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The TARDIS (;
acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the
time machine Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...
and
spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...
that appears in the British
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
television series '' Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior appearance mimics a
police box A police box is a public telephone kiosk or callbox for the use of members of the police, or for members of the public to contact the police. It was used in the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century from the early 1920s. Unlike an ordinar ...
, an obsolete type of telephone kiosk that was once commonly seen on streets in Britain. Paradoxically, its interior is shown as being much larger than its exterior, commonly described as being "bigger on the inside". Due to the significance of ''Doctor Who'' in popular
British culture British culture is influenced by the combined nations' history; its historically Christian religious life, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the traditions of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland and the impact of the British Empire ...
, the shape of the police box is now more strongly associated with the TARDIS than its real-world inspiration. The name and design of the TARDIS is a registered
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...
of the
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
(BBC), despite the fact that the design was originally created by the Metropolitan Police Service.


Name

TARDIS is an acronym of "Time And Relative Dimension(s) in Space". The word "Dimension" is alternatively rendered in the plural. The acronym was explained in the first episode of the show, ''
An Unearthly Child ''An Unearthly Child'' (sometimes referred to as ''100,000 BC'') is the first serial of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in four weekly parts from 23 November to 14 December 1963 ...
'' (1963), in which the Doctor's granddaughter claims to have made it up herself. Generally, "TARDIS" is written in all uppercase letters, but may also be written in
title case Title case or headline case is a style of capitalization used for rendering the titles of published works or works of art in English. When using title case, all words are capitalized, except for minor words (typically articles, short prepositions, ...
as "Tardis". The word "Tardis" first appeared in print in the Christmas 1963 edition of '' Radio Times'', which refers to "the space-time ship ''Tardis''", and this publication has often italicised it to connote a ship's name.


Description

In the fictional universe of the ''Doctor Who'' television show, TARDISes are space and time-travel vehicles of the
Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, the Doctor, is a member. Time Lords are so named for their command ...
s, beings from the planet
Gallifrey Gallifrey () is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is the original home world of the Time Lords, the civilisation to which the protagonist, the Doctor belongs. It is located in ...
. Although many TARDISes exist and are sometimes seen on-screen, the television show mainly features a single TARDIS used by the show's protagonist, a Time Lord who goes by the name of the Doctor. TARDISes are built with a "chameleon circuit", a type of
camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
technology that changes the exterior form of the ship to blend into the environment of whatever time or place it lands in. The Doctor's TARDIS always resembles a 1960s London
police box A police box is a public telephone kiosk or callbox for the use of members of the police, or for members of the public to contact the police. It was used in the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century from the early 1920s. Unlike an ordinar ...
, an object that was very common in Britain at the time of the show's first broadcast. Owing to a malfunction in the chameleon circuit after the events of the first episode of the show, ''
An Unearthly Child ''An Unearthly Child'' (sometimes referred to as ''100,000 BC'') is the first serial of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in four weekly parts from 23 November to 14 December 1963 ...
'', the Doctor's TARDIS is stuck in the same disguise for a long period. The Doctor has attempted to repair the chameleon circuit, unsuccessfully in ''
Logopolis ''Logopolis'' is the seventh and final serial of the 18th season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 28 February to 21 March 1981. It was Tom Baker's last ...
'' (1981) and with only temporary success in '' Attack of the Cybermen'' (1985). In the 2005 television story "
Boom Town A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...
", the Doctor reveals that he has stopped trying to repair the circuit as he has become fond of its appearance. The other TARDISes that appear in the series have chameleon circuits that are fully functional. While the exterior is of limited size, the TARDIS is famously "bigger on the inside". Behind the police box doors lies a large control room, at the centre of which is a hexagonal console for operating the TARDIS. In the middle of the console is a moving tubular device called a time rotor. The presence of a physically larger space contained within the police box is explained as "dimensionally transcendental", with the interior being a whole separate dimension containing an infinite number of rooms, corridors and storage spaces, all of which can change their appearance and configuration. The TARDIS also allows the Doctor and others to communicate with people who speak languages other than their own. The “translation circuit” (occasionally called the “translation matrix”) was first explored in "The Masque of Mandragora" (1976), as the Doctor explained to his companion, Sarah, "Well, I’ve taken you to some strange places before and you’ve never asked how you understood the local language. It’s a Time Lord’s gift I allow you to share. But tonight when you asked me how you understood Italian, I realized your mind had been taken over.” The translation circuit has also been explored in comparison with real-world machine translation, with researchers Mark Halley and Lynne Bowker concluding that "when it comes to the science of translation technology, ''Doctor Who'' gets it wrong more often than it gets it right. However, perhaps we can forgive the artistic license if we recognize that, as in other science fiction works, the presentation of some type of ubiquitous translation tool is necessary to explain to the audience how people from other countries, time periods, and even other worlds, can understand each other and indeed appear to speak (mostly) flawless English."


