Howling:Why hasn't Amy been given a TARDIS Key?

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Why hasn't the Doctor given Amy her own key - did he run out or somthing? And before anyone says that he sees her as a small child and doesn't trust her with a key, he trusted her with the sonic screwdriver in The Big Bang, which says alot. MidnightCat

The screwdriver was different. She didn't know she had it. He hid it in her top pocket for him to get as soon as he returned to the museum. He had no intention of letting her keep it. As for the key... no idea. From what we've seen, Amy does seem to get into a lot of trouble on her own. If she was captured and the bad guys got a TARDIS key, that wouldn't be the best thing to happen. It might not be that he doesn't trust her, but that he knows what she's like. --The Thirteenth Doctor 20:14, August 10, 2010 (UTC)

Do we know that she doesn't have one for sure? The only occasion I can really remember to indicate that she doesn't is when he'd soniced the door shut? Am I forgetting something? I know we haven't seen him give her one, but I'm not sure that's definitive, since in the new series he tends to give keys to his companions. 207.171.251.183 21:45, August 10, 2010 (UTC)

It seems like different Doctors are more or less willing to give out keys than others. And it seems to depend on a wide variety of factors, besides how trusting they are (or how trustworthy their companions are). For example, IIRC, 8 gave Sam a key because he was worried that he might not be around when she needed to get to safety (which of course did happen almost once per novel after that), while I can't imagine 7 even considering that as a possible thing that could happen. --99.35.132.17 20:53, May 20, 2011 (UTC)

In Victory of the Daleks the Doctor made Amy give him back the key she took from Churchill, and she looked dissapointed, so that suggests that, at least at that point, he hadn't given her a TARDIS key. Trusting her with the sonic screwdriver doesn't really mean anything. It is just a screwdriver, how can somebody be too untrustworthy to handle a screwdriver. Giving someone the TARDIS key, on the other hand, is like giving them the TARDIS. If someone has the TARDIS key, they have complete access to it, even though Amy wouldn't know how to pilot it. As for why he has given other companions keys but not Amy, it could mean that he sees her as a child, or it could mean that this Doctor simply isn't as trusting as some of the other ones.Icecreamdif 04:14, May 21, 2011 (UTC)

Last time I remember the Doctor giving out a TARDIS key was to Rose. Can anyone cite episode and scene where Martha or Donna was given a key? Obviously we all remember what happened to that key in The Long Game. For that matter, in Parting of the Ways, whoopsie, companions with keys might become gods. Agonaga 19:28, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

This is a good point actually! Martha and Jack both get a key each in the finale episodes of series 3 (to help them blend in with the backgrounds) and Donna gets a key when she's choking on ATMOS gas in the sontaran double episodes in series 4. Maybe the Doctor doesn't trust amy or rory. -- Michael Downey 19:39, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

In Human Nature/The Family of Blood, it was at least implied that Martha had a key, even if it wasn't actually shown. Martha, after all, was the one who had to look after things, including the TARDIS, while the Doctor believed he was John Smith. I don't remember if she was given the key on screen or not.

Donna was given a key during The Poison Sky, after the ATMOS devices started running wild and just before the Sontarans grabbed the TARDIS. That scene was shown, with the Doctor saying there should be some kind of ceremony and Donna responding that any ceremony ought to wait until the world wasn't choking to death. 2.96.18.149 19:49, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

Thanks 2.96.18.149|2.96.18.149 I basically just said all that :/ -- Michael Downey 19:51, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

Some of it, not all. You postdated Martha's key to the finale. And we were saying it simultaneously, which is why I'd to try to merge the conflicting edits. 2.96.18.149 19:56, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

Ahh, good catch folks! So yes, this makes it pretty significant. SO now our next question becomes, can we recall a time when the TARDIS was locked as everyone exited, and then Amy a/o Rory entered it unaided? Because there could have been an off-screen key exchange, rendering the question moot, or the Doctor could be leaving it unlocked, which makes the question even more significant. Agonaga 19:54, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

He seemed to be leaving it unlocked in The Doctor's Wife. 2.96.18.149 19:57, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

Ok... well either Amy and Rory have keys or the 11th Doctor leaves his TARDIS unlocked. Hasn't there been multiple occasions where they entered the TARDIS without the Doctor? (The Hungry Earth, The Doctor's Wife) V00D00M0NKY 19:59, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

Leaving it unlocked is the answer I'm leaning towards, V00d00, and I find it intriguing. Agonaga 20:00, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

Why would he leave it unlocked when he was going all the way down to the drill in The Hungry Earth? It's not like he was parked right outside. They had a distance to walk away from the TARDIS. V00D00M0NKY 22:31, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

