Random, possibly noncanon, Who musings...

[The Borgified Corpse]

My theory about the TARDIS being bigger on the inside is not that it's in a different dimension but that it exists in extra dimensions beyond what we normally deal with. We process physical objects in the standard 3 dimensions. The physical space of the TARDIS actually exists not in the standard 1st, 2nd, & 3rd dimensions, but actually in, say, the 6th, 7th, & 8th dimensions. Normally, these are dimensions that we can't see or interact with. However, the TARDIS is able to translate these dimensions into a form that can approximate & impersonate the 3 regular dimensions that we're used to.

So the physical space of the TARDIS does literally occupy the inside of the police box, just not within the usual dimensions that we expect.

In fact, based on this, the TARDIS interior doesn't even occupy the entirety of the police box. It just needs an opening to exist where the door is but that opening is less than paper thin. So there could be other stuff inside the police box between the doorway and the back wall that we never see. (Although we did briefly see the police box interior with its extra dimensions stripped out in "Father's Day.")

 

[Volpone]

HA. That's an interesting take. It's going to hurt my brain, thinking about that.

 

[Volpone]

A good case is made that a strength of Who, particularly early on, is his mysterious lack of a backstory. That said, I'm in the camp that would be excited by a Young Doctor Who prequel series with the First Doctor before he got old. In some ways it would be like Smallville before it sucked--the Doctor and the Master start out pretty much the same--maybe the Master is a hint more dispassionate and/or arrogant--but two sides of the same coin. We all know the Master travels alone while the Doctor has companion(s). The presence of Susan--and later Ian and Barbara--keep the Doctor humble and grounded, while the Master does a Breaking Bad and starts doing bad things for good reasons--he's smarter than anyone else--taking over the world/system/galaxy is best for everyone.

Maybe factor in why they both keep winding up on Earth. Maybe Earth has coordinates that are easier for TARDISes to reach. Maybe the Doctor's TARDIS tends to find Earth and the Master is (gasp) lonely. Maybe it is because humans look and act enough like Gallifreyans that it is a convenient place to hide out in (and/or it is hard for Gallifrey to monitor because of some kind of phenomena or something). Heck, maybe in the distant future humans explore space, evolve a second heart and learn to harness a black hole to travel time....

 

[Volpone]

I realize a big strength of The Doctor is his mysterious background. We don't find out the name of his people until 6 years into the series and we don't find out the name of his homeworld until what, the 10th year? And it isn't until well into Tom Baker that we seriously start to delve into Time Lord lore.

But that doesn't stop me from hypothesizing. Why'd he leave? Throughout the series, he has varying degrees of scientific background, mostly in physics, engineering, chemistry, biology, a little medicine and geology. But I can't help but think about all the wonderful machines I have that I couldn't build and don't know how they work and it interests me to think of a young Doctor with a degree (or did he drop out) in history--maybe a focus on Earth (a bit like Kirk's girlfriend the whale scientist in ST: IV). Of course he could also be Einstein, working in the patent office. I don't know. Well, gotta go. Should get some things done this weekend.

 

[Lance]

The TARDIS transcendentalism is just one of those things I've figured is ''advanced future science'', ie beyond the realms of current understanding, but commonplace on the Doctor's planet. The relation between the external 'shell' and in the internal space isn't supposed to make sense from *our* perspective, because its supposed to generate how far in advance of us Gallifreyan engineering really is. What we do see when it breaks down, for example in 1984's ''Frontios'', seems to imply that if the outer shell is breached, then the inner dimensions 'spill out' into the external world and it all becomes a bit of a muddle.

I think it works something like a bend in physics, not so much a Pocket Dimension as being more like a portal between our third dimensional space and a kind of ''behind the curtain'' dimension which exists parallel to ours but can't be accessed without the key engineering. It's a sort of black hole, with the TARDIS doorway (in whatever shape it is) working as a kind of singularity point between the external and internal dimensions. Take that singularity point away, and the internal TARDIS simply explodes outwards into the external world.

In short, it's made up pseudo-science which is designed to be plausible enough for the audience to swallow, while still being exotic enough that we'll never 'truely' understand it on our own primitive human molecular level.

 

[Ithekro]

With recent news, I was thinking back to Dr. Who...the human version of the Doctor played by Peter Cushing. I was thinking, if they decided to keep going with that line of films, but didn't change actors, would there be another Dr. Who sequel movie in say, 1971. starring Peter Cushing as Dr. Who, and Christopher Lee as "The Master".

 

[Lance]

^ That's an interesting hypothesis.

 

[Volpone]

That would have been awesome.

 

[Mr Awe]

I don't think TARDISes have owners, we saw in The War Games that they're stored in rows. I suspect that Time Lord travel off world is highly regulated, unless a Time Lord steals a TARDIS and leaves on their own.

Cars are often stored in rows . . . parking lots, right? And they have owners.

Although, I agree, it did seem that time travel was highly regulated and more a research activity than anything else.

Mr Awe

 

[Redfern]

With recent news, I was thinking back to Dr. Who...the human version of the Doctor played by Peter Cushing. I was thinking, if they decided to keep going with that line of films, but didn't change actors, would there be another Dr. Who sequel movie in say, 1971. starring Peter Cushing as Dr. Who, and Christopher Lee as "The Master".

It certainly seems a logical progression and with his voice, stature and features, he would have made a fantastic Master!

