TARDIS

A TARDIS or TT Capsule was a space-time vehicle used by the Time Lords and still in use by the Doctor.

Meaning of the name
The word "TARDIS" stands for "Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space".

Susan explained to Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright that "TARDIS" stood for "Time and Relative Dimension in Space". (DW: An Unearthly Child)


 * At Coal Hill School, Susan had already outlined in basic form to Ian some of the dimensional theory which would explain this reference.

This was later revised to "Dimensions". (DW: The Time Meddler) From this time onward, the Doctor has used the second, plural, definition, but in his ninth incarnation the Doctor preferred to use the singular form.

Origin of the name
Susan claimed to have coined the name TARDIS). By popular usage, the name has come to mean any Time Lord time ship. (DW: The Pilot Episode, An Unearthly Child, NA: Lungbarrow). Some Time Lords, however, such as Castellan Spandrell and Romana have referred to the Doctor's TARDIS as a TT capsule," with "TT" presumably standing for "Time Travel". (DW: The Deadly Assassin, The Pirate Planet).

Types of TARDIS
TARDISes came in several types. The Doctor possessed what Romana called an "obsolete" (we do not know if she meant literally or figuratively) Type 40. (DW: The Ribos Operation)

By the Doctor's fourth incarnation, mobile, walking humanoid TARDISes existed. By his eighth incarnation, TARDISes with full sentience existed, capable of looking completely indistinguishable from a near-Human. (EDA: Alien Bodies) We also know of military TARDISes which existed by the time of his fifth incarnation. (DWM: The Stockbridge Horror) In Time Crash the Fifth Doctor Refers to changing the desktop theme. He says the Tenth Doctor's theme is "Coral" and he also refers to a "Leopard-skin" theme.

Features and functions

 * For basic information on TARDISes similar to the Doctor's, see Type 40

Chameleon circuit

 * See separate article.

Rassilon Imprimature

 * Before a TARDIS is fully functional, it needs to be primed with the biological imprint from the symbiotic nuclei of a Time Lord's cells. Known as the Rassilon Imprimature, this gives them a symbiotic link to their TARDISes and allows them to survive the physical stresses of time travel. Without the Imprimatur, molecular disintegration would result, 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 component (a briode nebuliser), it can be used safely by any species. (DW: The Two Doctors)

Specific TARDISes
The Master's TARDIS

The Rani's TARDIS

The 8th Doctor's TARDIS

The Doctor's TARDIS
See main article.

Other TARDISes
The Time Scaphe was a TARDIS precursor developed on Gallifrey during the reign of the last Pythia, shortly before Rassilon, Omega, and the Other seized power. The first true TARDISes were developed by this triumvirate (NA: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible). During his attempt to steal the Fifth Doctor's positive matter form, Omega built his own TARDIS (DW: Arc of Infinity).

The Master's TARDIS according to the Doctor was a Type 40 Mark II. (see The Master's TARDIS for more information).



Iris Wildthyme's TARDIS is quite possibly older than the Doctor's (see Iris's TARDIS for more information).

Other Time Lords with TARDISes include the Monk and the Rani. The War Chief provided dimensionally transcendent time machines named SIDRATs to the alien race known as the War Lords. Gallifreyans have employed Battle TARDISes which fire "time torpedoes" that freeze the target in time.