We all know the Doctor’s TARDIS as the iconic blue police box, stuck in that one form due to a ‘malfunctioning chameleon circuit.’ We also know that, on Doctor Who, each TARDIS has a personality of its own. So, what does the craft actually want to look like, if left to its own devices?
If one was to describe the typical TARDIS on Doctor Who, the Doctor’s own blue police box would come to mind almost immediately. Although it is known that his TARDIS has a malfunctioning chameleon circuit, keeping it from being able to blend in with the surroundings, that blue box has become the basis for what we all imagine a TARDIS to be.
We have even seen what a functioning TARDIS would be like. During the events of Hell Bent, when Clara and the Doctor hijacked another TARDIS, we saw that it later turned into the diner that the Doctor wandered into. Here, we have a craft with a working chameleon circuit, allowing it to blend in with its surroundings.
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We also know that a typical TARDIS, when not trying to blend in, will look like a plain grey cabinet that is opened by a sliding door. The TARDIS also can choose its own shape to blend in to the surroundings, should none be specified. However, given the different personalities that the crafts possess, as they are also sentient and living beings themselves, one has to wonder what shape the different TARDISes (TARDI? What is the plural of TARDIS anyway?) would prefer if they did not need to blend in.
We know that, either due to a malfunctioning chameleon circuit or its own desire, the Doctor’s TARDIS is the blue police box. Even though it scans the area as it should, it always reverts back to that form. But is that due to a malfunction, or its own desire, and the Doctor’s allowance of the craft’s free will?
If it is the latter, as it consciously wants to be a police box, one has to wonder what other TARDISes (I’m going with this) would take the form of. With the Doctor being called upon to heal, fix, and protect those who need saving, the police box makes sense for his craft. Perhaps this form would change depending on the mannerisms of the Time Lord using it, as the Master’s TARDIS would likely choose a different look for itself than the blue police box.
The TARDIS may even change what it looks like based on how the operating Time Lord regenerates. While the Master’s obsession with pillars worked for the male incarnations, Missy’s TARDIS may take on a different look. Each incarnation of a Time Lord, based on the Doctor and the Master, would seem to have a different personality, therefore necessitating a different default exterior and, possibly, a change in the moods and desires of the TARDIS itself.
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Doctor Who has a number of fascinating objects, and the TARDIS is but one of many of those. However, as a sentient spacecraft, one has to wonder what it would prefer to look like, and how much that changes from TARDIS to TARDIS.