The Doctor’s TARDIS is small on the outside. When it lands on someone or something, how does it know exactly where to place them on the inside?

Why doesn't it, for instance, place what it lands on at a random location inside?

  • 6
    + 1 for "smaller on the outside" – Gallifreyan Mar 19 '17 at 13:11
  • Didn't know quite how to put it considering it lands on things that are bigger than it seen from the outside. For an instance in season 7 episode 6 when the TARDIS lands on clara, and she is longer than the tardis seen from the outside. – Zoe - account abandoned Mar 19 '17 at 13:12
  • 10
    Because it's semi-sentient and capable of not landing stupidly. – Valorum Mar 19 '17 at 13:19
  • 1
    I'd say landing on top of someone is stupid. And flying the TARDIS into hitlers office is also a bad idea – Zoe - account abandoned Mar 19 '17 at 13:21
  • 3
    Wasn't it River who flew the TARDIS there? I'm not saying Doctor doesn't have ridiculous ideas, it's just that I don't remember this one being his. – Gallifreyan Mar 19 '17 at 13:32

In episode 4 of the 6th season, it is said that the tardis has a safety protocol that teleport its passengers to the main control room. So If the tardis land on someone (or something) it maybe is the same protocol that make it appear directly in the control room ?


If one considers the active control room as the "center" of the ship, as well as the most room where most of the important events are occurring, it's logical that any item landed on/around would appear there as a default.

IIRC, the first time something was landed on was Logopolis, where the TARDIS landed around what was assumed to be an ordinary Police box, for the purpose of taking many complex measurements. It wasn't ordinary, and it resulted in many complex configurations.

Having said that, I would assume that if the settings were changed, an item could be set to appear in any room or location. If it were a hostile alien, they could land the capsule so that they would appear in a locked room far away from the control room.

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