The TARDIS and I

A few weekends back I met Kurt and Max at Balans at Earl's Court for brunch. On our return trip to the tube station, I noticed - for the first time ever, in all my trips there - that there is a huge blue police box right in front of the station entrance.

A necessity in pre-walkie talkie days, the Metropolitan Police introduced police boxes in the 20s and 30s so that policemen on their beat could communicate with the local station. The blue beacon would flash when a policeman was in attendance.

This replica of a 1929 design by Gilbert Mackenzie Trench is now more famous as Doctor's TARDIS, which got stuck in that "form" after the time machine's chameleon circuit was destroyed. The replica was constructed as a prototype for a plan to reintroduce police boxes so the general public could contact local police officers when in distress. The plan didn't take off, but the now inoperable police box still stands. Interestingly, in the 1990s the BBC registered for a trademark based on Trench's 1929 design. The Met filed an objection, but ultimately lost.

Later that day, I told Duncan, my new flatmate how I must have passed that spot outside Earls Court tube station a dozen times, and yet, to my amazement, never noticed the police box. Without missing a beat, Duncan replied, "that's because it sometimes appears in other places". :-)