Conceptual history


Exterior design

When ''Doctor Who'' was being developed in 1963 the production staff discussed what the Doctor's time machine would look like. To keep the design within budget it was decided to make the outside resemble a police telephone box, a common piece of
street furniture Street furniture is a collective term for objects and pieces of equipment installed along streets and roads for various purposes. It includes benches, traffic barriers, bollards, post boxes, phone boxes, streetlamps, traffic lights, traf ...
that had originally been designed in the 1920s by the Scottish architect Gilbert Mackenzie Trench. The idea for the police-box disguise came from a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
staff writer,
Anthony Coburn James Anthony Coburn (10 December 1927 – 28 April 1977) was an Australian television writer and producer, who spent much of his professional career living and working in the United Kingdom. He is best remembered for writing the first ''Doctor ...
, who rewrote the programme's first episode from a draft by C. E. Webber. While there is no known precedent for this notion, a November 1960 episode of the popular radio comedy show
Beyond our Ken ''Beyond Our Ken'' is a BBC radio comedy programme first broadcast between 1958 and 1964. It starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden, Bill Pertwee, and, as announcer, Douglas Smith. The title is a play on t ...
included a sketch featuring a time machine described as "a long police box". The concept of a cloaking mechanism (later referred to as the "chameleon circuit") was devised to explain this. In the first episode, "
An Unearthly Child ''An Unearthly Child'' (sometimes referred to as ''100,000 BC'') is the first serial of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in four weekly parts from 23 November to 14 December 1963 ...
" (1963), the TARDIS is first seen hidden in a London scrapyard in 1963, and after travelling back in time ("
The Cave of Skulls ''An Unearthly Child'' (sometimes referred to as ''100,000 BC'') is the first serial of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in four weekly parts from 23 November to 14 December 1963 ...
") to the Paleolithic Era, the police box exterior persists. In a subsequent story, "
The Time Meddler ''The Time Meddler'' is the ninth and final serial of the second season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Written by Dennis Spooner and directed by Douglas Camfield, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four ...
" (1965), the
First Doctor The First Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. He was portrayed by actor William Hartnell. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time ...
explains that the TARDIS should automatically adopt a disguise, such as a
howdah A howdah, or houdah (Hindi: हौदा ''haudā''), derived from the Arabic (hawdaj), which means "bed carried by a camel", also known as ''hathi howdah'' (''hāthī haudā'', हाथी हौदा), is a carriage which is positioned on ...
(a carrier on the back of an Indian elephant in the Indian Mutiny) or a rock on a beach. Accounts differ as to the origin of the police box prop. While the BBC asserts that it was constructed specially for ''Doctor Who'', it has been claimed that the box was a reused prop from the BBC television police dramas ''
Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debut ...
'' or ''
Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' was a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 19 ...
'' (a claim later repeated by ''Doctor Who'' producer
Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the science fiction television series ''Doct ...
). The dimensions and colour of the TARDIS police box props used in the series have changed many times, as a result of damage and the requirements of the show, and none of the BBC props has been a faithful replica of the original MacKenzie Trench model. Numerous details have been altered over time, including the shape of the roof, the signage, the shade of blue paint, the presence of a
St John Ambulance St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...
emblem and the overall height of the box. The original prop remained in use for around 13 years until it collapsed — reportedly on
Elisabeth Sladen Elisabeth Clara Heath-Sladen (1 February 1946 – 19 April 2011) was an English actress. She became best known as Sarah Jane Smith in the British television series ''Doctor Who'', appearing as a regular cast member from 1973 to 1976, alongside ...
's head. A new prop was introduced for ''
The Masque of Mandragora ''The Masque of Mandragora'' is the first serial of the 14th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 4 to 25 September 1976. The serial is set in the fi ...
'' in 1976, and there have been at least six versions in total. The evolution of the prop design was referenced on-screen in the episode " Blink" (2007), when the character
Detective Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...
Shipton says the TARDIS "isn't a real olice box The phone's just a dummy, and the windows are the wrong size."


