TARDIS

The TARDIS is the name of a time machine in the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. The name is an acronym of Time And Relative Dimension (or Dimensions) In Space.1 A product of Time Lord technology, a properly piloted and working TARDIS is capable of transporting its occupants to any point in space and time. Its interior exists in multidimensional space, leading to it being significantly larger on the inside than it appears from outside.

General characteristics

TARDISes draw their power from a variety of sources, but their primary source of power is remotely transmitted energy from the nucleus of an artificial black hole created by the legendary Time Lord Omega. The black hole is also known as the Eye of Harmony.

Related Topics:
Nucleus - Black hole - Omega - Eye of Harmony

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Other elements needed for the proper functioning of the TARDIS and requiring occasional replenishment include mercury (used in its fluid links), the rare ore Zeiton 7 and "artron energy". The latter is a form of temporal energy, generated by Time Lord minds, which is also said to help power TARDISes.

Related Topics:
Mercury - Zeiton 7

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Before a TARDIS becomes fully functional, it needs to be primed with the biological imprint from a Time Lord. This is normally done by simply having a Time Lord operate the TARDIS for the first time. This imprint comes from the Rassilon Imprimatur, part of the biological makeup of Time Lords, which both gives them a symbiotic link to their TARDISes and allows them to withstand the physical stresses of time travel.

Related Topics:
Rassilon - Symbiotic

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Without the Imprimatur, molecular disintegration would result; this acts as a safeguard against misuse of time travel even if the TARDIS technology were copied. Once a time machine is properly primed, however, and the imprint stored on a device called a "briode nebuliser", it can be used safely by any species.2

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According to Time Lord law, the unauthorised use of a TARDIS carries "only one penalty", implied to be death.

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Apart from their ability to travel in space and time, the most remarkable characteristic of a TARDIS is that its interior is much larger than its exterior appearance would imply. The show has explained this by saying that a TARDIS is "dimensionally transcendental", meaning that its exterior and interior exist in separate dimensions. In The Robots of Death, the Fourth Doctor tried to explain this to his companion Leela, using the analogy of how a larger cube can appear to be able to fit inside a smaller one if the larger cube is further away, yet immediately accessible at the same time (see Tesseract). According to the Doctor, transdimensional engineering was a key Time Lord discovery. To those not familiar with this aspect of a TARDIS, stepping inside the ship usually results in a reaction of shocked disbelief as they see the interior dimensions for the first time.

Related Topics:
The Robots of Death - Fourth Doctor - Companion - Leela - Analogy - Tesseract

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Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, claimed to have coined the name TARDIS.3

Related Topics:
Susan - 3

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