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Old 15-03-2014, 17:47
GDK
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... got shorter/fatter?

I've not seen any comments on this subject so I hope I'm not going over well trodden ground.

I have an old ceramic TARDIS piggy bank dating from my childhood. I bought it at the Doctor Who exhibition in Blackpool many years ago. Compared to today's TARDIS it is taller/thinner.

I've noticed it elsewhere too... I recently got some of the Patrick Troughton era DVDs and in the animated menu graphics, the TARDIS is again much taller/thinner than the current version.

Is this right, or are these merchandised representations of the TARDIS just wrong and the TARDIS in the TV series has never significantly changed its proportions?
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Old 15-03-2014, 18:02
doctor blue box
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I thought it was also much thinner in classic who, so I googled it and found this:

http://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/b...6404347240.jpg

seems its changed more than you'd think over the years
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Old 15-03-2014, 18:02
saladfingers81
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Could your question...




not have all fitted into the thread title?
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Old 15-03-2014, 18:35
GDK
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Could your question...




not have all fitted into the thread title?
No. It was...



... a blatant attempt to generate responses.
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Old 15-03-2014, 18:37
JackMShep
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I definitely prefer the RTD TARDIS to any others, but possibly because that was "my era" the current one is definitely shorter than fatter than the 2005 one
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Old 15-03-2014, 18:39
GDK
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I thought it was also much thinner in classic who, so I googled it and found this:

http://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/b...6404347240.jpg

seems its changed more than you'd think over the years
Thanks for the link, doctor blue box!

So it has put on weight (or lost height)!

Maybe it should ask the Doctor: "Does my console look big in this?"
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Old 15-03-2014, 18:52
Benjamin Sisko
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I definitely prefer the RTD TARDIS to any others, but possibly because that was "my era" the current one is definitely shorter than fatter than the 2005 one
The 2010 one is essentially the same 2005 prop just re-coloured and with a decal added. Pretty obvious if you watch Day of the Doctor.
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Old 15-03-2014, 19:10
Mr Seta
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It's the Tardis (trying) to do what it is suppose to do -change its appearance to fit in with the surroundings. It's just that its not very good at it (in fact most of the time it doesn't work at all).

In Doctor Who there's an answer to everything..
well, until Steven Moffat took over anyway
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Old 15-03-2014, 19:24
saladfingers81
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It's the Tardis (trying) to do what it is suppose to do -change its appearance to fit in with the surroundings. It's just that its not very good at it (in fact most of the time it doesn't work at all).

In Doctor Who there's an answer to everything..
well, until Steven Moffat took over anyway
oh right. What things haven't been answered that were posed as questions by the actual writing (so Rorys namebadge/another floor on Amelias house don't count as they are fan inventions) in Moffats era. Really interested to find out.
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Old 15-03-2014, 20:01
Corwin
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Thanks for the link, doctor blue box!

So it has put on weight (or lost height)!

Maybe it should ask the Doctor: "Does my console look big in this?"
Not sure where you get that idea since the current TARDIS is the tallest it's been in 50 years.

The first one in that link is a drawing of real Police Box and not a TARDIS prop, Ignoring that the 2005 Prop is the tallest.

As can be seen in this image the 2010 version is slightly taller than the 2005 one so it's the tallest it's ever been.
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Old 15-03-2014, 20:57
Sue_Aitch
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oh right. What things haven't been answered that were posed as questions by the actual writing (so Rorys namebadge/another floor on Amelias house don't count as they are fan inventions) in Moffats era. Really interested to find out.
Well, the Doctor's question "What girl?" concerning where Clara got the TARDIS helpline number from is still in the air.

Probably doesn't matter!
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Old 15-03-2014, 20:59
saladfingers81
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Well, the Doctor's question "What girl?" concerning where Clara got the TARDIS helpline number from is still in the air.

Probably doesn't matter!
Hardly a significant plot point...at least for now. As in it doesn't damage the story or narrative for it not to have been answered. Just Moffat potentially sowing something he can return to if he wants or disregard.
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Old 15-03-2014, 21:10
Satmanager
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Not sure where you get that idea since the current TARDIS is the tallest it's been in 50 years.

The first one in that link is a drawing of real Police Box and not a TARDIS prop, Ignoring that the 2005 Prop is the tallest.

As can be seen in this image the 2010 version is slightly taller than the 2005 one so it's the tallest it's ever been.
Actually, the Doctor explained that to Clara in the "Day of the Doctor" when he said that the dimensional dams start breaking down and some of the bigger in the inside starts to leak out to the outside. Maybe we are starting to see some of that to occur already as the TARDIS starts to age? Remember that it is a TARDIS Model 40 and they were already obsolete when the Doctor stole it back long ago. And he did state he was probably the most traveled Timelord ever. So that TARDIS has a lot of "Miles" on it.

Just my thoughts on the matter.
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Old 15-03-2014, 23:29
JackMShep
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The 2010 one is essentially the same 2005 prop just re-coloured and with a decal added. Pretty obvious if you watch Day of the Doctor.
Really? I don't now what Day of the Doctor you've been watching. the 2010 one is obviously bigger, shorter and has completely different windows. The only thing similar is the "Police public call box" sign
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Old 16-03-2014, 00:36
GDK
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Not sure where you get that idea since the current TARDIS is the tallest it's been in 50 years.

