Though the Doctors who occupy the time machine have come and gone over the past nearly 60 years, the one constant in Doctor Who has always been the TARDIS, with its Police Box outer shell becoming one of the most famous sci-fi images in the world. But a shocking new rumor points to the defunct phone booth coming “under threat,” with the showrunners potentially set on changing the TARDIS’ exterior shape given real world events.
YouTube channel The TARDIS Zone has shared a bunch of new eyebrow-raising rumors. As we’ve already reported, one of them is that Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor may come out as bisexual when the series returns for its thirteenth season. Another one that’s discussed in their latest video, though, is that a change could be coming to the Doctor’s faithful spaceship. YouTuber Noel says: “Tardis exterior under threat due to how the police are perceived with the public.”
So, apparently the current widespread backlash against the police in the wake of the BLM movement has caused the producers of Doctor Who to wonder if the Doctor should really be traveling around time and space in a blue box that has the words “police” all over it. It’s worth pointing out that Noel doesn’t say that it’s definitely going to change or that a decision has been made, just that it’s “under threat.” It’s also worth remembering that the YouTuber himself classifies this info as a “rumor.” Still, obviously fans will no doubt be concerned.
In the lore of the show, the TARDIS can change its exterior appearance by way of a chameleon circuit that’s supposed to blend the ship in with its surroundings wherever it lands. However, the Doctor’s model has a broken circuit and so it’s stuck in the shape it assumed when the hero landed in 1963 England in the series’ first ever episode. The Time Lord has (temporarily) fixed it a couple of times in the show’s history, though, so it’s feasible that Thirteen could do so again and have the TARDIS settle on a different shape.
Doctor Who returns this holiday season for new winter special “Revolution of the Daleks.”
