The Police Box: a primer & guide

[@AppallingGrandeur]

I see you, Tardis (5:37) - sneakily appearing behind the others.

[@WeTravelbyNight]

Sneaky Tardis.

[@everettrailfan]

The Doctor must have seen this video and wanted to be in it after watching it.

[@HUGORDZ1]

love it. after dr who i became a big fan of police boxes and their history, and this video is great.

[@Eltonlaleham]

I wish I had a TARDIS

[@WeTravelbyNight]

I would be happy with one that didn't travel in time - bigger on the inside, capable of going anywhere, and the interior just the way I wanted it. Time travel would be very handy, though.

[@Speedoodleman]

@@WeTravelbyNight so just an RDIS? Ba dum tshhh!

[@starplatinum8364]

The tardis is very hard to pilot y’know

[@Cageab1]

@@starplatinum8364 lets agree to disagree, if one man could pilot a ship made to be piloted by 6 people it's definitely not that hard

[@starplatinum8364]

@@Cageab1it’s a memory thing to remembered the control or name of the panel. It takes times to remembering all panel or pilot or just stabilizer to do it itself.

[@TimeLordParadox]

There's a good example of a mark 2 box outside the police station in Whetherby.

[@owenwildish331]

I love Police Boxes and wish they'd make a come back as well as those classic red telephone boxes

[@stevedickson5853]

The next Tardis should be a proper replica of the Metropolitan police box, blue panes and all.

[@zebragrrl]

When I went on a trip to Europe with with my family, I was 17, and tired of being dragged at Senior Citizen speeds behind the embarrassing family group to every boring tourist attraction they wanted to see without regard to what I wanted. Somehow, amazingly, I struck a deal when we arrived at the last leg of our Trip, in London. Finally, I understood the language, and could surely be trusted to choose my own sights to see. I had an all access public transit pass, and a map, and places to go! Being an absurd nerd, I saw the sites I wanted to see. 221b Baker Street (Sherlock Holmes), the nearest Red Pillar post box (Danger Mouse), I wandered into a video store and the bored folks at the till happily indulged my desire to collect 'one of every coin'. I briefly saw the statue of Nelson, wandered past Westminster Abbey, and the iconic tower, heard the "Chimes of Big Ben" (The Prisoner), and so on. I wandered up to a small kiosk housing the police near Westminster bridge and asked where I might see a genuine Police Box. They suggested I speak to someone at New Scotland Yard (just a few blocks away). One person led to another, and soon someone was placing a call to their friend out at Hendon Police college. I hopped a train out there, and the friend on the other end of the phone met me, and have me a ride out to visit the Mark 3, that was at the time being used (as I recall) as a track equipment storage shed near the running track. Even though it wasn't a "Tardis" style, I was nerding out just being able to see 'the real thing in person'. I took a ton of photos, and then headed back. Only to find out that the trains had a different schedule that day (perhaps it was a Saturday or Sunday?) Had quite an adventure of buses to make it back to the hotel, and didn't make it back until several hours later than planned, where my parents were (naturally) terrified that I was completely lost in London and they might have to miss planes back to the US, etc. I was having the time of my life. One of the best days I can remember. This was over 30 years ago, but I still remember it. I wish I still had all those photos, I'd happily add them to the Tardis Builder's group's collection.. but I've sadly lost them due to deaths, moves, and.. life. It's so cool however, seeing that Police Box mentioned in a video, as I sat here shouting at my computer "That's the one.. I've been there! I touched that one!"

[@grindelston5968]

The police are sadly not as friendly or accommodating these days. I'm glad you could enjoy my country before it went completely to shit

[@iant9461]

Love it.

[@Apollo_Vanron]

This video is very well done, and very informative! Great commentary and visuals.

[@frippp66]

I completely remember the inside of a police box - the stool & the little desk as portrayed here - as a small child I mislaid my mother in crowded Lewisham Market in mid-60s. I put was put up on the stool by the policeman I'd been taken to - set to draw on pieces of scrap paper with a biro while he went to find my Mum, who was very relieved to see me.

[@danm9006]

That's a fun story! Thanks for sharing. 😊

[@julianaylor4351]

Since the 80s the BBC has trademarked the police box, because of Dr Who, but I have a police box pencil case from before that, something you can no longer get, unless it has Dr Who and BBC on it. Prior to the trademarking police box souvenir items were easily available. I assume if souvenir models and images do still get sold, they probably have to be highly accurate and look nothing like the TARDIS. I remember a brown painted on being near Earls Court Tube Station, until some years ago. There was also one outside Hendon Metropolitan Police training college, I once saw it on a television news item. You can't buy old police boxes, but you can buy old red public telephone boxes.

[@wisteela]

I love the graphics.

[@iant9461]

I remember grey rectangle metal boxes with a red metal lamp piece. The corners of the roof were curved I think. So hard to find photographs of these things.

[@briang8428]

I love the police box!

[@fletcherhamilton3177]

When one sees the inferior configuration of a genuine Police Box it makes little sense that the Tardis’ exterior doors open inwards. In-story could accept that this was a necessary decision on the part of whatever ‘AI’ formed the ‘outer plasmic shell’ to ensure that the entryway could be wide for ingress / egress of passengers as well as furniture and things, but . . . I dunno. I’d have had the door open outwards as it did in the real-world units, assuming that the ‘disguise’ can incorporate a functional telephone as is seen in a few episodes after _The Empty Child,_ before which it was implied to be a non-functional aspect of the Tardis’ camouflage.