The first one in that link is a drawing of real Police Box and not a TARDIS prop, Ignoring that the 2005 Prop is the tallest.

As can be seen in this image the 2010 version is slightly taller than the 2005 one so it's the tallest it's ever been.
I don't know the TARDIS exterior's absolute dimensions, but I can see that the proportions of today's TARDIS appear to be different than earlier versions from the classic era. The width, as a proportion of the height, appears to be greater than it used to be, certainly as compared to the classic era. It's as if it was either squashed vertically or stretched horizontally (or an intermediate combination of both). It looks squatter today than it used to be.
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Old 16-03-2014, 00:56
The_Judge_
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I thought it was also much thinner in classic who, so I googled it and found this:

http://0-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/b...6404347240.jpg

seems its changed more than you'd think over the years
I quite like Barry & Richards props from this pic nice one.
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Old 16-03-2014, 00:59
The_Judge_
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Hardly a significant plot point...at least for now. As in it doesn't damage the story or narrative for it not to have been answered. Just Moffat potentially sowing something he can return to if he wants or disregard.
Don't forget, Moffat still hasn't explained the cure for the common Cold yet and how bees fly. That man is an idiot.
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Old 16-03-2014, 01:08
Benjamin Sisko
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Really? I don't now what Day of the Doctor you've been watching. the 2010 one is obviously bigger, shorter and has completely different windows. The only thing similar is the "Police public call box" sign
Bigger? Marginally. Shorter? DEFINITELY not. Window design is irrelevant to the question of the OP. It remains that the 2005 and 2010 TARDIS props are the two most similar props used in the show's history of TARDIS use.

Visual evidence: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tD3JuqduqM...ry+exhibit.jpg

(thanks to Corwin for the link!)
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Old 16-03-2014, 02:52
November_Rain
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Has the change in the TARDIS' external appearance ever been explained?
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Old 16-03-2014, 03:05
Jethryk
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Has the change in the TARDIS' external appearance ever been explained?
Unti Matt Smiths Tardis regeneration, different size, bluer, St John badge etc I don't think we were meant to notice.
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Old 16-03-2014, 10:09
johnnysaucepn
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Has the change in the TARDIS' external appearance ever been explained?
Well, it depends on whether you think that the Tardis is 'stuck' on one shape, or if it can change its shape but always chooses a variant of the same one.
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Old 16-03-2014, 11:03
JackMShep
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Bigger? Marginally. Shorter? DEFINITELY not. Window design is irrelevant to the question of the OP. It remains that the 2005 and 2010 TARDIS props are the two most similar props used in the show's history of TARDIS use.

Visual evidence: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tD3JuqduqM...ry+exhibit.jpg

(thanks to Corwin for the link!)
OK, it may not be shorter, but it is definitely not the same prop as pre-2010, the two look completely different!
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Old 16-03-2014, 11:10
doctor blue box
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It's the Tardis (trying) to do what it is suppose to do -change its appearance to fit in with the surroundings. It's just that its not very good at it (in fact most of the time it doesn't work at all).

In Doctor Who there's an answer to everything..
well, until Steven Moffat took over anyway
To me, this seems like the best explanation offered up so far. It makes sense that a 'faulty' chameleon circuit would mean it hasn't stopped working all together, but just is faulty to the point where it can barely change but occasionally manages to alter it's dimensions. It is also good because it would still be a valid explanation even if they choose to make it smaller again in future.
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Old 16-03-2014, 15:19
johnnysaucepn
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Well, the following certainly seems to be Moffat's answer:
Originally Posted by Meanwhile in the Tardis
Doctor: Every time the TARDIS materializes in a new location, within the first NANOSECOND of landing, it analyzes its surroundings, calculates a 12-dimensional data map of everything within a 1000-mile radius, and determines which outer shell would blend in best with the environment.
And then it disguises itself as a police telephone box from 1963.
Amy: Oh. Why?
Doctor: It’s probably a bit of a fault, actually. I’ve been meaning to check.
Which suggests that it's not the shape-changing part of the process that's faulty - which would mean it's perfectly capable of tweaking the shell if it wants to, but generally likes the shape it's in.
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Old 16-03-2014, 15:24
GDK
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Every time the TARDIS materializes in a new location, within the first NANOSECOND of landing, it analyzes its surroundings, calculates a 12-dimensional data map of everything within a 1000-mile radius, and determines which outer shell would blend in best with the environment.
And then it disguises itself as a police telephone box from 1963.
That's a great line I love it because it's a brilliant variation of Douglas Adams' description of the Nutri-Matic Vending Machine in The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

He [Arthur Dent] had found a Nutri-Matic machine which had provided him with a plastic cup filled with a liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea. The way it functioned was very interesting. When the Drink button was pressed it made an instant but highly detailed examination of the subject's taste buds, a spectroscopic examination of the subject's metabolism and then sent tiny experimental signals down the neural pathways to the taste centers of the subject's brain to see what was likely to go down well. However, no one knew quite why it did this because it invariably delivered a cupful of liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.
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