Journey to the Centre of the Tardis (3311/711)

[Greenee]

Wow, for me this is the first time in a while that the TARDIS has felt like the colossal, living, absolute marvel of multi-dimensional engineering we've always been told it is.

Indeed. Verry good, but mindbreaking episode. I feel Like I didn't understand a thing. Gooing backt to rewatch it right now. So more later.

[Blencathra]

Already watching it again since there was so much I missed first time. Things I loved on second viewing:

• "Salvage of a lifetime" is a rather good line that I didn't quite grasp the layered meaning of first time.
• Encyclopedia Gallifrey (now in easy to consume liquid form!).
• The scanner says "Identifiable substance: Clara".
• Matt Smith channelling the Second Doctor immediately after hugging Clara in the outside-looking engine room and he says "We're not going to die here". Also shades of the Fifth Doctor shortly after... I think Mr Smith might be one of the finest actors ever to take on the role of the Doctor because he understands that the people who came before are just as important as putting your own stamp on the role.
• The Doctor getting emotional about the wounded, dying TARDIS when they're in the heart and he doesn't know what to do.
• "The Library. I saw it." I know we saw the TARDIS library (and wow did I like that!), but I think Blen might take notice of that line!
• "I'm mentioned in a lot of books". Hmm, interesting. I get the feeling this wasn't a throwaway line.

I actually listened out for the voices in the console room this time but other than the Ninth Doctor's I can't really make out who they are or what they're saying. I suspect I'll be replaying that bit with volume turned right up several times.

I am a little confused about the Eye of Harmony - is it a miniature star, a full size one, does every TARDIS have one or does every TARDIS connect to the same one? If it's the power source, how come the TARDIS needs to refuel at rifts like the one in Cardiff? And wasn't the Eye of Harmony an actual black hole every previous time we saw or heard of it? So I have a theory... was the original Eye of Harmony lost in the Time War, forcing the Doctor to rely for a while on rift energy, until he found a perfect star that he could turn into a new power source for the TARDIS. He says "The Eye of Harmony, exploding star in the act of becoming a black hole. Time Lord engineering, you rip the star from its orbit and suspend it in a permanent state of decay". He never says the Time Lords themselves did it. Given the statement about its infinite size, I wonder if the Doctor's been busy remodeling his TARDIS to allow it to accommodate an entire star (for context even a small one like our Sun is over a million kilometres in diameter).

But the biggest one so far that I didn't properly catch first time was Clara recognising the Doctor's name. Not just reading it, but recognising it - to me her expression even suggested a modicum of understanding. I do love how this episode answers a lot of questions but sets up even more.

I think I loved this episode. There were problems - the acting of the salvage brothers was often a bit stilted, but overall I thought this was great fun, a well overdue look inside the TARDIS, and the atmosphere was brilliant. Scary TARDIS and overcooked time zombies are surprisingly creepy, it turns out...

Great post Sealurk. And yes I did spot The Library bit (and some other things too )

The voices we heard are listed here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s...urth-dimension and are

• An Unearthly Child, episode 1. The Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan, from An Unearthly Child, revealing how the initials of TARDIS stand for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Also from that story, towards the end of the sequence, you can hear one of the people she was addressing – Ian Chesterton – expressing his astonishment at the nature of the ship.

• Colony in Space, episode 1. The Third Doctor explains to Jo Grant that the TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental.

• The Robots of Death, episode 1. The Fourth Doctor discusses trans-dimensional engineering with Leela.

• The Doctor’s Wife. The TARDIS asks if ‘sexy thing’ is her name!

• Rose. The Ninth Doctor assures Rose that the assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn’t get through ‘that door’.

• The Beast Below. Amy Pond reflects that she is in space…

• Smith and Jones. Martha Jones struggles to understand the TARDIS.

According to The TARDIS Handbook the Eye of Harmony is "The Time Lord's power source on Gallifrey; a part or copy of it - or a link to it - was inside each TARDIS, fuelling the time ships; the Master opened it on Earth and dangerously changed the molecular structure of the planet (1996). After the destruction of Gallifrey, the Doctor's TARDIS needed an alternative fuel source, such as the Cardiff Rift (2005)."

