The Doctor's TARDIS key: Difference between revisions

The barrier on [[the Doctor's TARDIS]], a [[Type 40]], was a double curtain trimonic. As such, the [[Chancellery Guard]] needed the model's cypher indent key to gain entry without the actual key, as opposed to other methods of forced entry. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin (TV story)|The Deadly Assassin]]'') In its [[police box]] disguise, entry was allowed by inserting a key into the lock, just like a real police box. ([[TV]]: ''[[Doctor Who (TV story)|Doctor Who]]'', ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'' and others) However, the locking mechanism did not respond to police-issued keys. ([[TV]]: ''[[Blink (TV story)|Blink]]'') According to [[Susan Foreman]], the lock had a defence mechanism in which there were twenty one different holes inside the lock, one being the right place and other twenty being wrong. If a mistake was made, the whole inside of the lock would melt. ([[TV]]: "[[The Survivors (episode)|The Survivors]]") [[The Brigadier]] was prevented from opening the TARDIS in the [[Third Doctor]]'s absence, because of the [[metabolism detector]] on the lock. ([[TV]]: ''[[Spearhead from Space]]'') Nevertheless, there were occasions on which strangers were able to successfully use the Doctor's key, suggesting either a flaw in the metabolism detector or a choice on the part of the TARDIS. ([[TV]]: ''[[The War Machines (TV story)|The War Machines]]'', ''[[Doctor Who (TV story)|Doctor Who]]'', ''[[Blink (TV story)|Blink]]'')

The lock could be manually secured from inside the TARDIS, preventing even authorised individuals from using the key to unlock the doors from the exterior. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]'', ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'') At some point shortly before the [[Tenth Doctor]]'s regeneration, the TARDIS had a system that allowed him to lock the TARDIS remotely using a fob (as a joke, the TARDIS roof light flashed and a alarm chirp sound was heard, similar to that used on vehicles on Earth). He was also able to open the door remotely. ([[TV]]: ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'')

There were occasions on which the Doctor or their companions needed to use the key to ''lock'' the doors, ([[TV]]: "[[Strangers in Space]]") while on others ([[TV]]: ''[[Spearhead from Space]]'', ''[[The Christmas Invasion]]'') the act of merely closing the doors locked the TARDIS. It was evident that the TARDIS' lock could be set to secure either automatically or manually.

However, a key was not always needed to open a TARDIS. During the Doctor's first encounter with [[River Song]] (from his point of view), she remarked that she had witnessed his future self open the doors of the TARDIS by snapping his fingers. The [[Tenth Doctor]] reacted with disbelief, but later successfully opened the doors in this fashion. ([[TV]]: ''[[Forest of the Dead]]'') After regenerating into his [[Eleventh Doctor|eleventh self]], the Doctor again opened the TARDIS by snapping his fingers, demonstrating that this method had become a reliable way for him to do so. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'') The Doctor did, however, continue to make regular use of his key to unlock the TARDIS. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Time of Angels (TV story)|The Time of Angels]]'', ''[[Flesh and Stone (TV story)|Flesh and Stone]]'', et. al.) After losing the key in their [[Thirteenth Doctor|thirteenth incarnation]], the Doctor simply told the TARDIS what had happened and she opened up on her own. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Ghost Monument (TV story)|The Ghost Monument]]'')

[[File:TARDIS Key.jpg|thumb|right|A copy of the TARDIS key [[TV]]: ''[[Planet of the Spiders]]'')]]

At some point in his third life, the Doctor began experimenting with new designs for his key, coming up with several alternative designs before settling on a spade-shaped silver key. After his regeneration, the [[Fourth Doctor]] experimented with even more radical designs, which included a double-helix apparently made of plastic, before eventually going back to the spade and Yale styles. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Interference - Book Two]]'') The Yale key was also used by the [[Fifth Doctor]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[Four to Doomsday (TV story)|Four to Doomsday]]'')

The [[Seventh Doctor]] used yet another design, incorporating the [[Seal of Rassilon]] with a fan-shaped motif. ([[TV]]: ''[[Ghost Light]]'') The Seventh Doctor eventually went back to the spade key, which the [[Eighth Doctor]] initially continued to use. ([[TV]]: ''[[Doctor Who (TV story)|Doctor Who]]'') At some point, the Eighth Doctor returned to using the Yale key. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Crooked World]]'', ''[[History 101]]'')

The Doctor's TARDIS key could be used to open TARDISes other than his own. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Mark of the Rani]]'')

The TARDIS key glowed and grew warm when the TARDIS was about to materialise nearby ([[TV]]: ''[[Aliens of London]]'') or when an incapacitated TARDIS had finished rebuilding itself. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Eleventh Hour]]'')

As a part of the TARDIS, keys had low-level perception filter properties. The Tenth Doctor was able to tune the keys into the psychic network created by the Master to extend these properties to an individual wearing a key. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')