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.
