Claus make toy TARDIS es , he emerged a magic box which could shrink or enlarge objects . The Doctor again left the planet without the bag . ( COMIC : " A Christmas Story " ) The Doctor then visited a desert planet with his grandchildren . He later cursed himself for not bringing water with them in the bag . Upon discovering a grouping of Coconut trees , the Doctor dropped the bag . He left the planet without retrieving it . ( COMIC : " Plague of the Black Scorpi " ) The Seventh Doctor lost a Gladstone bag after fleeing from a swarm of prototype robots . ( PROSE : " Companion Piece " ) At the end of his life , the Seventh Doctor was using a Gladstone bag as a toolbox . He pulled the Sonic screwdriver from the bag , using it to seal ' s remains . Later , the Eighth Doctor used the bag while trying to jump - start the TARDIS . ( TV : " Doctor Who " ) The Eighth Doctor used the Gladstone bag to carry the tools he needed to arm the nuclear bomb inside Fatboy . ( PROSE : " Eater of Wasps " ) The bag contained medical equipment including a stethoscope and healing ointment . ( PROSE : " Timeless " ) It later contained Gobstoppers , Fizz Bombs , Jelly Babies , an " Eagle " comic from the 1950s , and a psionic beam locator . ( PROSE : " The Deadstone Memorial " ) When dreaming of adventures with John and Gillian , the Eighth Doctor carried the bag . When he woke up , he found it under the console in the TARDIS . ( COMIC : " The Land of Happy Endings " ) Behind the scenes . Having first appeared in the " TV Comic " story " Shark Bait " , the Gladstone bag was invented by the writers of the comic as a " ' catch all ' saviour of all script dead ends " . In the days before such devices as the sonic screwdriver , the Gladstone bag allowed for quick resolutions to things in the way of the main characters , allowing for more to happen within the narrative . While featuring in only three comic stories , the bag has since gone on to become a minor staple of the Doctor ' s accessories in other media , being used often in the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures . As noted above , a Gladstone bag was also used as the base for the Seventh Doctor ' s toolbox , although it ' s unclear if the connection was purposeful on the part of the production team . It made a notable return to comics during the " Doctor Who Magazine " celebration of " TV Comics " in the story " The Land of Happy Endings " , where it was used by the Eighth Doctor . The comic revealed many secrets about the bag , such as that it was bigger on the inside , but the ultimate twist of the story was that most of the narrative shown ( and possibly any story to feature John and Gillian ) was a dream inside the Doctor ' s mind . However , the Gladstone bag apparently also existed within the " real " TARDIS , again confusing how much of the story had been true .