Type 40

Type 40
Type:	Space-time vessel
Place of origin:	Gallifrey
First mentioned in:	The Deadly Assassin
First appearance:	An Unearthly Child

The Doctor's TARDIS was formally a Type 40 time travel capsule. (TV: The Deadly Assassin ^[+]Loading...["The Deadly Assassin (TV story)"], et al.) also referred to as a Type Forty TARDIS (PROSE: Autumn Mist ^[+]Loading...["Autumn Mist (novel)"]) or simply a Type 40. (AUDIO: Doctor Who and the Pirates ^[+]Loading...["Doctor Who and the Pirates (audio story)"]) In comparison to the models used by some other renegades and other Time Lords who went beyond Gallifrey on official missions, it was old and outdated, and was considered to be a museum piece or scrap.

Nature

Subtypes

The Doctor's TARDIS was a Mark 3. (TV: The Time Meddler ^[+]Loading...["The Time Meddler (TV story)"]) The later Mark IV model had several features that resulted in smoother operation than the Mark 3 but it had a higher energy consumption rate than its predecessor, along with some of its hardware being incompatible with the earlier model. (AUDIO: The Resurrection of Mars ^[+]Loading...["The Resurrection of Mars (audio story)"], The Book of Kells ^[+]Loading...["The Book of Kells (audio story)"], TV: The Daleks' Master Plan ^[+]Loading...["The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)"])

According to one account, the Master's TARDIS was a "Type 40 Model B". (GAME: The Legions of Death ^[+]Loading...["The Legions of Death (game)"])

Obsolete

"The stories, I mean. They can't be true. [...] All of them. I mean… look at it. It's a Type Forty. I'm surprised it's even airborne."Orlock sees the Doctor's TARDIS during the Last Great Time War

The one quality on which most of the Doctor's Time Lord contemporaries agreed was that Type 40s were antiques. At one time or another, the Master (TV: The Claws of Axos ^[+]Loading...["The Claws of Axos (TV story)"]) and the Rani (TV: Time and the Rani ^[+]Loading...["Time and the Rani (TV story)"]) all described the Doctor's TARDIS as undesirably old. Romana I indicated that the type was no longer on the syllabus at the Time Lord Academy. (TV: The Pirate Planet ^[+]Loading...["The Pirate Planet (TV story)"]) Indeed, once when the Fourth Doctor returned to Gallifrey, Commander Hilred called the type "obsolete" and noted that all had been pulled from service centuries earlier as more advanced models were introduced.

Chancellor Goth was amazed a Type 40 was still operational, though when he inspected the Doctor's TARDIS he admitted it was in good condition. (TV: The Deadly Assassin ^[+]Loading...["The Deadly Assassin (TV story)"], The Invasion of Time ^[+]Loading...["The Invasion of Time (TV story)"]) Professor Chronotis, who was clearly of an older generation than the Doctor, claimed that Type 40s first came out when he was a boy. (TV: Shada ^[+]Loading...["Shada (TV story)"], WC: Shada ^[+]Loading...["Shada (webcast)"]) When the TARDIS inhabited Idris, it mentioned to the Doctor that it was already a museum piece when the Doctor was young. (TV: The Doctor's Wife ^[+]Loading...["The Doctor's Wife (TV story)"]) It seems, however, that while they were decommissioned, they were not all destroyed, as another was activated by Straxus to stand in for the Doctor's. (AUDIO: X and the Daleks ^[+]Loading...["X and the Daleks (audio story)"])

Coordinator Narvin considered the Type 40 to be scrap compared to the far superior Type 400 model. (AUDIO: The Quantum Possibility Engine ^[+]Loading...["The Quantum Possibility Engine (audio story)"])

The Eighth Doctor loved his TARDIS, in part, for coming from a "classic line". (AUDIO: The Scapegoat ^[+]Loading...["The Scapegoat (audio story)"]) Indeed, River Song defined the Type 40 as a "vintage model". (COMIC: Pond Life ^[+]Loading...["Pond Life (comic story)"])

Other distinctive qualities

Exactly 305 Type 40 TT Capsules said to have been created and officially registered with the Gallifreyan authorities. (TV: The Deadly Assassin ^[+]Loading...["The Deadly Assassin (TV story)"]) All were installed with the Record of Rassilon. According to Romana II, only the Type 40s were so equipped. (TV: State of Decay ^[+]Loading...["State of Decay (TV story)"])

The Type 40 was intended to have six pilots to operate the console smoothly. (TV: Journey's End ^[+]Loading...["Journey's End (TV story)"])

Behind the scenes

• The Doctor's TARDIS was not always referred to as a "Type 40". Initially, there was no suggestion that the TARDIS was anything other than a unique craft. However, with the broadcast of The Time Meddler, the notion was seeded that, like cars and other devices, TARDISes were produced with mark numbers, as the Monk's TARDIS was a Mark IV, with the Doctor's not named in the serial. The actual type numbers of other Time Lords' TARDISes have never been given in televised stories. However, other type numbers have been mentioned in other media. More recently, the Doctor's TARDIS has been given the designation TT Type 40, Mark 3 by the onboard computer on the Teselecta in the episode Let's Kill Hitler.
  • In the Apple Arcade game Hidden Mysteries, the Doctor's TARDIS was referred to as a Type 44.

External links

• TARDIS Technical Index covering Type 40-50 (with appendix on other models)
• TARDIS Type 40 Technical Handbook (contains much speculative information)