Interior design

The TARDIS console room was designed for the first episode by
set design Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained ...
er Peter Brachacki and was unusually large for a BBC production of this time. It was noted for its innovative, gleaming white "futuristic" appearance. Like the police box prop, the set design of the TARDIS interior has evolved over the years. From the inception of the show in 1963 up until the end of the " classic series" in 1989, the design of the TARDIS console room remained largely unchanged from Brachacki's original set, a brightly lit white chamber, lined with a pattern of roundels on the walls and with a central hexagonal console which contained a cylindrical "time rotor" that moved when the TARDIS was in transit. Numerous alterations were made to the central console and to the layout, but the overall concept remained constant. In Season 14 (1976-77), a dark wood-panelled "Control Room Number 2" was briefly used for a few episodes, but the white console room set was reinstated in Season 15, due to damage to the set. After the cancellation of the television show, a radically redesigned TARDIS set was used in the 1996 TV movie, heralding a move to a more steampunk-inspired set design, which later influenced the set design in the revived series from 2005 onwards. File:Doctor Who Experience (13080761155).jpg, The original 1963 set (2014 reproduction) File:Doctor Who Experience (25307755549).jpg, The console room set used from 1977 to 1983 File:Console (23963541552).jpg, The updated console room set used from 1983 to 1989 File:Tardis (6502023691).jpg, The redesigned set from 2005 to 2010 File:BBC Tardis Set (6868569950).jpg, The redesigned set from 2010 to 2012 File:Peter Capaldi's TARDIS Set (25074781711).jpg, The 2014 to 2017 set design


Depiction of time travel

The production team conceived of the TARDIS travelling by dematerialising at one point and rematerialising elsewhere, although sometimes in the series it is shown also to be capable of conventional space travel. In the 2006 Christmas special, " The Runaway Bride", the Doctor remarks that for a spaceship, the TARDIS does remarkably little flying. The ability to travel simply by fading into and out of different locations became one of the trademarks of the show, allowing for a great deal of versatility in setting and storytelling without a large expense in special effects. The distinctive accompanying sound effect — a cyclic wheezing, groaning noise — was originally created in the
BBC Radiophonic Workshop The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...
by sound technician
Brian Hodgson Brian Hodgson (born 1938) is a British television composer and sound technician. Born in Liverpool in 1938, Hodgson joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1962 where he became the original sound effects creator for the science fiction program ...
by recording on tape the sound of his mother's house key scraping up and down the strings of an old piano. Hodgson then re-recorded the sound by changing the tape speed up and down and splicing the altered sounds together. When employed in the series, the sound is usually synchronised with the flashing light on top of the police box, or the fade-in and fade-out effects of a TARDIS (see "Controls" below). Writer
Patrick Ness Patrick Ness (born 17 October 1971) is an American-British author, journalist, lecturer, and screenwriter. Born in the United States, Ness moved to London and holds dual citizenship. He is best known for his books for young adults, including t ...
has described the ship's distinctive dematerialisation noise as "a kind of haunted grinding sound", while the '' Doctor Who Magazine'' comic strips traditionally use the onomatopoeic phrase "vworp vworp vworp".


