The Doctor's TARDIS

**The Doctor's TARDIS** — also called **the Ship**, **the Box**, and simply **the TARDIS** was the Doctor's primary means of transport. It was capable of travelling through space and time. The Doctor voyaged all across the universe in this vessel, from the Big Bang (TV: *Terminus*, *Castrovalva) to the end of the universe and from the centre of the universe (TV: Terminus) to its outermost edges. (TV: Planet of Evil, Underworld) The craft was also capable of travelling between parallel realities, in spite of the fact that it was not specifically designed for inter-dimensional travel. (TV: Inferno) Like all other TARDIS models, the Doctor's TARDIS was controlled via a central control console. (TV: An Unearthly Child, et al.*

*Other Time Lords frequently characterised the Doctor's TARDIS as woefully out-of-date. (TV: The Claws of Axos, The Ribos Operation) Indeed, by at least the time of the Doctor's fourth incarnation, if not much earlier, the model — called a "Type 40" — had been pulled from general service on Gallifrey, and replaced by more advanced models. (TV: The Deadly Assassin, The Invasion of Time)*

The craft was prone to a number of technical faults, ranging from depleted resources (TV: *An Unearthly Child*, *The Wheel in Space*, *Vengeance on Varos*) to malfunctioning controls (TV: *The Edge of Destruction*) to a simple inability to arrive at the proper time or location. (TV: *The Visitation*, *Attack of the Cybermen* and many others) However, because the TARDIS was a living being, these "faults" may instead have been at least partially attributed to the manifestation of the ship's free will.

## Exterior

Almost all TARDISes were designed to blend into their surroundings by means of a mechanism usually called the "chameleon circuit", but occasionally the "camouflage unit". Some later models seemed to let the pilot choose a desired exterior, overriding what would have been "natural" for the surroundings. (TV: *Time-Flight*)

The Fourth Doctor showed Adric how the TARDIS could be changed to the shape of an Egyptian pyramid, implying he could override the chameleon circuit's "automatic" functionality. (TV: *Logopolis*) Susan mentioned the TARDIS also had previously appeared as a sedan chair and an Ionic column. (TV: *An Unearthly Child*)

In any case, the defining characteristic of the Doctor's TARDIS was that its chameleon circuit had broken after assuming the shape of a police box in 1963 London. (TV: *The Cave of Skulls* et al.)

On at least one instance, it was implied that the chameleon circuit *was*working or at least, the Doctor was able to fix it, but that they were fond of the police box shape so the TARDIS remained in that form. (TV: *Cold Land*)

By their eleventh incarnation, the Doctor was telling their companions that the chameleon circuit *was* working, but due to a fault, invariably assumed its customary police box shape

Friends and enemies could identify the TARDIS by its unvarying shape. The Daleks even used miniature copies of the TARDIS for target practice. (TV: *Death to the Daleks*) The Cybermen recognised it, (TV: *Earthshock*) as did the Black Guardian's operative known as the Shadow (TV: *The Armageddon Factor*)

## Gallery

An Unearthly Child-The War MachinesThe Smugglers-The Seeds of DoomThe Masque of Mandragora-The Horns of NimonThe Leisure Hive
## Door

Generally, the TARDIS had two doors along one of the craft's four sides. They could open inward and outward. (TV: *Time-Flight*, *The Ice Warriors)*

The right-hand door usually had a lock, (TV: *The Sensorites*, *Spearhead from Space* et al.) although the lock was sometimes on the left-hand door, even though normal entry was still through the right. (TV: most serials prior to *The War Machines*)

On the left-hand door was a panel in which was a replica of a telephone used in real police boxes to summon the police. (TV: *The Empty Child*) While the Second Doctor inhabited the TARDIS the emergency phone was sometimes on the right-hand panel, but by the time of his adventure on Dulkis, it had returned to the left-hand door. (TV: *The Dominators*) Although during the Doctor's eleventh incarnation this phone was (usually) non-functional, (TV: *The Empty Child*) A sign on this small door offered instructions on use of the phone. (TV: *Logopolis*)

On most occasions, the left-hand door was set to a fixed position. Likewise, the windows on the door were most often seen in a closed position, though the First Doctor sometimes opened them. (TV: *The Dalek Invasion of Earth*)

The left-hand door was sometimes used for egress and the right-hand one stayed in a fixed position. (TV: *The Aztecs*)

The windows on the doors and around the exterior could be opened, at least during the First Doctor's tenure. (TV: *The Dalek Invasion of Earth*, *The Rescue*, *The Web Planet*) During the Doctor's first incarnation, a faded St John Ambulance logo could be seen on the door, even though it was sometimes barely visible under a layer of paint. Beginning during their second incarnation, it was not present. (TV: *The Dominators* onwards)

## Interior

### First/Second Doctor's Console Room

When the TARDIS was used by the First Doctor and Second Doctor its interior was a bright white room, with roundels on the walls and a large computer bank taking up a major part of the ''back'' wall. These computer backs contained the fault locator and various systems relating to navigational control (TV: *An Unearthly Child*, *The Daleks*). The interior had several pieces of furniture and antiques strewn about it, the position/presence of these objects changed over time. This interior also had a scanner on the wall, its appearance and position often changed as well (TV: *An Unearthly Child*, *The Abominable Snowmen*, *Fury from the Deep*, *The Wheel in Space*, *The Mind Robber*).

