Type 50
Type 50 was a type of TARDIS used by Time Lords. It was much more advanced than the Type 40s and capable of more accurate landings than the older model TARDIS.
The First Doctor owned a Type 50 TARDIS before leaving Gallifrey in a stolen Type 40 TARDIS, though never gave a clear reason why in his fifth incarnation why he didn't take the Type 50. He told Nyssa he had to leave "in a hurry." Likewise, he had told his first TARDIS he hadn't had time to choose which TARDIS he stole from Gallifrey, he had needed to take the first TARDIS he could find, although he did say to it he would have taken it if he'd had the chance. He also tried to apologise to his former TARDIS for hurting it, but it wouldn't listen. The Doctor was given the chance to travel briefly inside the Type 50 once more, and he complimented his former TARDIS for its accuracy. (AUDIO: Prisoners of Fate)
Maris heard rumours that some Type 50s could take on human form. This was proven to be correct when the Doctor's first TARDIS appeared to her in the form of a young child and was capable of leaving Gallifrey on its own in a fit of rage. (PROSE: Celestial Intervention - A Gallifreyan Noir)
Narvin judged that the TARDIS he and Romana II were exiled from Gallifrey in by Mantus was a Type 50 or Type 55 TARDIS. By the outbreak of the Last Great Time War, both Type 50 and Type 55 TARDIS were old models with them being reactivated for use in the war effort, and the one they were forced to use was a reconditioned model. (AUDIO: Assassins)
Behind the scenes
- When illustrating the "Gallifreyan" TARDIS that Narvin had judged be a Type 50 or 55 for the cover of Time War: Volume Three, cover artist Tom Newsom opted to use the TARDIS design seen in the television story Hell Bent over the similar TARDIS design first seen in 2013's The Name of the Doctor.[1]