Other appearances


Television spin-offs

The sound of the Doctor's TARDIS featured in the final scene of the ''
Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...
'' episode " End of Days" (2007). As Torchwood Three's hub is situated at a rift of temporal energy, the Doctor often appears on
Roald Dahl Plass Roald Dahl Plass is a public space in Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales. It is named after Cardiff-born author Roald Dahl, and is located on the coast along the south of the city centre. The square is home to the Senedd building housing the Senedd, ...
directly above it in order to recharge the TARDIS. In the episode,
Jack Harkness Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series, '' Torchwood''. The character first appears in the 2005 ''Doctor Who'' episode "The Empty Child" and subsequently features in the ...
hears the tell-tale sound of the engines, smiles and afterwards is nowhere to be found; the scene picks up in the
cold open A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In Amer ...
of the ''Doctor Who'' episode "
Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...
" (2007) in which Jack runs to and holds onto the TARDIS just before it disappears. Former companion
Sarah Jane Smith Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running BBC Television science fiction on television, science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' and two of Doctor Who spin-offs, its spin-offs. Sarah Jane is a dogged in ...
has a diagram of the TARDIS in her attic, as shown in ''
The Sarah Jane Adventures ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' is a British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC ...
'' episode "
Invasion of the Bane "Invasion of the Bane" is the first episode of the British science fiction television series ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''. It was written by series creator Russell T Davies with Gareth Roberts and was directed by Colin Teague. It was originally ...
" (2007). In the two-part serial '' The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith'' (2008), Sarah Jane becomes trapped in 1951 and briefly mistakes an actual police public call box for the Doctor's TARDIS (the moment is even heralded by the Doctor's musical cue, frequently used in the revived series). It makes a full appearance in ''
The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith ''The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith'' is the third serial of the third series the British science fiction television series ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''. The two-part story was first broadcast on BBC One on 29 and 30 October 2009. It guest stars ...
'' (2009), in which the Doctor briefly welcomes Sarah Jane's three adolescent companions into the control room. It then serves as a backdrop for the farewell scene between Sarah Jane and the Tenth Doctor, which echoed nearly word-for-word her final exchange with the Fourth Doctor aboard the TARDIS in 1976. It reappears in ''
Death of the Doctor ''Death of the Doctor'' is a two-part story of ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' which was broadcast on CBBC on 25 and 26 October 2010. It is the third story of the fourth series. A cross-over story with ''Doctor Who'', story involves UNIT informing ...
'' (2010), where it is stolen by the Shansheeth who try to use it as an immortality machine, and transports Sarah Jane,
Jo Grant Josephine "Jo" Grant, later Jo Jones, is a fictional character played by Katy Manning in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Jo was introduced by Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks in the first episode of ''D ...
and their adolescent companions (
Rani Chandra Rani Chandra (1949 – 1976), born in Kochi, Kerala, was a Malayalam film actress and winner of the Miss Kerala Title. She died in a plane crash in 1976. She acted in several landmark films such as '' Nellu'' (Malayalam, 1974), ''Bhadrakali'' ...
,
Clyde Langer ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' is a British television science fiction, British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC (TV channel), CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. T ...
and Santiago Jones).


Theatrical films

The TARDIS appears in the two film productions, ''
Dr. Who and the Daleks ''Dr. Who and the Daleks'' is a 1965 British science fiction film directed by Gordon Flemyng and written by Milton Subotsky, and the first of two films based on the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It stars Peter Cushi ...
'' (1965) and ''
Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. ''Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.'' is a 1966 British science fiction film directed by Gordon Flemyng and written by Milton Subotsky, and the second of two films based on the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It stars ...
'' (1966). In both films the Doctor, played by
Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...
, is an eccentric scientist who invented the TARDIS himself.