The 11th Doctor uses the finger snap much more than the 10th. The 10th got the trick from River, who got it from the 11th. The 11th Doctor may be relying on the TARDIS herself for security, knowing she'll let Amy, Rory and River in but not others. I don't think it's very clear, though. 2.96.18.149 20:06, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

And I have considered this but in The Doctor's Wife the TARDIS wasn't in the TARDIS. So it wouldn't have known to unlock the doors and I don't think that just because the matrix wasn't in the TARDIS that the Doctor would leave it unlocked. Very important stuff in there and obviously something was wrong. It'd be stupid of him to leave it unlocked then. V00D00M0NKY 22:35, June 1, 2011 (UTC)

The TARDIS was still able to unlock the doors to the backup control room when Amy visualised the password. So it may very well have been able to unlock the main doors if it recognised Amy and Rory outside. 187.59.118.152 01:00, June 2, 2011 (UTC)

That may be hardwired in like the instruction to send them back to the main control room if the room was deleted. Specifically saying that may not need the matrix to operate. For the door to know who is there and actually judge as to whether or not to let them in without a key would probably need the "thinking" matrix to be there, which it wasn't.

The telepathic circuit is probably hardware mixed with "software" (the TARDIS matrix) letting some things like passcodes work without the software. V00D00M0NKY 07:15, June 2, 2011 (UTC)

The Doctor might have had a good reason to give Amy a special way into the TARDIS (e.g., it's programmed to open the doors whenever she pushes, or it's unlocked but will time-loop anyone but Amy who just wanders in, or whatever) instead of a key. Amy's been kidnapped, so her key could have been stolen. She's also been impersonated by a ganger who was good enough that she could have fool the Doctor or Rory into handing her something they shouldn't have. So it makes sense for 11 to use a security system that's less transitive and more revocable than a physical key, when it comes to Amy.

One more thing about the 8 and Sam. This probably isn't relevant, and I know the only reason Sam's key was brought up was to make a point about different Doctors having different reasons for giving and withholding keys to their companions, but... 8 had a hidden key (IIRC, it sits atop the "P" in "Police", but it's technobabbled so nobody can find it unless they already know where to look for it), and at some point we learn that Sam has known about it since their first adventure together. We learn this after the Doctor has gone through the whole thing of giving Sam her own key. Why was he worried that she couldn't get into the TARDIS without him if he'd already told her about the spare key? Of course the answer is probably that one EDA author hadn't read and remembered every detail of every other EDA, and if you insist on an in-universe explanation the best one is probably either the manipulation of their history that was going on at the time or the Doctor's amnesia in the first novel, but it's always possible that Moffat or one of his cohorts noticed this problem and decided to make a similar plot point in the new series. But again, that's just a slim possibility; as I said at the top, this probably isn't relevant. --99.8.228.227 03:23, June 5, 2011 (UTC)

let me just mention, the doctor gave rose her key in aliens of london (or some time arround then), he gave martha a key in 42 i think and donna got her key in the sontaran stratagem/the poison sky. i have no idea why the doctor hasn't given amy a key yet but giving his companion a key is a symbol of trust and, well, amy isn't the most trustworthy person.

Giving out a TARDIS key was never a symbol of trust in the Classic Series. Presumably the Eleventh Doctor just doesn't see it as being as important as the Ninth and Tenth Doctors saw it, and will give her a TARDIS key if she ever needs one.Icecreamdif 01:32, July 14, 2011 (UTC)

For the record, Martha got a TARDIS key at the end of 42.--Skittles the hog - talk 12:15, July 14, 2011 (UTC)

The Doctor hasn't given Amy a key because it amuses him to watch her trying to pick the lock. Boblipton 13:48, July 15, 2011 (UTC)

Nah, now that Rory's around, she wouldn't try to pick the lock; she'd order him to do it for her. In fact, maybe that's what happened. Amy said, "Rory, pick that lock for me." He sighed and started fiddling with it. Then the Doctor came by, and Rory guiltily stopped. Later, Rory pulled him aside and said, "Is there a reason we don't have a key yet?" and the Doctor said, "Oh, oversight. Here you go. But don't tell Amy; let her be impressed." So now, every time Amy orders Rory to pick the lock, he pretends to do so but uses the key, and she gives him a little smile of appreciation.

Of course that means when Rory's dead, as he often is, that Amy can't get into the TARDIS. But it's her own fault for not being more direct. Or for marrying a guy who dies all the time. Actually, I'm not sure what the moral is here, but there has to be one. :) --173.228.85.35 16:59, September 1, 2011 (UTC)

There's a downside to marrying a psychopath.Boblipton 17:12, September 1, 2011 (UTC)

Martha was given a key in 42[1]. He gave one to Clara the day he met her. Has River been given a key? Does she need one as the Child of the TARDIS?