Doctor Who

Work Title: Doctor Who
Medium: TV Episode
Episode Title: --
Year: 2005
Writer(s): Russel T Davis 2005-2010
"Original" Writer: Yes Writer(s): Steven Moffat 2010-present
"Original" Writer: Yes Own work?: Yes
Summary:

Time and Space traveling adventures of a Gallifreyan Time Lord only known as the Doctor and his companions, traveling through time and space. -imdb.com

Era/Year of Portrayal: present_day
Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

Doctor Who travels through time and has been from the distant past all the way to the distant future. He has a time travelling spaceship to help him achieve this.

Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: The TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space)
  • Description of the technology: A Space Ship made on the planet Gallifrey (The Doctor’s home planet) that is cloaked to look like a 1960’s police box from London. This technology is mobile, it is a time machine that can not only travel through time, but also can fly like a space ship, transport from different points and power other devices. The interface of the TARDIS is done by a center console in the middle of the control room. The TARDIS doesn’t talk, but gives subtle hints that it is more than just a machine. This Spaceship controls The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver which is a device that uses sonic vibrations to help him overcome certain obstacles. The TARDIS is also bigger on the inside. When you look at it from the outside it looks as if it was a normal 6x6x12 blue 1960’s style police box, but the TARDIS uses different dimensions to function, this is why the inside of the TARDIS is bigger, because once you step in to the door of the TARDIS you are now in a different dimension. The TARDIS does not act superior to any one, but will take control if The Doctor or Companions are in danger. The TARDIS has saved many lives. The TARDIS also has a phone on the outside to represent the irony of the ship being a police box. There are also features like face to face calling through the computer monitors inside the box.
  • Nature of task or activity: The user participates in the technology by using it to travel through time. The TARDIS also can sense when people need The Doctor’s help and will sometimes pull The Doctor towards certain planets.
  • Performance of the Technology: The technology functions well, but The Doctor doesn’t know how to fully fly the TARDIS, hinted in past episodes. The iconic wheezing when the TARDIS is landing is because “He left the emergency brake on.” The TARDIS rarely breaks down, but sometimes it happens due to the temporal rifts in space and time. The TARDIS functions off of time and the rifts in time.
  • Description of creator(s): The TARDIS does have a gender, which was explained in “The Doctors Wife.” The TARDIS is female and has a soul which was ripped out at one point in time. The age of the TARDIS is unknown, but is very old. The Doctor “borrowed” the TARDIS from a repai
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): The creators of the TARDIS made this spaceship to help The Doctor get to where he needs to go, but it also helps him connect over hundreds of galaxies. It was developed mainly for the storyline of The Doctor.
  • Description of users of technology: The only people that are allowed to use the TARDIS are Time Lords. Time Lords are both male and female, and their ages vary due to the fact that they can regenerate themselves when they are dying. Each Time Lord is granted 13 regenerations.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: spatial_presence
  • Description of presence experience: The Doctor as the user talks to the TARDIS and refers to it as “She,” like a car. Throughout the story of the doctor, the relationship between The Doctor the TARDIS grows over time and through the series.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: The characters that use the TARDIS know what it is capable of. The Doctor shows his companions that the TARDIS can travel through time, but taking them where ever they want to go. Some places are Pompeii, Old London, and even 10 minutes into the future!
  • Valence of experience: The Doctor finds the TARDIS to be a a gift and a burden. As a Time Lord The Doctor focuses on fixing the world’s problems the best he can without changing events in history. There are certain fixes or points in time that cannot be changed, like the volcano in Pompeii. The TARDIS is a gift because The Doctor can go anywhere and anytime in all space and time, but the burden is not being able to help certain people because they are a fix point in time.
  • Specific responses: Since the TARDIS travels through time, there is a certain episode that has the occupants forget what happened as they traveled through time because it override time and space. The TARDIS usually sustains itself in flight so the users don’t feel any type of motion, but The Doctor doesn’t know how to fully fly the TARDIS so it can be a bumpy ride.
Long-term consequences:

The long-term consequences of the TARDIS are very important. The Doctor can change time, change certain points in time, and that effects the outcome of the future. Even though the TV show wants to have happy endings, time and space isn’t all full of happiness and the TV show shows all emotions, and all outcomes, good and bad.

Other:

Coder name: Bruce Lord
Coder email: tud13414@temple.edu
Coder affiliation: Temple University