Forum:Stories "entirely in the TARDIS" that technically aren't.

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TV: The Edge of Destruction and GAME: TARDIS are mostly set inside the TARDIS, but have scenes briefly on Earth leading to the next story. Similarly, TV: Time Crash has reused footage with Martha's goodbye from Last of the Time Lords clearly set on Earth.

I'm sure this is horribly nitpicky, but do these actually qualify as "entirely in the TARDIS"? -- Tybort (talk page) 14:04, January 27, 2012 (UTC)


If you're being horribly nitpicky, no. Boblipton talk to me 14:20, January 27, 2012 (UTC)

Clarify. Do you mean no, they do count? -- Tybort (talk page) 14:24, January 27, 2012 (UTC)
If you don't like "No" as an answerr, how about "Yes." Yes, if you are being horribly nitpicky, they don't count.

It's kind of a pointless thing to catalog anyway. Back when The Edge of Destruction was the only episode set entirely in the TARDIS it was kind of an interesting fact, but now that the list has gotten longer, being set "entirely in the TARDIS" doesn't really mean anything anymore anyway.Icecreamdif talk to me 15:59, January 27, 2012 (UTC)

The category is very specifically named.
So yes, I'd say that unless all the action from story's start to story's end takes place within the area of the TARDIS then yes those stories where this doesn't happen should be removed.
Although, Icecreamdif raises a good point, is categorising stories using this information useful? --Tangerineduel / talk 16:04, January 27, 2012 (UTC)
I agree with what User:Tangerineduel has stated about what should be included. However, it is needed - to say we don't need a list for stories set 'Entirely in the TARDIS' because the list has gotten long is like saying 'we have to much stories set in London, we should delete the category'. If we have more than three stories set entirely in the TARDIS, then we should keep it. MM/Want to talk? 16:07, January 27, 2012 (UTC)
I think it's fine as a category; I'm just unsure if the stories listed fit the description. In TARDIS especially, there's a cliffhanger ending involving a shark attack in 23rd century Poseidon 8. I'm sure that unambiguously counts as action outside of the TARDIS, even if it's fleetingly. -- Tybort (talk page) 16:18, January 27, 2012 (UTC)
So change the name of the category if it bugs you. Make it "stories set mostly in the TARDIS". Easy. (BTW, I think Time Crash counts; the bit with Martha isn't a part of the narrative; it's replaying a cliffhanger from the last episode.)
czechout<staff />   17:53: Fri 27 Jan 2012 
Yeah, the Time Crash one was reaching out; but my justification was that it directly continued the Martha scene, and wasn't technically a "previously on recap" that, say, Aliens of London was to Rose. The category itself doesn't bug me. It's just Edge of Destruction and TARDIS as part of it. -- Tybort (talk page) 18:58, January 27, 2012 (UTC)
Well, again, I think you'd be better off adding one word to the category than removing stories that are traditionally thought of as being the very raison d'etre of the category. Let me know if that's an acceptable compromise to you and I'll have it changed in about 1 minute.
czechout<staff />   19:13: Fri 27 Jan 2012 
I'll have to mull it over. Don't have an answer either way. Wouldn't putting the ones that are exclusively inside the TARDIS make them inaccurate to the new category? -- Tybort (talk page) 19:33, January 27, 2012 (UTC)
Not sure how it would. If someone wins an election with "most" of the votes, that means they've won anything from 50.00000000001% to 100% of the vote. "Most" by its nature inclues "all". Put another way, "all" is a subset of "most". Maybe we just haven't hit upon the language you like. Here's another variant: "stories whose narrative is mostly set in the TARDIS". Maybe that's clearer. I dunno, but it seems to me the best course of action is to change the name of the category, not dump the stories for which the category was initially created.
czechout<staff />   00:03: Sat 28 Jan 2012 

Well, I don't think that we would want to put a story in which only 50.00000000001% of the narrative took place in the TARDIS into the category either. I still don't see why the category is necessary at all though. Most episodes have at least some scenes in the TARDIS, so what difference does it really make if most or all of it is in the TARDIS. We don't have a category for stories set entirely in London.Icecreamdif talk to me 01:18, January 28, 2012 (UTC)

I guess it's because in those cases, the TARDIS and its occupants aren't really any "time" or "place" except travelling through the time vortex (Time Crash I'm a bit more hazy on what that situation was though). -- Tybort (talk page) 01:21, January 28, 2012 (UTC)

Not always though. Wasn't the TARDIS just floating in space in Amy's Choice, and I think that it was in space during at least part of Edge of Destruction. Besides, what if there was an episode where the TARDIS was on a planet for the whole episode, but we didn't see anything outside of it. Would that count? This discussion proves that it's hard enough to define what makes a story set entirely in the TARDIS, and the characters usually spend part of an episode outside of any "time" or "place" anyway.Icecreamdif talk to me 04:41, January 28, 2012 (UTC)

Re: Amy's Choice, I don't think so. We only see space from the Cold Star dream (though I suppose the point in time the Dream Lord pollen entered isn't made clear, is it?).
Are any of those categorised actually the TARDIS stationary on another planet by the way? -- Tybort (talk page) 05:37, January 28, 2012 (UTC)

I don't think so. That was more of a hypothetical problem, but I still don't see the point of the category. Most episodes have scenes set in the TARDIS while it is in flight. That is just how the Doctor and his companions' lives work. What difference does it really make if there is only one scene in the TARDIS or only one scene outside of the TARDIS?Icecreamdif talk to me 22:07, January 28, 2012 (UTC)

As regards an earlier point, the principles by which we use stories set in London wouldn't work with category:stories set in the TARDIS — because so many stories are at least partially set in the TARDIS. Having a category which is about stories set mostly in the TARDIS at least gives us something somewhat meaningful to organise. Otherwise, you're essentially just saying "stories that include an INTERIOR: TARDIS scene".
czechout<staff />   00:28: Sun 29 Jan 2012 
As for why we need the category: we don't. It's just fun. Some people think mostly-TARDIS-interior stories are cool. Some people, like me, think stories set in World War II are interesting enough to separately categorise. Or stories set at Christmas. Or actors who appeared in Blake's 7. Or people who worked in the Buffyverse. It's just a thing.
czechout<staff />   00:37: Sun 29 Jan 2012 

Well, I still don't think that that category adds anything, but its at least as useful as some of the categories you mentioned. Icecreamdif talk to me 06:44, January 29, 2012 (UTC)