Doctor Who: 10 Episodes That Should Have Changed Things Forever (But Didn't)
7. The Pyramids Of Mars (Tom Baker)
There are two words that strike fear into the heart of any Doctor Who writer; isomorphic controls. In The Two Doctors, where the Androgum try to steal the secret of time travel, we are given yet more hints as to the mechanics of time travel, and we learn that key to the use of a TARDIS is that it is linked to its owner. This usually happens the first time a Timelord uses the ship, but the Doctor stole his. In The Pyramids Of Mars, Tom Bakers Doctor tells Sutekh that the controls were isomorphic meaning they are linked to the Doctor and only he can use them. This is reused again for the Masters laser screwdriver in the later series. But this handy feature to avoid having someone steal your motor seems to come and go whenever is required and in the most recent episodes it has been completely thrown to the wind with any old primate able to fly the thing. We know that the TARDIS operates telepathically too so it could be argued that the safety measure is just switched off for the Doctors mate. The idea was a good one, but ultimately limiting and it seems now to have been largely forgotten.
I.T. Consultant, technophile and Doctor Who fan. I like to talk about tech, take films apart and make excuses for Doctor Who's continuity errors. No other show has the power to make me feel like a big kid.
