TARDIS scanner
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The TARDIS scanner, also known as the video screen, (COMIC: The Zombies) vid-screen (PROSE: The Two Doctors) or, in its smoke-like monitor-less configuration, the smoke screen (PROSE: TARDIS Tour) was the main method for the occupants of a TARDIS to observe the outside environment. The appearance and specifications of the scanner in the the Doctor's TARDIS varied significantly in the course of the Doctor's travels.
Basic principles and specifications[[edit] | [edit source]]
Most of the time, the scanner system appeared to be a simple optical relay whereby a screen in the console room displayed images from a camera mounted in the outer shell of a TARDIS (indicated on one occasion to be in the light atop the police box in the Doctor's TARDIS). (TV: Enlightenment)
The scanner screen could also display other images and data, like photographs and recorded images or videos. (TV: The Edge of Destruction) On several occasions other powerful individuals were able to commandeer the display screen to display information of their own choosing (most frequently, to allow themselves to communicate with the Doctor). (TV: The Armageddon Factor, The Three Doctors, Resurrection of the Daleks, The Keeper of Traken, Victory of the Daleks)
On these occasions the scanner broadcast sound as well as vision, which was not always the case when it was used to view the external environment.
The scanner screen variously appeared as a small monitor attached to the ceiling of the console room, (TV: An Unearthly Child, Doctor Who) a circular screen in one of the roundels, (TV: The Curse of Peladon, The Time Monster) as a larger screen concealed behind shutters, (TV: The Masque of Mandragora) embedded in the wall itself, (COMIC: Emperor of the Daleks!) and as a smaller monitor incorporated into the main control console. (TV: Rose, The Snowmen, Deep Breath, et al.)
The Doctor's TARDIS[[edit] | [edit source]]
By one account of the Doctor and Susan's escape from Gallifrey, the scanner activated when the ship broke free of Gallifrey, showing Susan Foreman one last image of her homeworld. (AUDIO: The Beginning [+]Loading...["The Beginning (audio story)"])
After escaping the Tribe of Gum, the First Doctor tried to return to London in 1963, activating the scanner to see where he'd landed, seeing an alien forest. (TV: The Daleks [+]Loading...["The Daleks (TV story)"]) When the fast return switch later returned the TARDIS to Skaro instead of London, the Doctor again activated the scanner but the outside environment was too dark to properly see anything. (AUDIO: Return to Skaro [+]Loading...["Return to Skaro (audio story)"])
By the time Vicki Pallister had joined the TARDIS, the Doctor labelled the scanner with a black marker pen. (AUDIO: 1963 [+]Loading...["1963 (audio story)"])
The Second Doctor used a time scanner to have a glimpse of the future destination of the TARDIS. (TV: The Moonbase [+]Loading...["The Moonbase (TV story)"]) When attempting to flee the Time Lords, the Second Doctor kept track of where he was via the scanner. When the Time Lords took remote control of the ship and returned it to Gallifrey, the scanner was briefly knocked off-line, reactivating to show a row of TARDISes when the ship landed. (TV: The War Games [+]Loading...["The War Games (TV story)"])
When Jo Grant brought a Micro Servo Robot into the TARDIS, it connected itself to the computer and began transmitting adverts. One of these adverts had scanner display adverts. (AUDIO: Pop-Up [+]Loading...["Pop-Up (audio story)"])
During the Fourth Doctor's sojourn in E-Space, the scanner system suffered from a serious flaw in that, rather than being an optical relay as previously indicated, it displayed an image of the space at the co-ordinates occupied by the ship.
The absolute value of the co-ordinates was utilised, causing problems in an environment like E-Space with negative co-ordinates (the scanner showed images of Gallifrey while the ship was on Alzarius, the two planets having the same co-ordinates in different universes). The key component in the system was the image translator — inserting an image translator from the local environment rectified the fault. (TV: Full Circle [+]Loading...["Full Circle (TV story)"])
The TARDIS, in an attempt to warn the Seventh Doctor about the threat of the Timewyrm, projected his memories of the Brigadier, Victoria Waterfield, Jamie McCrimmon and Katarina on the scanner. (PROSE: Timewyrm: Genesys [+]Loading...["Timewyrm: Genesys (novel)"])
On 6 March 2006, the Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler, and Mickey Smith flicked through multiple news channels on the TARDIS scanner. The Doctor stopped on one when he saw UNIT, including Major Frost, noting that they were "good people". The Doctor also told Mickey that the scanner had "all the basic channels", including football. (TV: Aliens of London [+]Loading...["Aliens of London (TV story)"])
During his attempts to take Dermot O'Leary to the National Television Awards, the Eleventh Doctor repeatedly used the TARDIS scanner to observe the TARDIS's surroundings. (TV: Dermot and the Doctor [+]Loading...["Dermot and the Doctor (TV story)"])
River Song made the scanner work while the TARDIS was cloaked, which, according to the Eleventh Doctor, wasn't normally possible. (TV: The Impossible Astronaut [+]Loading...["The Impossible Astronaut (TV story)"])
When his first incarnation confronted the Testimony Foundation, the Twelfth Doctor initially watched via the scanner before Bill Potts' glass avatar caused him to emerge from the ship. Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart likewise watched from the scanner, emerging to offer his life in exchange for Bill's. (TV: Twice Upon a Time [+]Loading...["Twice Upon a Time (TV story)"])
Alternate timelines[[edit] | [edit source]]
In an alternate timeline caused by a temporal collision of the First and Second Doctor's TARDISes, Jamie McCrimmon managed to activate the scanner in the First Doctor's TARDIS, showing the Dalek Empire's orbital bombardment of Kiria City. (AUDIO: Daughter of the Gods [+]Loading...["Daughter of the Gods (audio story)"])
Other TARDISes[[edit] | [edit source]]
When the Twelfth Doctor stole a new TARDIS to try and save Clara Oswald, Ohila demanded the Doctor face him via the scanner, causing him to emerge briefly. When he and Clara fled to the end of the universe, Clara managed to activate the TARDIS scanner via the sonic sunglasses, allowing her to overhear the Doctor's intent to use a neural block on her. (TV: Hell Bent [+]Loading...["Hell Bent (TV story)"])
Unlike the Doctor's, the scanner in the Master's first TARDIS also transmitted sounds from outside. (PROSE: The Dark Path [+]Loading...["The Dark Path (novel)"])
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Superannuation advertisements, despite not being considered valid stories by this Wiki due to their commercial nature, actually had a small but noticeable part in shaping the future of Doctor Who as the TARDIS scanner was concerned, as they were the first works where the screen is a small monitor that can be manually pulled down by the Doctor at their whim, a detail which would be incorporated from Rose onwards into all modern TARDIS interiors.