So I guess you are right with your theory.

____

I did like this episode, mainly for the TARDIS. It's great seeing even more of how wonderful, bizarre and powerful that machine actually is. The Time Zombies were pretty disturbing, especially when I realised the one that was chasing Clara near the beginning was actually the Doctor. At first I thought it was good old Bellal from Exxilon, but then quickly realised it wasn't.

I thought it was odd that Tricky's brothers had made him into an android for a joke, but then it turned out there was a darker reason with Gregor wanting to take charge, so that turned out better than I originally thought.

Hee! Having "Smith's" written on the key. Because it is. That TARDIS is Matt Smith's. He owns it. His acting in this episode went up yet another notch. The Doctor's anguish at the thought of losing his TARDIS was distressing to see.

Great quotes

"My ship. My rules".

"I can feel a TARDIS tantrum coming on."

"So that's who."

"Smart bunch, the Time Lords. No dress sense. Dreadful hats. But smart."

"Secrets protect us. Secrets make us safe."

As for next time. Oh dear. I can see I'm going to have to grit my teeth though an episode of dreadful fake Yorkshire accents. Otherwise I'm looking forward to seeing Strax, Jenny and Vastra again.

[mjwalshe]

Great post Sealurk. And yes I did spot The Library bit (and some other things too )

The voices we heard are listed here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s...urth-dimension and are

• An Unearthly Child, episode 1. The Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan, from An Unearthly Child, revealing how the initials of TARDIS stand for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Also from that story, towards the end of the sequence, you can hear one of the people she was addressing – Ian Chesterton – expressing his astonishment at the nature of the ship.

• Colony in Space, episode 1. The Third Doctor explains to Jo Grant that the TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental.

• The Robots of Death, episode 1. The Fourth Doctor discusses trans-dimensional engineering with Leela.

• The Doctor’s Wife. The TARDIS asks if ‘sexy thing’ is her name!

• Rose. The Ninth Doctor assures Rose that the assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn’t get through ‘that door’.

• The Beast Below. Amy Pond reflects that she is in space…

• Smith and Jones. Martha Jones struggles to understand the TARDIS.

According to The TARDIS Handbook the Eye of Harmony is "The Time Lord's power source on Gallifrey; a part or copy of it - or a link to it - was inside each TARDIS, fuelling the time ships; the Master opened it on Earth and dangerously changed the molecular structure of the planet (1996). After the destruction of Gallifrey, the Doctor's TARDIS needed an alternative fuel source, such as the Cardiff Rift (2005)."

So I guess you are right with your theory.

____

I did like this episode, mainly for the TARDIS. It's great seeing even more of how wonderful, bizarre and powerful that machine actually is. The Time Zombies were pretty disturbing, especially when I realised the one that was chasing Clara near the beginning was actually the Doctor. At first I thought it was good old Bellal from Exxilon, but then quickly realised it wasn't.

I thought it was odd that Tricky's brothers had made him into an android for a joke, but then it turned out there was a darker reason with Gregor wanting to take charge, so that turned out better than I originally thought.

Hee! Having "Smith's" written on the key. Because it is. That TARDIS is Matt Smith's. He owns it. His acting in this episode went up yet another notch. The Doctor's anguish at the thought of losing his TARDIS was distressing to see.

Great quotes

"My ship. My rules".

"I can feel a TARDIS tantrum coming on."

"So that's who."

"Smart bunch, the Time Lords. No dress sense. Dreadful hats. But smart."

"Secrets protect us. Secrets make us safe."

As for next time. Oh dear. I can see I'm going to have to grit my teeth though an episode of dreadful fake Yorkshire accents. Otherwise I'm looking forward to seeing Strax, Jenny and Vastra again.

Yes nice to get some my Strax, Madame Vestra and Jenny action - they realy need to consider one or two spinoffs with madame Vastra

[min min light]

Does anyone happen to know the name of the accent of the guy who was telling his brother that he wasn't really an android? I always wonder every time I hear it on a show.

