The Tardis

TARDIS Acronym for Time And Relative Dimension (or Dimensions) In Space. It was the name given by the Time Lords to their space-time travel capsules. Susan was the first to mention the name during a conversation with Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. Under normal conditions, a TARDIS looked like a blank, non-descript cabinet with a door. However, it was immensely larger inside than outside due to its transdimensional nature. Indeed, the space inside a TARDIS could be manipulated, expanded or reduced, according to the wishes of its owner. The Doctor was thus once able to jettison his TARDIS' Zero Room. This factor apparently caused most weapons to become non-functional inside, although there were some exceptions to the above rule. A TARDIS was, in theory, virtually invulnerable to outside attacks, although it could be turned invisible, imprisoned in a force field, hijacked from the space-time vortex or otherwise captured. A TARDIS was equipped with multiple defence systems, including the ability to dematerialize and rematerialize after its attacker was gone. A chameleon circuitry enabled it to change its outside appearance, in order to blend in safely with its environment. Somehow, the TARDIS then acquired certain properties of the object it mimicked, including size and weight, since TARDISes were at times stolen, moved or transported by outside forces, even though it was once reported that the Doctor's TARDIS, under Earth gravity conditions, weighed (10x10) power 5 kilos. In theory, nothing, or no one, could enter a TARDIS without either being invited in, or having a key (a trionic device or an old-fashioned one). But again, there were exceptions: the Guardians (5A), Sutekh (4G), the Keeper of Traken and the Mara were all able to mentally penetrate the Doctor's TARDIS. The TARDIS was also invaded by a space virus , Biroc and the Master. It has been theorized that a TARDIS was semi-sentient, gifted with rudimentary empathic qualities. Indeed, the Doctor's TARDIS sometimes appeared to act of its own volition to alert its master to a grave danger, using its "Cloister Bells". Among the substances a TARDIS needed to run properly are: mercury, Zyton-7 and artron energy. In order to become fully operational, a TARDIS had to be primed by a Time Lord, whose bodies contained a symbiotic nucleus (the "Rassilon Imprimature") which enabled them to achieve molecular stabilization and a quasi-symbiotic control of the TARDIS . Among other components which were part of a TARDIS were the time rotor (located at the centre of its control console); a dematerialisation circuit; a time vector generator (SS); a quantum accelerator, a temporal limiter and a dynomorphic regenerator (6C). The Doctor's TARDIS was an old Type 40 (of which 305 were originally registered by the Time Lords), with isomorphic controls, meaning that, in theory, it could only be operated by the Doctor. It certainly refused to obey Salamander, Sutekh and Eldrad, but Adric, Romana and the Master, among others, were able to operate it. The Doctor's TARDIS was allegedly being repaired on Gallifrey when the Doctor "borrowed" it. Its chameleon circuit was stuck, leaving its outside shape permanently frozen in the form of a London Police Box -- except for the single time when the Doctor repaired it. The Doctor's TARDIS' steering mechanism was known to be faulty and behave erratically, although possibly not as often as the Doctor claimed. When the Time Lords exiled the Doctor to Earth, they took away his TARDIS' dematerialisation circuit, but returned it after the Omega crisis . To escape from the Black Guardian, the Doctor equipped his TARDIS with a Randomiser, but eventually disposed of it on Argolis. Some of the features of the Doctor's TARDIS included: two control rooms, the main one and the wood-panelled secondary one, the Zero Room , the Cloisters, whose bell served as an alarm system, a swimming pool, a power station disguised as an art gallery, a large boot cupboard, and various guest rooms. The Doctor's TARDIS was locked with a trionic device. TARDISes could be controlled from afar by the Time Lords, who severely restrict their usage and ownership. The Doctor once lost his TARDIS in a game of backgammon with Kublai Khan. A few TARDISes, however, were stolen by the following renegade Time Lords: the Master (his TARDIS was often disguised as a grandfather clock or a Corinthian column), the Meddling Monk, the War Chief, Salyavin, and the Rani. The Daleks built crude, taranium-powered time machines, somewhat similar to TARDISes. The War Lords operated the so-called TARDIS-like "SIDRATs", but with Time Lord technology stolen by the War Chief. information from: http://www.lofficier.com/dwindex.html

The TARDIS first sound landing...