Cultural impact


Merchandising

As one of the most recognisable images connected with ''Doctor Who'', the TARDIS has appeared on numerous items of merchandise associated with the programme. TARDIS scale models of various sizes have been manufactured to accompany other ''Doctor Who'' dolls and action figures, some with sound effects included. Fan-built full-size models of the police box are also common. There have been TARDIS-shaped video games, play tents for children, toy boxes, cookie jars, book ends, key chains, and even a police-box-shaped bottle for a TARDIS bubble bath. The 1993 VHS release of ''
The Trial of a Time Lord The twenty-third season of British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', known collectively as ''The Trial of a Time Lord'', aired in weekly episodes from 6 September to 6 December 1986. It contained four adventures: ''The Mysterious ...
'' was contained in a special-edition tin shaped like the TARDIS. With the 2005 series revival, a variety of TARDIS-shaped merchandise has been produced, including a TARDIS coin box, TARDIS figure toy set, a TARDIS that detects the ring signal from a mobile phone and flashes when an incoming call is detected, TARDIS-shaped wardrobes and DVD cabinets, and a
USB hub Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...
in the shape of the TARDIS. The complete 2005 season DVD box set, released in November 2005, was issued in packaging that resembled the TARDIS. One of the original-model TARDISes used in the television series' production in the 1970s was sold at auction in December 2005 for £10,800.


BBC trademark

In 1996 the BBC applied to the
UK Intellectual Property Office The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (often referred to as the UK IPO) is, since 2 April 2007, the operating name of The Patent Office. It is the official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK ...
to register the TARDIS as a
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...
. This was challenged by the Metropolitan Police, who felt that they owned the
rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...
to the police box image. However, the Patent Office found that there was no evidence that the Metropolitan Police – or any other police force – had ever registered the image as a trademark. In addition, the BBC had been selling merchandise based on the image for over three decades without complaint by the police. The Patent Office issued a ruling in favour of the BBC in 2002. The word TARDIS is listed in the ''
Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...
''.


Legacy police boxes

A number of legacy police boxes are still standing on streets around the United Kingdom. Although now no longer used for their original function, many have been repurposed as coffee kiosks, and are often affectionately referred to as TARDISes. A police box in the
Somerton Somerton may refer to: Places Australia * Somerton, New South Wales * Somerton Park, South Australia, a seaside Adelaide suburb ** Somerton Man, unsolved case of an unidentified man found dead in 1948 on the Somerton Park beach * Somerton, Victoria ...
area of Newport in South Wales is known as the
Somerton TARDIS The Somerton TARDIS is a Police box on Acacia Avenue beside the B4237 road (Chepstow Road) in the Somerton area of Newport, South Wales. This police box is the only remaining one of four that were in Newport. It is a Grade II listed building. ...
.


In science and computing

An asteroid discovered in 1984 by astronomer Brian A. Skiff was named 3325 TARDIS on account of its cuboid appearance. A number of geological features on Charon, the largest moon of the dwarf planet
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest ...
, have been named after mythological or fictional vessels, and one is named the Tardis Chasma. A data storage manufacturer called tarDISK markets a flash memory drive for
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
MacBook which it claims is "bigger on the inside". They also claim native integration with Apple's Time Machine backup software.


