The TARDIS is not a TARDIS major blunder!!!

[Dave9946]

I just wander if it's only me thats ever really noticed this and took it in or other have and thought nothing of it?.

But the time machine the doctor & co travel in is incorrectly refered to as a TARDIS by the Time Lords and many a alien race over the years in the shows history.

Anyone else know the answer this this major blunder?.

[Naonak]

What? Blunder? Huh?

[pbellosom]

I think he means that Susan states in the first episode that she came up with the name TARDIS after they went on the run and so presumably the Time Lords have their own name for it.

[Dave9946]

Yep, correct. Quote by Susan "I made up the name TARDIS using the initials from Time And Relative Dimensions In Space".

As the time machines were refered to as a TARDIS way before the Doctor And Susan would have been born this is a major, but fairly unknown blunder and always a forgotton fact. The Time Lords have alwas refered to all Time Machines as a TARDIS When in fact the Doctors is really a Type 40 Travel machine as only stated once in The Deadly Assasin.

We know the Doctors TARDIS is realy a Type 40 travel machine as stated many years ago in the stated story.

But it is a strange one how this fact seems to have been forgotton or never explained by the writers how all of a sudden the Time Lords and many an alien race refers to something that only a girl made up!.

Also the first mention of the Time Lords incorrectly refering to the TARDIS as just that was in The War Games when the Doctor was asked to return his TARDIS to gallifray.

[Flyboy]

They also refer to other time lord's crafts as TARDISes, one could suggest that maybe Susan came up with it while ON gallifrey and was in such a position for it to become adopted.

[Anubis69]

They also refer to other time lord's crafts as TARDISes, one could suggest that maybe Susan came up with it while ON gallifrey and was in such a position for it to become adopted.

It should be Tardii.

[The Signal]

Simple explanation? The Doctor always tells his companions that it is called a TARDIS, they know it as a TARDIS. The ship "gets into your head", it translates speach for you, so when a person refers to the TARDIS, knowing what it is, but call it something different in another language, the ship translates it as TARDIS to make things easier for the companion.

Real explanation, retcon. The show has gone under countless history re-writes as production crews changed over the years, after 30 seasons (well, 29, a movie and a new series being filmed as we speak) it'd be unreasonable for this to have happened here and there.

[Madeleine]

What does 'retcon' mean? I'm guessing it's a contraction of something, and I've heard it often, but never sussed it

[Dave9946]

The Christmas Invasion says about the Doctors ability to be used as a kind of auto language translater.

But if memory serves me right the Cybermen and Daleks have also called it a TARDIS outside the Doctors company and near presence. So from that point of view you cant fully use the translation theory.

[The Signal]

What does 'retcon' mean? I'm guessing it's a contraction of something, and I've heard it often, but never sussed it

Retroactive continuity or retcon is the deliberate changing of previously established facts in a work of serial fiction.

But if memory serves me right the Cybermen and Daleks have also called it a TARDIS outside the Doctors company and near presence. So from that point of view you cant fully use the translation theory.

That could be explained as being for our benefit, but you're right. No explanation will fit because it is, in truth, something that was just changed along the way.

[Dave9946]

I'm never going to complain about this blunder, if it's even the right word. And to be honest if it's never explained in the show I'll not suffer any loss of sleep.

It's just that a story or a conversation to settle it in the show would be nice. But after some 44 years I'll probably not expect this to happen.

The only thing for sure is that the Doctors TARDIS is really a Type 40 travel machine.

[Alterus]

Yep, correct. Quote by Susan "I made up the name TARDIS using the initials from Time And Relative Dimensions In Space".

As the time machines were refered to as a TARDIS way before the Doctor And Susan would have been born this is a major, but fairly unknown blunder and always a forgotton fact. The Time Lords have alwas refered to all Time Machines as a TARDIS When in fact the Doctors is really a Type 40 Travel machine as only stated once in The Deadly Assasin.

We know the Doctors TARDIS is realy a Type 40 travel machine as stated many years ago in the stated story.

But it is a strange one how this fact seems to have been forgotton or never explained by the writers how all of a sudden the Time Lords and many an alien race refers to something that only a girl made up!.

Also the first mention of the Time Lords incorrectly refering to the TARDIS as just that was in The War Games when the Doctor was asked to return his TARDIS to gallifray.

See Lungbarrow for the answer

[FennerMachine]

Romana refers to it as a TT (Time Travel) capsule.
Also on Gallifrey it is called a TT capsule and a TARDIS.
So, it might be a Type 40 TT Capsule TARDIS.
A bit like a Mark 1 Ford Escort Car.