Thanks to everyone who points out small details and pieces of history - I never notice them and they make the show so much more interesting.

[Quizziard]

But the biggest one so far that I didn't properly catch first time was Clara recognising the Doctor's name. Not just reading it, but recognising it - to me her expression even suggested a modicum of understanding. I do love how this episode answers a lot of questions but sets up even more.

Not necessarily that hard, depending on how it was written in the book:
"The Time War was ultimately ended by intervention of the Time Lord known as The Doctor (see entry for Bob Smith)."

[cosmichobo]

Edge of Destruction is the other major TARDIS-bound story, though due to massive confusion regarding direction (ie by the director), it's... odd... Though that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I enjoyed this one, probably more than most anything I've seen from 11, until the bloody reset button. I knew it was coming of course, as soon as we saw that the engines had exploded... though I toyed with the idea that the Doctor may be TARDIS-less for a while til he gets new parts or something... But no, they just went for the big red button.

Hearing Susan, and the others, when the guy was dismantling the TARDIS was wonderful if... well, rather odd by way of storyline.

The Clara mystery continues to be mysterious... is she truly unaware... How did she really, in just a few moments, gather the Doctor's name from that book... As, presumably it was written in old high Gallifreyan, as seen in Time of Angels... Amy couldn't read it...

[Blencathra]

It certainly crossed my mind that the words in the book had been written in old high Gallifreyan, or the circular script. It would explain why no other companion has been able to go to that book and read it. Also Clara said that it was written in one corner. I wonder if the Doctor or somebody else has written it in by hand, rather than it being printed. And well.... I have Theories about that.

[Coco Pops]

How can the TARDIS be grabbed by the salvage ship, or any kind of claw thing like that? I thought the HADS kicks in or is that device dependent on how the story is written

In the submarine episode the ship vanishes when in peril so why not here, to avoid the salvage ship as it would have known the danger was present. In "The Doctor's Wife" The TARDIS as Idris knew of things before they happened so I imagine the actual TARDIS with her back inside would too.

Also if the TARDIS is infinite inside how can you have damaged / wrecked TARDISes on that asteroid in "The Doctor's Wife"

[Alan]

How can the TARDIS be grabbed by the salvage ship, or any kind of claw thing like that? I thought the HADS kicks in or is that device dependent on how the story is written

In the submarine episode the ship vanishes when in peril so why not here, to avoid the salvage ship as it would have known the danger was present. In "The Doctor's Wife" The TARDIS as Idris knew of things before they happened so I imagine the actual TARDIS with her back inside would too.

The Doctor forgets to set the HADS as he established in The Krotons. And as for the TARDIS knowing about events before they are supposed to happen...she does. But just because she knows about them doesn't mean she can alter them. Regardless of the Doctor changing events at the end anyway, the TARDIS still had to allow events to run their course.

Also if the TARDIS is infinite inside how can you have damaged / wrecked TARDISes on that asteroid in "The Doctor's Wife"

Well those TARDISes were dead. A dead thing cannot keep growing so presumably the space within them contracted to whatever size those TARDISes exteriors were imitating before dying. So, for example, if one of those TARDISes was disguised as a grandfather clock before it died, the interior would have decreased to the interior the size of a grandfather clock. Or, alternatively, the Time Lords realising the trap set by House pulled out the Time Vector Generator from their TARDISes to stop House from taking over their ships. In The Wheel in Space, the Doctor removed an element called the Time Vector Generator from the console which caused the TARDIS interior to match the size of the Police Box exterior.

[Coco Pops]

I'm not happy with the ending. It frustrated me in that there was a literal reset button. Was that a slap in the face to fans?

There were so many ways this episode could have gone. One way right off the bat is that the TARDIS engine was exploding, the ship was to explode had they let it. Hmm Now where indeed has that happened before? Was it this event that caused the great explosion in season 5? I wonder? I mean it's a slim thing to grasp onto but it's an idea.

What do you think?

Also a map on a computer shows the "eye of harmoney" near the engine room. So that means the 1996 movie is canon after all. Or was that just part of the eye just for his TARDIS?