In popular culture

Cultural references to the TARDIS are many and varied. In music,
The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) began by releasing ...
(performing as "The Timelords") released a novelty pop single in 1988 entitled "
Doctorin' the Tardis "Doctorin' the Tardis" is a 1988 electronic Novelty record, novelty pop Single (music), single by the Timelords ("Time Boy" and "Lord Rock", aliases of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, better known as The KLF). The song is predominantly a Mashup (m ...
". The record reached number one in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and had chart success worldwide. It was a reworking of several songs (principally Gary Glitter's " Rock and Roll Part 2",
The Sweet The Sweet (often shortened to just Sweet), are a British glam rock band that rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer M ...
's "
Block Buster! "Block Buster!" (also sometimes listed as "Blockbuster!") is a 1973 single by Sweet. Written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, and produced by Phil Wainman, "Block Buster!" was the band's sole UK No. 1 hit. Released in January 1973, it spent five ...
" and the ''Doctor Who'' theme music) with lyrics referencing ''Doctor Who'', specifically the TARDIS. In 2007, the British rock band Radiohead included the song "Up on the Ladder" on their album ''
In Rainbows ''In Rainbows'' is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 10 October 2007 as a pay-what-you-want download, followed by a physical release internationally through XL Recordings and in North America ...
'' which begins with the line "I'm stuck in the TARDIS". In 2001,
Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award) ...
-winning artist
Mark Wallinger Mark Wallinger (born 25 May 1959) is a British artist. Having previously been nominated for the Turner Prize in 1995, he won in 2007 for his installation ''State Britain''. His work ''Ecce Homo'' (1999–2000) was the first piece to occupy the ...
created a piece or artwork entitled ''Time and Relative Dimensions in Space'' that is structurally a police box shape faced with mirrors. The BBC website describes it as "recent proof of he TARDIS'enduring legacy". In July 2014, the Monty Python comedy troupe opened their reunion show, ''
Monty Python Live (Mostly) ''Monty Python Live (Mostly)'' (also billed as ''Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go'') was a variety show by the Monty Python comedy group at The O2 in London in July 2014. Planned as a single performance for 1 July, it was expanded ...
'', with a trademark animation featuring the Tardis – dubbed the "retardis" – flying through space before the Pythons came on stage. In film, the TARDIS makes a
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
in a number of productions, including ''
Iron Sky ''Iron Sky'' is a 2012 comic-science-fiction action film directed by Timo Vuorensola and written by Johanna Sinisalo and Michael Kalesniko.
'' (2012) and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019). The TARDIS has also featured within the gameplay of a number of popular
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s, including Lego Dimensions and '' Fortnite: Battle Royale''. Other references to the TARDIS have included a $2 silver
commemorative coin Commemorative coins are coins issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Many coins of this category serve as collectors items only, although some countries ...
depicting the TARDIS, issued on
Niue Island Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tonga ...
in the
South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
by the
Perth Mint The Perth Mint is Australia's official bullion mint and wholly owned by the Government of Western Australia. Established on 20 June 1899, two years before Australia's Federation in 1901, the Perth Mint was the last of three Australian col ...
to mark the 50th anniversary of the ''Doctor Who'' television show; and Tardis Environmental, a British sewage company, in reference to the similarity of their
portable toilet A portable or mobile toilet (colloquial terms: thunderbox, portaloo, porta-john or porta-potty) is any type of toilet that can be moved around, some by one person, some by mechanical equipment such as a truck and crane. Most types do not require ...
s to a police box.


See also

*
Time travel in fiction Time travel is a common theme in fiction, mainly since the late 19th century, and has been depicted in a variety of media, such as literature, television, film, and advertisements. The concept of time travel by mechanical means was popularized ...
* Creative geography * Portable hole *
Pocket universe A pocket universe or bubble universe, also colloquially called pocket dimension is a concept in inflationary theory, proposed by Alan Guth. Description It defines a realm like the one that contains the observable universe as only one of many inf ...


Footnotes

;Notes ;Citations


References

* * * * * * * *


External links


TARDIS sound effect from the current series
(
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
)
"The History of the TARDIS Prop"

"Everything You Need to Know About the TARDIS"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tardis Fictional elements introduced in 1963 Bioships Doctor Who devices Telephony in popular culture Time travel devices Fictional spacecraft