Dr Who fan researches history of Tardis
- Publication: Hartlepool Mail
- Date: 1983-12-05
- Author:
- Page: 6
- Language: English
How Time Lord used police box to good
NEW TECHOLOGY has phased out the police box, once the most familiar sight in streets and roads of every town and city in this country.
Todays fans of the "Doctor Who" serials will sit glued to their seats as they watch the Time Traveller stepping in and out of the Tardis, never realizing they are looking at an antique!
Which is undestandable, of course, because children viewing recent adventures of the Time Lord see the box as a cunningly disguised time machine. They've never seen a real police box, so how could they make the connection?
Recently a special 90-minute "Doctor Who" adventure was screened to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the world's longest-running science fiction series.
Avid follower
"The Five Doctors" featured K-9, the robot dog, Bessie the vintage car from Jon Pertwee days, and some suprise appearances from the most famous monsters featured in the programme over the years.
And there is now one fan who just can't wait for the new series to be screened in January.
He is Paul Bianco, who has "Doctor Who" for the past 20 been an avid follower of years.
Paul, of Lansdowne Road, Hartlepool, has been researching the history of the police box, which was finally phased out in 1981.
"Believe it or not the very last one was removed from Barnet by-pass in that year," he said.
The first box was set up in Newcastle in 1929. They were made of timber and reinforced with concrete and weighed about 2 1/2 tons.
"The cost of each box was around £43-which incidentally is about the amount of a phone bill today. By December 1953, almost 700 of them appeared all over Britain," said Paul.
Criminals
"There were two types, with the small versions called a police post, which was merely a telephone and a first-aid kit. Incidentally, these boxes are still in existence in and around London."
Paul's research shows that as well as using the boxes for a Bobby to sign on and off duty, they were also used as a temporary jail.
The criminals could be locked up in one until further police assistance arrived," he said.
HISTORY OF TARDIS
It is only recently 1 managed to find out so much information on the boxes and I notice one of the most frequent questions children ask is why the Tardis have a flashing light?
"Which is simple to answer. The flashing beacon attracted the attention of the Bobby on the beat. This indicated that he should phone the station to check if he was needed back there, or had to go to the scene of a crime."
Tardis
And as Paul revealed, new technology finally phased out the police box, yet it is a fitting end that it should be used as the Tardis, and seen again and again on our television screens.
During an exhibition staged earlier this year, Paul was attended among fans who and now has a massive collection of pictures.
Some are taken inside the Tardis and with some of the monsters and characters from previous series.
Caption: LEFT: Paul Bianco with another all-too-familiar favourite from the "Dr Who" series - a Dalek. ABOVE: This drawing by Paul shows what at one time was one of the most familiar sights in Britain - a police box.
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- APA 6th ed.: (1983-12-05). Dr Who fan researches history of Tardis. Hartlepool Mail p. 6.
- MLA 7th ed.: "Dr Who fan researches history of Tardis." Hartlepool Mail [add city] 1983-12-05, 6. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "Dr Who fan researches history of Tardis." Hartlepool Mail, edition, sec., 1983-12-05
- Turabian: "Dr Who fan researches history of Tardis." Hartlepool Mail, 1983-12-05, section, 6 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Dr Who fan researches history of Tardis | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who_fan_researches_history_of_Tardis | work=Hartlepool Mail | pages=6 | date=1983-12-05 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=14 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Dr Who fan researches history of Tardis | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who_fan_researches_history_of_Tardis | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=14 April 2025}}</ref>
