The TARDIS(/ˈtɑrdɪs/;
Time And Relative Dimension In Space) is a time machine and spacecraft in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who and its associated spin-offs The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood and more.
A TARDIS is a product of the advanced technology of the
Time Lords, an extraterrestrial civilisation to which the programme'
s central character, the
Doctor, belongs. A properly maintained and piloted TARDIS can transport its occupants to any point in
time and space. The interior of a TARDIS is much larger than its exterior. It can blend in with its surroundings using the ship's "chameleon circuit". TARDISes also possess a degree of sapience (which has been expressed in a variety of ways ranging from implied machine personality and free
will through to the use of a conversant avatar) and provide their users with additional tools and abilities including a telepathically
based universal translation system.
In the series, the Doctor pilots an apparently unreliable, obsolete Type 40,
Mark 1 TARDIS. Its chameleon circuit is broken, leaving it stuck in the shape of a 1960s-style London police
box after a visit to
London in 1963. The Doctor's TARDIS was for most of the series' history said to have been stolen from the
Time Lords' home planet, Gallifrey, where it was old, decommissioned and derelict.
“River Song: Use the stabilisers!
The
Doctor: It doesn't have stabilisers!
River Song: The blue switches!
The
Doctor: The blue ones
don't do anything, they're just... blue!
River Song:
Yes they're blue: they're the blue stabilisers! presses the button and the TARDIS indeed stabilises See?
The
Doctor: Yeah? Well, it's boring now, isn't it? They're boring-ers! They're blue... boring-ers!
River Song: Okay, I've mapped the probability vectors, done a foldback on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination and... presses a button, the cloister bell clangs parked us right alongside.
The
Doctor: Parked us? But we haven't landed!
River Song: Of course we've landed; I just landed her.
The Doctor: But it didn't make the noise.
River Song: What noise?
The Doctor: You know, the... does an impression of the TARDIS materialisation sound
River Song: It's not supposed to make that noise. You leave the brakes on.
The Doctor:
Yes, well, it's a brilliant noise. I love that noise.
“He thought for a second, then spun to
Clara. 'Did you say something cruel to the TARDIS while I was getting changed?'
'No! Of course not!'
'Did you call her
fat?'
'What?'
'Because she's not fat. She's just bigger on the inside.