However...I swear I read an article which claims Lee supposedly "chided" Cushing for accepting such a "silly" role. Frankly, I find that a bit hard to swallow given some of the roles Lee has done, which is probably why that "anecdote" sticks in my mind. I hope it's something some jaded fan made up because he or she didn't like the DW movies.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Doctorwhovian]

Yeah, there's always been the rumor that Lee didn't like Doctor Who at all, and hence declined any guest star roles. Don't know how much truth there is to that.


Kind of reminds me of the rumors about Laurence Oliver almost being the mutant that appears early in Revelation of the Daleks.

 

[Volpone]

Heh. Speaking of people I thought were too big for Who. Watching Trial of a Timelord. The one where Peri bites it. And thinking "geez, this scenery chewing warlord is a real Brian Blessed wanna-be." Then I get to the credits: "Yrcanos: Brian Blessed"

 

[Redfern]

There's only one blessed Blessed. He can't be confused for anyone else and vice versa. Besides. the guy played Vultan in Flash Gordon, tromping around in plastic wings and Speedos. I get the impression he'd do nearly anything!

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Volpone]

So as someone whose Doctor established himself through sheer charisma and didn't need any "psychic paper" as a crutch, I got to musing on a couple things--Of course in Olden Dayes, before my time, you were pretty much who you said you were. There weren't any photo IDs. By the 70s and 80s--the end of the old series--it was getting harder and harder to explain not having any credentials. By the 2005 relaunch if someone just walked up to you and started asking questions and ordering you around and didn't have any ID, you'd likely call the cops on them. You certainly wouldn't shrug and accept them. So not only is psychic paper a technical crutch to streamline the storytelling, it is likely a necessity due to our changing culture.

On that note, I've had a pet theory that The Master and The Doctor started out very similar, with the main difference being that The Master doesn't travel with a mortal companion that serves as a brake and a moral compass to bring him back into check. Heck, look at early Hartnell--in "The Daleks," when he finds out about the radiation poisoning, he's perfectly content to leave Barbara to die. Only because Ian prevents it, does he do the right thing.

Of course the Companions also serve as a proxy for the viewer--a Watson to his Holmes, that can ask questions so he can explain what is going on. But it occurs to me that they serve a real, practical purpose as characters in the story too. They create some trust for the people they meet in the stories. If some strange guy shows up and starts medding and calling himself The Doctor, I'm going to go "I'm sorry, but that's silly. I'm not going to just call you 'Doctor.' What is your name?" And the whole mystique breaks down. But because he's got a companion with him that models deferring to him and calls him "Doctor," it makes the other characters essentially shrug and go "Oh well, I guess it isn't *that* strange" and agree to refer to the guy by just a title.

Well, should get going. I'm wasting my weekend.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

Favorite Blessed role I think is probably Emperor Augustus in the I Claudius series, which also featured many actors who have been in WHO. He's somewhat a bit bigger than Augustus is usually portrayed, but I though he did pretty well.


Blessed's worst role though, was one he voiced (Although the CG model does have some features of Blessed)-Boss Nass in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. He's the Gungan king who spat randomly all over the place.

 

[Volpone]

Happily, I've almost completely blocked that movie from my consciousness. I remember that it came out. And I saw it on opening weekend. And some of the characters that were on the Taco Bell cups for it, but that's about it. Awhile back, someone posted YouTube footage of the submarine going over a waterfall and I was impressed with the technical skills of the amateur who'd made it, even though the actual story was execrable. Imagine my surprise to find out it was from TPM.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

The submarine going over a waterfall is actually a scene that was deleted from the film, but completed later on and put as an extra on the DVD release. (The DVD was delayed until fall 2001 to build hype for Attack of the Clones).

 

[Volpone]

Ah. Then I feel less...I dunno. Childhood raped, I guess.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Didn't Tom have a brief fling with Mary Tamm?

Then he married Lalla Ward which we all know about and that was a short marriage.. They did those TV ads with him for Prime Computers in character too.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

My theory about the TARDIS being bigger on the inside is not that it's in a different dimension but that it exists in extra dimensions beyond what we normally deal with. We process physical objects in the standard 3 dimensions. The physical space of the TARDIS actually exists not in the standard 1st, 2nd, & 3rd dimensions, but actually in, say, the 6th, 7th, & 8th dimensions. Normally, these are dimensions that we can't see or interact with. However, the TARDIS is able to translate these dimensions into a form that can approximate & impersonate the 3 regular dimensions that we're used to.

So the physical space of the TARDIS does literally occupy the inside of the police box, just not within the usual dimensions that we expect.

In fact, based on this, the TARDIS interior doesn't even occupy the entirety of the police box. It just needs an opening to exist where the door is but that opening is less than paper thin. So there could be other stuff inside the police box between the doorway and the back wall that we never see. (Although we did briefly see the police box interior with its extra dimensions stripped out in "Father's Day.")

This fascinates, infuriates, and overall captivates me. It's one of the things I really love about Doctor Who. That we have a mystery like the TARDIS..

I do think the actual TARDIS has shape and form that we do not see because all we see is the outside shape of the police box. Some fanart I found illustrates this idea and theme very well.

And OMG it was done by a TrekBBS member.... I was never aware of that I originally found this item on DeviantArt...

http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=4612735&postcount=7

Anyway to me this illustrates one of my favourite conundrums. That the TARDIS can travel in the outside world both from the outer shell and the actual ship inside... In one of the annuals they show an observation room that has clear walls to the outside world..