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From: france@unc.UUCP (Robert France)
Newsgroups: net.tv.drwho
Subject: Re: Isomorphism
Message-ID: <7461@unc.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 25-Jul-84 12:50:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: unc.7461
Posted: Wed Jul 25 12:50:17 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Jul-84 05:54:46 EDT
References: <756@ihuxn.UUCP>, <1762@stolaf.UUCP>, <140@uwmacc.UUCP>, <462@nmtvax.UUCP>
Organization: CS Dept., U. of N. Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lines: 39

The suggestion that the Doctor shares his isomorphic relationship with the
Tardis with his companions in the same way that he shares his Time Lord's
gift for languages is enticing, but it cannot be true.  For one thing, in the
Davison episode 'Time Flight', a pair of mere mortals who are used to piloting
only such primitive craft as the Concorde liner manage to take the Tardis on
a short hop of about a hundred meters (straight up).  Now, you can make several
quodlibets on this -- the doctor had the overides switched in; the Master had
been fooling with the console innards -- but then you still have to explain
how the Master can operate the Tardis, as he has several times, including that
same episode.  No, I think we must propose an alternate explanation.  How about:

	-- the Tardis was isomorphic in the early Baker years, but changed.
	   This is not all that bizarre:  I can remember when the Doctor
	   himself could hardly operate it, let alone anyone else.

	-- the simple controls (door handle, dematerialization circuit) can
	   be handled by anyone, but the coordinate-setting controls are
	   isomorphic to the Doctor.  This explanation has the advantage
	   of explaining why so many people can get the Tardis to `take off'
	   but so few (including, often, the good Doctor himself) can get it to
	   go where they want it to.  Then you still have Adric to explain,
	   since Adric could actually pilot the old beast, but Adric could
	   do BLOCK TRANSFER COMPUTATIONS in his head, so he could have made
	   himself isomorphic to the Doctor while he was communing with the
	   Tardis.  (This, by the way, is why I was not sad to see Adric go,
	   although I, too, rather liked the little bugger.  Block transfer
	   computaitons can change the nature of reality, which made Adric
	   too powerful a character to keep hanging around very long after
	   Logopolis).

	-- the Doctor was lying to Sutek.



"Oh, Doctor ... nine out of ten."

					Robert France
					france@unc