The Doctor’s TT Type 40 capsule, or his “frankly magnificent timeship”, is as central to the show as the Time Lord himself.
Here CultBox takes a look at some great TARDIS moments…
‘The Edge of Destruction’
In the programme’s first bottle story, written to fulfil its original commission of thirteen episodes, the entire action takes place on board the TARDIS.
With tensions rising among the time travellers and after a regrettable incident with some scissors, the ship is revealed to have a telepathic connection with its crew and to be far more than just a simple machine. This comes as a surprise to the Doctor himself.
‘Terminus’
Under the thrall of the Black Guardian, devious companion Turlough attempted to pull out the ‘heart of the TARDIS’, its space/time element, in order to destroy the ship. His sabotage merely damaged the craft though as its interior fused onto a passing vessel.
This created some very incongruous scenes, with the wall scrawl of the Lazar ship bleeding into the TARDIS and her roundel covered walls. Meanwhile, the time travellers found themselves with greater problems as they were trapped with a group of plague victims on the way to their final destination.
‘The TV Movie’
While it is deeply unpopular in some areas for tweaks made to the central character and the nonsensical resolution of the plot, it is difficult to deny that the TARDIS interiors in 1996’s one-off outing were tremendous.
Forsaking the predominately white designs of the past, the console room underwent a stunning steam punk style makeover which made it look like something drawn from the imagination of Jules Verne novel, with nods back to the wooden secondary console room of Season 14. One notable change was the transformation of the scanner from a television screen into a tremendous projected canopy above the console.
The movie also introduced the idea that the TARDIS was powered by the Eye of Harmony, a power source last seen on Gallifrey in ‘The Deadly Assassin’, provoking reams of fan debate.
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