[@AiRsTrIkExXzZ]

I the episode “the doctor’s wife” the tardis can talk to the doctor and says to him how, with the design of a police box, the door should open outwards but the doctor is just like I don’t care it’s my door I can open it either way I want

[@reachandler3655]

I remember when I was a kid (John Pertwee/Tom Baker era) being told that the door should open outwards, after some thought, with my child logic, I concluded that opening the door inwards you'd gain access to the TARDIS, but opening the door outwards would reveal standard police box as part of the camouflage system.

[@fletcherhamilton3177]

@@AiRsTrIkExXzZ - I always thought that ‘pull to open’ referred to the telephone’s cubbyhole door plate on the left?

[@fletcherhamilton3177]

@@reachandler3655 - by the same token I’ll concede that it does make more sense for the door of the Tardis to open _inwards_ to enable ingress / egress in tight spaces like you’re likely to find in space station corridors and other such places!

[@owenwildish331]

@@reachandler3655 Hmm, there's an idea...

[@Nigel-xp4rf]

Proves me right, The TARDIS when it was observed in Black Orchid should have raised a few eyebrows, seeing that the story is set in circa 1925, and the TYJ prop box was roughly based on the Mk 2 PPCB, so not only 'out of time', but the Police officers within the two part adventure would or should have noticed it was a relatively different design to what was being used up till then

[@petergallagher7573]

It's high time the tv series had an accurate Police Box prop.Apparently the closest in terms of accuracy was the prop that was used in the two Peter Cushing films of the 1960's.

[@Cageab1]

The peter cushing flims are non canon as far as im aware. Or wellm they are canon. However the doctor isn't a time lord in the flims hes a regular human and in the day of the doctor novelization its stated that the doctor gave peter "his best suit"

[@Quirderph]

They’re also remakes of stories from the main show, which pretty much places them into their own continuity by default.

[@Cageab1]

@@Quirderph well canonically in doctor who there just movies. the doctor in the flims is a human..called dr. who.

[@TimeMasterOG]

@@Cageab1 No the two films arent cannon cuz the actual show doctor has his own version of those episodes

[@Cageab1]

@@TimeMasterOG that makes no sense, my point is is that the movies do exist in the doctor who universe but they are mere movies, they are canon to the show, but are just literally movies based on the doctor, again, the day of the doctor novelization states this.

[@indigohammer5732]

I remember seeing them painted white in Glasgow

[@johnmontgomery9149]

They should have been kept for the use of foot Constables as somewhere to hold a prisoner til transport came

[@mbhambleton]

There is still a box outside Wetherby Police Station in West Yorkshire

[@grindelston5968]

Really ? A real one of a mock up ,do you know?

[@lotusgroup123]

I wonder how long the public phones in the boxes remained unvandalised? Wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes in current/recent years...

[@MAB_Canada]

When I was in London I saw the “Metropolitan Police Watch Box” outside the entrance to Earl’s Court tube station. It didn’t really match the TARDIS but was definitely a blue police box (referred to briefly in The Bells of St John episode). It also doesn’t look like any of the models you describe…only 4 panes of glass in each window, of which 3 are frosted, and a very modern beacon light on top. How does it fit into police box history?

[@Scorp308]

Because timey wimey.

[@stevedickson5853]

It probably wasn't the Mackenzie type police box these videos relate too, they were other models out there

[@MattMcIrvin]

It was apparently the product of an unsuccessful 1990s experiment in reviving the police box, partly as a response to crime levels in the neighborhood at the time. It is not a precise match for the classic design and I think it's entirely wooden rather than concrete, but it resembles it in general shape. It's not currently functional but the police do keep it painted. On our recent visit to London our hotel was in the neighborhood of Earl's Court so we stumbled across it entirely by accident, and I looked up its history. Google Street View pulled a gag at some point in which its interior is represented as a walkthrough of the Peter Capaldi-era TARDIS control room.

[@JOCoStudio1]

No love for the green sheffield police box that still stands to this day

[@midnightzero3760]

this a good vid bro

[@FlintlockBill]

Great stuff.

[@ronaldwhite1730]

thank you ( Calgary Alberta, Canada has at least one red 'police box ' like unit outside on the street ) 1 May 2022 .

[@armorer94]

What about the Earl's Court box?

[@DemetriusSorvo]

What happened to the Police Box? In the end, it just kinda faded away...

[@Eltonlaleham]

To have a TARDIS for me would be, awesome in billions of ways and I would travel back and forth in time and space for me that would be awesome in billions of ways.

[@johnwhitley2898]

Great info! I have to go into Tardis builders and check them out! There are several Makers(woodworkers) here on KZbin that have built and have plans for construction of the Tardis in a knock-down configuration. I'm building one to take to car shows (I have a Hot Rod Pickup I drive and show).. It would be a Cool piece just for having. (I am a Fan!!) Great stuff!!!

[@kargaroc386]

What does it say about a city that they had to put phone booths *specifically* for the cops literally all over the place?

[@theaeronshowremod2022]

2:40 - 2:57 The doctor realized you were filming him and dematerialized.

[@Cageab1]

@bbernard1981 we do not speak of the timeless child

[@thechatteringmagpie]

Not Crick, it is Crich. Pronounced 'Cry-ch.'

[@diskgrinder]

Great.