Chris Chibnall’s Timeless Child Twist is probably the biggest and most controversial edition of the former showrunner. Doctor Who canon, but it also paradoxically explains one of the potential plot holes opened up by the storyline. Doctor WhoThe Disney Era has gently referenced Chibnall’s divisive addition to the show’s continuity, but it hasn’t focused on it all that much. The Doctor’s TARDIS was also affected by the shocking revelation Due to the strong connection between the Time Lord and the iconic blue box. However, the Timeless Child storyline also explains why the TARDIS looks so recognisable.
The TARDIS has been a huge part of the show’s formula since the first episode of Doctor Whos classic era. Although it has the potential to blend seamlessly with its surroundings, it has never been seen as anything other than a 1950s police box. Of course, the show explained at length what this was before Chibnall took charge, but the timeless kid twist quietly adds to the learning. The biggest clue comes when a surprise actor is added to the group of those who played the Doctor.
The TARDIS may have remembered being a police box from before the First Doctor (and decided to stay that way)
The Doctor’s TARDIS may have looked like it was much more than the show implies
Doctor Who Season 12, episode 5, “Fugitive from the Judoon,” introduces Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor. Her debut brings with it the Doctor’s TARDIS but with both the ship and its owner predating William Hartnell’s first Doctor – an entire era that the main character of the show does not remember. A little confusingly, the Fugitive Doctor’s TARDIS already looks like a police box. Adhering to the available lore at the time, this should not have been the case at this point in the Doctor’s timeline, as it is supposed to have a functioning chameleon circuit. On the other hand, it provides a brilliant alternative theory.
In short, The Fugitive Doctor’s TARDIS looks like it may not have been a production oversight – but rather an intentional attempt to foreshadow the Doctor’s future.
Although The TARDIS’ memory is also heavily implied to have been wiped by DivisionThe time and space machine can recall a fragment of its past from before the memory wipe. If so, it may remember taking the form of a police box before its pilot took the form of Hartnell’s Doctor. If so, the TARDIS may have made a conscious decision to stay that way – though it doesn’t understand why. In short, The Fugitive Doctor’s TARDIS looks like it may not have been a production oversight – but rather an intentional attempt to foreshadow the Doctor’s future.
The timeless child would also explain why the doctor never fixes his chameleon circuit
The Doctor’s subliminal fondness for the appearance of the TARDIS may have been a factor
The chameleon circle of TARDIS can still be broken even when the pre-Hartnell Doctors are accounted for. Similarly, the doctor’s explanation for not fixing it because he likes the way the blue box looks may also be true. However, the new theory employed by Chibnall’s contributions may add an extra motivation when refusing to fix the circuit in question. in short, The Doctor may also have some form of memory of the TARDIS being a police box When they were at work. So, the familiar appearance can offer Doctor Whos main character a subliminal sense of familiarity.