TARDIS

Time and Relative Dimension(s) in Space & Time

The TARDIS is a time machine prominently featured in the British science fiction series Doctor Who (1963-present). TARDIS is an acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension(s) in Space". Its primary function is to transport "The Doctor" on his/her journeys through space and time, as it functions as both a time machine and spacecraft. Additional TARDISes are seen throughout the series and function as the main mode of transport for the time traversing alien civilization known as the Time Lords (or Gallifreyans, after the name of their homeworld.)

## Description

The TARDIS is said to be grown, not built. Although we see instances of a functioning TARDIS being constructed out of discarded TARDIS remains, suggesting one can technically be constructed manually. It is equipped with a function called a "chameleon circuit", which give the TARDIS the ability to blend inconspicuously into its surroundings, no matter what time period or planet the vessel is on. Our main protagonist's TARDIS was damaged prior to the first episode, causing it to get "stuck" in the form of a 1960's era Police Box. As a result, the most popular and recognizable TARDIS in pop culture is the Police Box version. Although we have seen other properly functioning TARDISes take the form of many different things, including a fireplace, a plant, private living quarters inside a college and even a fully functioning diner.

The wide variety of sizes the TARDIS can take on the outside is facilitated by its "dimensionally transcendental" construction, allowing it to be many orders of magnitude larger internally than externally. Thus, a person unfamiliar with the TARDIS interior structure can get lost in its depths, compounded by the fact the TARDIS is also able to alter its internal design.

The TARDIS can travel to any point in space or time, which makes it somewhat unique in the pantheon of time machines depicted over the decades that normally only travel limited distances, if any at all. These movements in space can be made by simply covering physical distance, such as when we see the TARDIS in an actual car chase, or by traversing that distance through a space/time vortex. An additionally unique aspect of its depiction is the extent of time travel its actually made, going all the way forward to the heat death of the universe, and as far back as the primordial ooze that would become all living things on earth. There is at least one instance of a TARDIS' coordinates being set for the Big Bang, although this trip is never taken.

The TARDIS is semi-sentient, with the being at its center having a will of its own. Sometimes the TARDIS ignores The Doctor's wishes, taking him/her places they never asked to go or refusing to travel to coordinates set. The TARDIS has a locking mechanism on its main entrance that resembles a simple lock and key, but it can refuse anyone, including The Doctor, entry if it so so desires. In the episode titled "The Doctor's Wife", the TARDIS consciousness is transferred into a physical female human form named Idris. Idris is the first and only time the Doctor gets to interact with the living being that is the TARDIS, and we receive confirmation that the two do, indeed, have a type of familial bond, despite the inability for direct verbal or telepathic communication.

The main control room for the TARDIS, sometimes referred to as the "desktop", changes over time, usually coinciding with a change in the main actor cast to play The Doctor for a given season. As The Doctor's species is capable of "regeneration" upon mortal injury, this plot device has been used to cast new actors in the role and maintain the series for several decades longer than normal. That cast change has often been used as an opportunity to update the TARDIS main control center with a new look for a new Doctor. Although, this update to the room is not directly connected to The Doctor's need for regeneration, other than as a plot contrivance created for a particular story. A consistent feature of this control room, however, is the hexagonal control console for operating the TARDIS at the center of the room and the moving tubular device called a "time rotor".

The TARDIS is powered by the artificial singularity, or black hole, beneath the column of the central control console. Known as the Eye of Harmony, this power source gives the TARDIS the ability to perform incredible feats, including reverting an alien who looked directly into its heart to an egg, hover perfectly still in one spot in space and time indefinitely and even towing an entire planet across the galaxy. Additionally, the TARDIS has been shown capable of generating a bubble of atmosphere around itself, allowing a person to step outside unharmed by space or other dangerous atmospherics, generate an impenetrable shield protecting it from attacks or capture, as well as create a "perception filter" that causes people to ignore its presence, when it would otherwise be seemingly out of place.

## Depiction of Time Travel

The TARDIS travels to different places and times through an intersection in space and time called the Time Vortex. This realm exists within the 5th dimension outside of time and space that we know as the universe. The version of the The Doctor known as the "War Doctor" described it as a series of corridors that connected everywhere and everywhen in the universe. The complexities of these infinite strands of energy were often a contributing factor in the TARDIS not arriving exactly where and when it was supposed to, as precise calculations were needed to traverse this realm. Any minor deviation in course could result in missing your target by millions of years and billions of lightyears. Or not. One could spend months in the Vortex and come out the other side only a few days and a few steps away from their destination.

As implied, travel through the Vortex is not instant. Relative time passes as you make your journey, where events can happen along the way. The varied forms of media depicting the Vortex over the years have added to its complexity, introducing concepts such as a number of different life forms who reside in the Vortex. The Vortex itself could be utilized for other functions not related to time travel, even weaponized with catastrophic results. Battles could be fought within this realm and it could even be utilized to transform elements of the matter universe.

As a result of destinations requiring time to reach, much, if not most of Doctor Who media takes place within the confines of the TARDIS. The Vortex itself ends up being the staging ground for many stories and origins for lore.

Visually, the Vortex is typically depicted as a glowing vortex of swirling energy. But different mediums over the decade have been utilized to create this imagery, resulting the Vortex having different looks and appearances over time. General convention has been to depict the vortex in the same style of the imagery shown in the opening title sequence of a Doctor Who episode, dating as far back as the original premiere.

Since the very beginning, the one constant of the TARDIS depiction has been its entry and exit into regular space/time. It simply fades in and out of existence as or materializes or dematerializes, as well as heralding its voyages with a distinctive sound of churning machinery. This sound, represented in print media with the repeating onomatopoeia "Vworp!" or "Vwoorp!", was achieved by scrapping a key down the bass strings of a broken piano and additional feedback. Being so unique, the sound of the TARDIS making this noise is strongly associated with time travel to those familiar with the franchise.

### Effects of Time Travel

It was once believed the regenerative properties of the Time Lords was only possible through exposure to a space-time rift located on Gallifrey called the Untempered Schism. However, this regenerative property was shown to be possible in a human conceived aboard a TARDIS in transit through the Time Vortex with some additional manipulation to their biology. The only known such instance was in the case of Melody Pond.

## Gallery

The control room of the Doctor's TARDIS as it looked during the time of the 8th DoctorThe Control Room of the TARDIS as it appeared during the era of the 11th Doctor