The overall structure of the room occasionally changed, with it at times being hexagonal (TV: *An Unearthly Child*), and other times rectangular (TV: *The War Games*).

The console was shown in the Third Doctor era separated from the its interior as The Doctor attempted to fix it during his exile (TV: *Inferno*).

### Third Doctor's Console Room

The first look at the TARDIS interior in the Third Doctor's era showed an interior with unchanged wall from the original version, the difference in terms of structure to the original room include a different scanner and the fact that the room is noticeably smaller. The main difference from the previous interior was a new center console, the controls had minimal changes but the time rotor now had a green column with white and red lights inside the glass casing (TV: *Colony in Space*).

The Third Doctor briefly changed the walls of the console room, adding concave "bowl" shaped structures over the regular roundels, with edges that jutted out from the wall, and featuring shallower, non-backlit roundels for the half-roundels at the tops and bottoms of the walls. One of the roundels served as a replacement for the scanner, a picture appearing in its centre (TV: *The Time Monster*). He later reverted to the more traditional design, though with a more visible separation between the roundels and the wall behind them. This new interior had several similarities to the original, with a ceiling based scanner and a large computer at the back (TV: *The Three Doctors*).

### Fourth Doctor's First Console Room

The Fourth Doctor's first console had many similarities to that of his predecessor, however it was remarkably different. The most distinct feature of this new consoles aesthetic was the introduction of the first new roundel style. While half the walls remained the same indented roundels seen in the previous interiors, the other half consists of new shallow roundels that are the same grey colour as the walls around them.(Note: The ratio of new to old roundels changes from episode to episode) In terms of the console only one aspect carried over from the previous one, that being the time rotor.

The time rotor of this console is the same as the one from the previous one, except that the previously white lights on it have been changed to red. The controls of the console have been completely changed, as opposed to previous console which only added aesthetic changes (i.e. paneling). At the back of the console room is an indented door that leads to the rest of the ship. (TV: *Planet of Evil*, *Pyramids of Mars*)

### Fourth Doctor's Second Console Room/Secondary Console Room

There existed a small second control room which the Doctor claimed may have been the original console room; a recorder and smoking jacket were found in here, implying both the Second and Third Doctors visited this room but chose not to use it. It was simpler and more compact than the main control room, with the console resembling a desk, no visible time rotor and all the controls hidden behind what appeared to be wooden paneling. The controls of this console primarily consisted of various keyboards of multi-coloured keys. On one wall there is a very large scanner built into an indented space on the wall.

It had more subtle roundels, some of them framing stained glass windows. There were many pieces of furniture in this interior, several chairs, tables, and desks are present. There are railings that surround the console and line the staircase leading to the exit. For a brief period, the Fourth Doctor used this as the main control room. (TV: *The Masque of Mandragora*, *The Hand of Fear*, *The Deadly Assassin*, *The Robots of Death*, *The Invisible Enemy*)

### Fourth Doctor's Third/Fifth Doctor's First Console Room

This interior was very similar to the Fourth Doctor’s first interior in terms of structure, however there were several differences. The biggest similarity between the two interiors is the console itself. The controls of the console are the same as the ones as the ones from the first one, with small changes and repairs on this one. The time rotor is the same as the one in the first except that while the original was green this one is red. The walls of the interior are notable for two things: the introduction of columns between the individual walls and the phasing out of the original roundel style. Though the last interior used a mix of old new roundels, this interior used a brand new type.

These roundels were yellow when lit and had a very different structure to previous types. These roundels were shallow like the last new type, but where these differ is that the roundels have an outer rim that as even further indented.

The doors also had a version of these roundels in their indented roundels. Opposite to the doors are the scanner and a single door leading to the rest of the ship. The scanner opens in an ‘’eye-like’’ fashion and rests on its own indented space in the wall. (TV: *The Invisible Enemy*)

The Fifth Doctor continued to use this design. On orders from the Black Guardian, Vislor Turlough later damaged the heart of the TARDIS enough to the point of the TARDIS nearly falling apart, (TV: *Terminus*) leaving the room darker for some time until repairs were done. (TV: *Enlightenment*) The appearance of the interior change very little, with the exception of refurbishment to the controls.

### Fifth Doctor's Second/Sixth Doctor's Console Room

This interior had many similarities to the previous one, primarily in the setup of the walls. The roundels were carried over from the previous models as were the set up of the columns, however the columns themselves changed.

The columns were originally cylinder-shaped but now they were more rectangular in shape. This new rectangular motif continued on to the scanner, with new descending rectangles lining to the sides of it. The main difference for this interior was the new console.

The console of this interior was simultaneously the most complex and yet one of the most simple. All the panels consisted only of several keyboards and switches, some of the panels had a monitor. The time rotor was also new, it consisted of an ascending incline of clear discs sat upon several red and white poles inside the glass cylinder.

Aside from those elements, all parts of this interior were identical to the previous model. (TV: *The Five Doctors*).