26
votes
Accepted
Out of universe, what makes the TARDIS noise?
At least originally, keys scraped on a piano
According to the person who made it:
On how the Tardis should sound, he said: "I don't know who thought of
it, but we came up with the 'rending of ...
24
votes
If the TARDIS is infinite, doesn’t that mean it contains everything?
No. Being infinitely spacious in no way means it contains all possible universes. It just means the TARDIS is physically infinite, in that it goes on forever. Nothing about "everything that can ...
21
votes
Why did the Daleks try to blow up the TARDIS?
We only know of one instance where the destruction of a Tardis destroyed the universe, specifically in The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. We know of other instances where Tardises have been ...
18
votes
Accepted
How much control does the Doctor have over the TARDIS?
It varies. Wildly.
The Doctor took a course on how to pilot a TARDIS. He failed.
The instruction manual for the TARDIS was flung into a supernova.
The TARDIS seats six drivers. The Doctor works ...
16
votes
Was the Doctor’s TARDIS inside Clara’s?
Yes, The Doctor's TARDIS was inside the Clara's TARDIS and it's not the first time it happened. Time Crash shows a different thing (i.e. Crash of the same TARDIS from different time). It's not landing ...
15
votes
Was the Doctor’s TARDIS inside Clara’s?
As you say, Time Crash had the 5th and 10th Doctors’ TARDISes crash into each other.
That’s presumably different from, and much worse than, one TARDIS materialising around another TARDIS, which I’d ...
15
votes
How did the Time Lords put a whole "Star" in a Tardis?
Time and Relative Dimensions In Space - TARDIS
We've seen plenty of episodes where the TARDIS is enormous. In fact, the episode The Name of the Doctor gives us a hint that it's not just bigger on the ...
13
votes
How can Ashildr pilot a TARDIS?
Ashildr is not flying the TARDIS. Clara is.
From the very end of the episode (emphasis mine)
CLARA: Mind you, seeing as I'm not actually ageing, there's a tiny little bit of wiggle room, isn't ...
13
votes
If the TARDIS is infinite, doesn’t that mean it contains everything?
No. Infinity is not Everything.
Think of it like this: There are infinitely many even numbers, yet not all numbers are even.
12
votes
Accepted
When did Doctor Who explain how the chameleon circuit works?
This is "Meanwhile in the TARDIS 1", a minisode from series five set moments after the end of The Eleventh Hour. It was included as a special feature on the DVD release, but is also on ...
12
votes
Out of Universe, how many TARDIS props have been used?
As of 2020, there have been nineteen known full size TARDIS Police Box exterior props.
Original 1963 prop. Lamp was replaced in season two. Various refurbishments were made over the years, including ...
12
votes
Why was the Silence ship from "The Lodger" abandoned?
The circumstances of the episode imply that it was abandoned in 1969 (or shortly thereafter; emphasis mine):
Doctor: You just raised an army against yourself and now, for a thousand generations, you'...
12
votes
Accepted
In which episode of Doctor Who is the Tardis a Red Police Box and is there a significance for it?
You may be thinking of The Happiness Patrol (three Seventh Doctor episodes, Season 25 Serial 2), in which the TARDIS is pink for a while. From the transcript:
(The Doctor and Ace return to see the ...
11
votes
If the TARDIS is infinite, doesn’t that mean it contains everything?
Not necessarily
An infinite set does not necessarily contain everything.
Consider the set of all Fibonnaci numbers. This is an infinite set. Now, where in this set can you find the Daleks? I just ...
11
votes
To what extent were the writers of Bill and Ted's aware of the TARDIS?
Co-writer Chris Matheson claims that neither he, nor co-writer Ed Solomon nor the film's director Stephen Herek (who suggested the phone box) knew anything about Doctor Who.
“Rufus was originally ...
10
votes
Before the Flood: How did the Doctor get the TARDIS back to him at the end of the episode?
an emergency protocol of the TARDIS activates and takes Bennett and the TARDIS elsewhere (presumably somewhere safe)
The "elsewhere" was probably the last 'safe' location the TARDIS had been in, ...
10
votes
Accepted
Why doesn't the Doctor go back to Gallifrey before the Time War?
One does not simply fly into Gallifrey.
In "The Day of the Doctor", when the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors arrived in the barn where the War Doctor was about to detonate the moment, this ...
10
votes
Accepted
What is the original name for a TARDIS?
From the thedoctorwhowebsite.co.uk page for the TARDIS origins, we see that the vehicle is known as Type 40 Mark | TT Capsule where TT stood for Time travel. It's likely this (or TT Capsule) was its ...
10
votes
Accepted
Why did the Tardis turn red at the end of Turn Left?
It's the Tardis alerting the Doctor to a seriously major problem or emergency. You can hear the Cloister bells ringing.
Here's another example from Season3 Ep.13 "the Sound of Drums"
Apparently, ...
9
votes
Accepted
What powers the TARDIS?
http://www.whoniverse.net/tardis/tardiseye
One of the Hearts of a TARDIS (like Time Lords, a TARDIS has two) is a
massive energy collector that is a mathematically constructed copy of
the Prime ...
8
votes
Why doesn't the Doctor go back to Gallifrey before the Time War?
Simply put - he can't, not really. The was was a TIME war, afterall. The Daleks attacked Gallifrey at many different points in it's timeline, and the entire planet (and it's timeline) are thus ...
8
votes
Does the front door of the TARDIS always open up to the control room?
"Day of the Moon" provides some information on this, but I'm not sure whether it's an argument for or against the possibility:
CANTON: She dove off a rooftop.
DOCTOR: Don't worry. She does that. ...
8
votes
Accepted
The risk of the TARDIS safeguard
While we've never seen the TARDIS explicitly enter a black hole and return, there is good reason to believe that she's perfectly capable of doing so.
1: The Eye of Harmony
Though continuity is a ...
8
votes
Accepted
Is there any TARDIS driving system defined by the creators of the show?
This isn't the video that I referred to in my comment above (which I'm still looking for), but the video linked shows that the production designers wanted the main console to offer the Doctor ...
8
votes
Accepted
Why isn't the Pope being translated?
We don't actually know this is the case.
After reviewing the scenes, there's nothing that proves that the people who should normally understand the Pope thanks to telepathic translation, don't ...
8
votes
Has there ever been some Doctor Who story in which multiple companions from different Doctors were kidnapped?
This basically happens in "The Five Doctors," the twentieth anniversary show. The First, Second, Third, and Fifth Doctors all make major appearances, along with quite a few companions. Susan, the ...
7
votes
How could the regeneration effect have changed over time?
"Regeneration effects are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." -Forrest Gump
If you want some attempt at a canonical answer, though, the best I've seen is that the first ...
7
votes
Accepted
What language does the Meta-Crisis Doctor speak?
The Doctor speaks English.
He's spent more than enough time in Britain without a TARDIS that he must be fluent in English. It's not surprising really: he's a 1000-year-old Time Lord who spends an ...
7
votes
If the chameleon circuit on the TARDIS were fixed, what would happen to calls made to the outside phone?
I believe the calls would get routed to an interior communication system instead. This exterior phone is part of the TARDIS' disguise, after all, so any functionality it may have would logically be ...
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