TARDIS


 * This is a general article on a type of vessel. For discussion of the vehicle used by the Doctor, see The Doctor's 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
"TARDIS" is an acronym standing 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 Transport". (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)

The Doctor says he should have upgraded to a type 57 TARDIS. (DW: Warriors of the Deep)

By the Doctor's fourth incarnation, mobile, walking humanoid TARDISes existed. By his eighth incarnation, TARDISes with full sentience (Type 102) existed, capable of looking completely indistinguishable from a near-Human. (EDA: Alien Bodies) Military TARDISes existed by the time of his fifth incarnation. (DWM: The Stockbridge Horror)

Features and functions

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

Chameleon circuit

 * See separate article.

Personality
It is known that TARDISes have a certain degree of intelligence. As well, a TARDIS will often "mourn" the death of the Time Lord pilot, even going so far as to commit suicide by flying into a sun or simply hurling itself into the Time Vortex. The Doctor says that there "is an elephants graveyard" of TARDISes somewhere at the end of time. (BFA: Omega, The Axis of Insanity) The Doctor is known for talking to and stroking parts of the TARDIS when he operates it, and he once commented that a TARDIS is "more like a person." (DW: The Five Doctors) TARDISes are actually grown rather than constructed. (DW: The Impossible Planet)

Rassilon Imprimatur
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 Imprimatur, 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)

Opening mechanism
The opening mechanism of the TARDIS is very important. Without it the door is permanently locked. (DW: The Sensorites) The Doctor recently discovered that he can open the doors of the TARDIS by clicking his fingers even though he stated "it doesn't work like that". He was told this fact by River Song. (DW: Forest of the Dead)

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 Wildthyme's TARDIS for more information).

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

The Eighth Doctor's Companion Compassion evolved into a TARDIS, the prototype of the sentient Type 102.

It has been stated that Jack Harkness is growing a TARDIS in his office in Torchwood. Whether this will feature further is unknown.