Nu Who meta: the TARDIS as a sentient being

[kilodalton]

Comments

[philstar22]

I like the idea of the TARDIS being alive. It fits in with how she always manages to not take the Doctor where he tells her to and yet is always in the exact right place at the right time.

And the TARDIS always sort of seemed to have a personality. One that would shift a bit with each regeneration just like the Doctor (though not nearly as much).

I also like the metaphor of the TARDIS being the Doctor's wife and ultimately the only person he really, truly loves and remains faithful to and stays with indefinitely.

[nostalgia_lj]

Yeah, he loves people but the TARDIS is the only one he'd stay with forever.

[spicandspan89]

Your icon ♥

And IA with all of this. I always took it for granted that she was sentient - probably due to fanon osmosis lol.

[tenthrose]

The way I see it, the TARDIS is a living being, but more like an animal than a person. She has emotions and preferences and reactions, but not exactly complex thoughts. The TARDIS can sense the Doctor's emotions, loves him, and wants him to be happy and healthy, and is extremely dedicated to making that happen. Sort of like how a dog can jump up on your lap and lick your face when you're upset. The TARDIS is more sophisticated than a dog, though, and also appears to have a very strong psychic bond with the Doctor. I don't think they 'speak', but I think she can send emotions at him, and can also 'see' what he's feeling. She can also use her machinery to do things- I'd imagine that if the Doctor had a fever, for instance, she'd automatically adjust the air temperature to be more comfortable for him, without him having to do anything. The thing I've heard that I like best about how the TARDIS always takes the Doctor to the wrong place, but where something interesting is happening, is that she's much, much more time sensitive than he is

[nostalgia_lj]

I don't think it's what we'd understand as romantic but that it is by Time Lord standards. Though how kinky it is to love your TARDIS we will probably never know.

[viomisehunt]

I DO NOT like the Doctor and the TARDIS as a romantic/sexual thing- there are other types of love. Well, yes, what the Doctor and the TARDIS has is -symbiotic--much deeper and long lasting than fickle affections and fleeting passions. I do beieve this is what episode reinforced. Doctor Who is about Boy and his Stolen Magical Box. The TARDIS is the source of his second heart, the source of vision and his continued existance. In Time Lord lore a TARDIS will stay with her Time Lord (Lady) until ture death then she will go away and die.

[viomisehunt]

Well, yes the TARDIS as a sentient character is long standing canon. We see her "run" from Jack in Utopia, trap Martha in The Doctor's Daughter, resist Rose' will until Mickey and Jackie expose her heart. He's always called Her a "she", we know they are grown, and in Lungbarrow, a TARDIS that maybe be the Doctor's TARDIS portrayed as the Omega's BOX who follows the Other around Gallifrey (He's about to throw himself on the looms) as Rassilon burns . And Before the episode aired I had seen pages of the DW Comic "The Forgotten" http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Forgotten_(comic_story... )

[spicandspan89]

Actually as Time Lords technology altered whatever the TARDIS original were, the Time Lords are more like parasites--helpful parasites.

This is intriguing! I don't know very much about Time Lord history. Would you care to expand on that? :-)

[viomisehunt]

Here is a link to Time Lord, or the stories about the Doctor on Gallifrey http://www.whosdw.com/academy.html... )

[spicandspan89]

Ooh thank you! I will have to check them out.

[nostalgia_lj]

Actually I thought at the time that the Bad Wolf was at least as much the TARDIS as it was Rose. She loves her Doctor so much <3

I think she's not as aware as a person (cos that could easily get creepy) but she does know what's happening more or less and she is largely motivated by a) seeing the universe and b) looking after the Doctor.

I also suspect that there's nothing actually wrong with the chameleon circuit it's just that she really really likes that blue dress.

[viomisehunt]

Rose said they looked into each other, and I think what they saw beyond everything was their love for the Doctor, but I think the Bad Wolf was created by the TARDIS and is more a Sister Being. But different strokes--it's so beautiflly realized, all interpretations are possible.

The TARDIS originated in a world alien to us, and probably in many she may be as alien to Time Lords as she is to us. I think of the TARDIS with Time Lords are like Dolphins and Mice with humans in the Hitchiker's Guide, allowing the Time Lords to think they are the TARDIS' owners and trainers--because they wanted to explore and the Time Lords were an arrogant, but mad enough species to give them the means to escape.
Symbiosis is a rather complex relationship.

I think she's not as aware as a person (cos that could easily get creepy) but she does know what's happening more or less and she is largely motivated by a) seeing the universe and b) looking after the Doctor. It would be weird for one of us, true, but I would think the TARDIS is much more aware

[kilodalton]

WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT BANNNER??? Ugh I swear it seems at times as if "scheduled entries" has a poltergeist =P

Sorry bout that, guys!