[P-90_177]

I'm not happy with the ending. It frustrated me in that there was a literal reset button. Was that a slap in the face to fans?

There were so many ways this episode could have gone. One way right off the bat is that the TARDIS engine was exploding, the ship was to explode had they let it. Hmm Now where indeed has that happened before? Was it this event that caused the great explosion in season 5? I wonder? I mean it's a slim thing to grasp onto but it's an idea.

What do you think?

Also a map on a computer shows the "eye of harmoney" near the engine room. So that means the 1996 movie is canon after all. Or was that just part of the eye just for his TARDIS?

I can understand the feeling towards the rest button but I wouldn't call it a slap in the face. I think it was more a literal nod towards the idea of reset buttons. It is after all a trope which is frequently used in time travel stories in tv and film, Doctor Who to its credit is usually not so overt.

That would have been a fine idea, however the TARDIS explosion was already seen at the end of season 5.

You also saw the eye of harmony anyway. It was the unstable sun. The eye was also always canon anyway. As for the movie, this too is canon on the whole. There are just certain things you are best advised to ignore in it.

[cosmichobo]

Up until the movie, the Eye of Harmony - a black hole - had always been portrayed as existing on Gallifrey, and powering both Gallifrey and the time capsules (ie TARDISes).

Then in the telemovie, the Eye was suddenly inside the Doctor's TARDIS...

Personally, as there were potentially hundreds or even thousands of TARDISes, I'd hate to think that the Time Lords went round killing stars just to power each TARDIS...

Quite possibly, as the TARDIS is infinite and all that, perhaps what we saw was the original Eye, and in fact all TARDISes are linked to it in that same way... That is to say, it exists in all TARDISes, but it is the same Eye...

[Coco Pops]

I LOVE these fan made ideas of what the TARDIS might look like with no outside shell

Some fan ideas of what the actual TARDIS might look like minus outside shell. You might need ladders to get in and out.

http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/a...Finalbig-2.png

http://www.scifirar.com/fileSendActi...true/h83Sq.jpg

and a whole bunch of others.

https://www.google.com/#newwindow=1&...w=1320&bih=661

[GodAtum]

Will we ever know the Doctors name? In the decades its been running it has never been revealed and I don't think it will ever be.

The problem with the last few eps was nothing has been revealed. Previous seasons each ep revealved something.

[Chaka's_Mum]

I found this one a bit disappointing, TBH. While I was really looking forward to seeing more of the inside of the TARDIS than we usually would, and the whole concept of her extraordinary structure, as well as her sentience, was an exciting one, in the end all we really got was a lot of not very much.

In some ways, the story might have benefited from more time to tell it. Perhaps as a two parter like 'The Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead'. There was so little time for the adventure to happen that there was no opportunity to really get to know who the Van Baalen brothers were, or identify with them in any meaningful way. Their sole purpose seemed to be three convenient and largely generic blokes to be squished by the scary thingy to prove it's actually a bit dangerous, really. The future echoes of their carbonised selves could have had a much stronger sense of menace had there been a chance to take things at a slower pace.

Maybe it's just me, but this episode was a bit of running around, a bit of hiding, a bit of minor jeopardy, a few screams, then ooh, look - press this button and it never happens. I guess that having only forty five minutes to set up the situation and resolve it means a Deus ex Machina was all but inevitable. There just wasn't the time for the writer to create any other kind of solution.

On the plus side, it was a great touch to have the past echoes of the previous travellers in terms of Doctors and Companions, as well as things like the Crib etc. The Library looked incredible - albeit with a nice, conveniently placed book that just happens to contain a nice little titbit of information about the Doctor at the very point Clara chooses to stop flipping pages. Shame she ended up forgetting it; that said, though, if Tricky's lot mysteriously improved after time was reset, might it somehow be lurking somewhere in her brain, ready to resurface at some future point?

Still loving the sparky dialogue between the Doctor and Clara, though. Matt and Jenna's deliveries just slot together brilliantly. The episode didn't work for me in terms of how the story turned out, but their collective performance took it out of 'blah' territory. Besides, it's a Gatiss episode next week, so I ain't givin' up on 'em just yet!