10 Doctor Who Answers Given YEARS Later
4. Why Does The TARDIS Never Work?
The Doctor’s TARDIS is many things, but reliable is not one of them. In fact, the first few seasons of Doctor Who were structured almost entirely around the Doctor’s inability to pilot his ship back to modern day London.
In the years since, the Doctor’s flying skills have fluctuated a bit, with some incarnations being better than others. But even at the best of times, they’ve never given the impression of being fully in control of the ol' Type 40. You’d think that after centuries of time and space he’d at least be able to get Rose back to the correct year!
For most of the show this was handwaved away as a necessary plot convenience, with the closest thing to an explanation being that the Doctor was a bad driver, and the TARDIS was a bit old and knackered.
That was until the show was almost 50 years old, at which point we got two different explanations.
First was in 2008's Journey’s End, when the Tenth Doctor revealed that the TARDIS console is meant to be piloted by six people simultaneously.
And second was in 2011's The Doctor’s Wife, where the TARDIS (in human form) explains to the Doctor that the controls are basically irrelevant, and that she doesn’t always take the Doctor where he wants to go, but always where he needs to go.
No wonder the Doctor keeps bumbling head-first into danger. The TARDIS is always looking for it!