You’ve seen it a thousand times. That battered blue box, sitting in a London alleyway or on a desolate alien moon, humming with the promise of infinite adventure. Most of us just call it the TARDIS. To the rest of the world, it’s the dr who police call box. But here is the weird thing: if you actually stepped back into 1963 London, the "real" police boxes didn't look quite like the one on your TV.
It's a strange bit of history.
Basically, the BBC was broke. When they were dreaming up a show about a grumpy grandfather traveling through time, they needed a way to save on the budget. If the ship changed shape every week to blend in, they'd have to build a new prop for every single episode. That's a nightmare for a production manager. So, staff writer Anthony Coburn suggested a police box. They were everywhere in Britain back then. If the ship's "chameleon circuit" got stuck, it could stay a police box forever. Cheap. Simple. Iconic.
But if you’re a purist, you've probably noticed that the TARDIS is a bit of a lie.
The Real Gilbert Mackenzie Trench Design
The "real" boxes were designed by an architect named Gilbert Mackenzie Trench in 1929. He was the surveyor for the Metropolitan Police. These weren't just phone booths; they were miniature police stations. An officer could go inside to eat a sandwich, write up a report, or even lock up a rowdy drunk while waiting for a transport car.
Honestly, they were built like tanks.
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Unlike the wooden TARDIS props we see on screen, the actual Mackenzie Trench boxes were mostly made of pre-cast concrete. If you tried to pilot one of those through the Time Vortex, it probably wouldn't budge. They were heavy, permanent fixtures of the London landscape. By the early 1950s, there were about 685 of them scattered across the city.
Why the TARDIS looks "wrong"
The original 1963 prop, designed by Peter Brachacki, was actually a bit of a rush job. It was thinner than a real police box. The roof was flatter. The windows were different. If a real London bobby from 1963 walked past the First Doctor’s TARDIS, he’d probably think it was a cheap knock-off.
Even the color is a point of contention. We all know "TARDIS blue," but real police boxes varied. Some were a darker, grittier navy. In Glasgow, they were actually red until the late 1960s. Can you imagine a red TARDIS? It feels wrong, like a glitch in the Matrix. Apparently, Glasgow eventually painted theirs blue because the show became so popular that people expected police boxes to be blue. Talk about life imitating art.
The Great Legal Battle: BBC vs. The Met
You’d think the police would be happy about the free publicity.
You’d be wrong.
In the 1990s, the BBC tried to register the dr who police call box design as a trademark. The Metropolitan Police went ballistic. They argued that the police box was their brand. It was a symbol of public safety, not a sci-fi toy. They’d been using the design since 1929, decades before William Hartnell ever stepped foot on Set 1 at Lime Grove Studios.
The fight lasted years. It went all the way to the Patent Office.
In 2002, a judge finally made a call. The verdict? Basically, because the Met had let the boxes rot and disappear from the streets while the BBC kept the image alive on television, the public now associated the blue box with Doctor Who more than the actual police. The BBC won. The Met was even ordered to pay the BBC’s legal fees.
It’s one of those rare cases where a fictional version of an object became more "real" than the original.
Where to find a dr who police call box in 2026
If you’re looking for a real one today, it's a bit of a treasure hunt. Most were scrapped in the 70s when personal radios made them obsolete.
- Earl’s Court, London: This is the big one. It’s right outside the Tube station. People flock to it for selfies. But here is the secret: it’s not an original 1929 box. It was actually built in 1996 as part of a pilot program to bring them back (with CCTV cameras on top).
- The Hendon Box: Tucked away at the Metropolitan Police Training Centre. This one is a "Mark 5" and is much closer to the real historical design.
- Glasgow: There are still a few original boxes in Scotland, though many have been converted into coffee stands.
- Crich Tramway Village: They have a beautifully restored Mackenzie Trench box if you want to see what the concrete beasts actually looked like in their prime.
The Evolution of the Prop
The box changes. A lot.
If you watch the transition from the "Classic" era to the "New" era in 2005, the prop got a massive glow-up. The Christopher Eccleston/David Tennant version was bigger, more rugged, and had a much more pronounced wood grain. They actually used blowtorches on the wood to make the texture pop on camera.
Then came the Matt Smith era, where the box turned a bright, "St John Ambulance" blue. It looked brand new, like it had just rolled off a Gallifreyan assembly line. By the time we got to Jodie Whittaker and Ncuti Gatwa, the designers went back to a darker, more "lived-in" aesthetic.
Every Doctor gets a slightly different box, even if the general shape stays the same. It’s a subtle way of reflecting the character’s personality. Some are refined and clean; others are battered and look like they’ve been dragged through a supernova. Because they usually have been.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Collectors
If you're obsessed with the dr who police call box and want to bring a bit of that history home, keep these points in mind:
- Check the Windows: If you're buying a model or a kit, look at the window panes. A real Mackenzie Trench box has 6 panes per window. Many TARDIS props only have 4.
- The "Pull to Open" Sign: In the real world, that sign refers to a small cupboard that held the telephone for the public. In the show, the Doctor usually just walks through the whole door. If you ever find a real box, don't try to walk through the "Pull to Open" door unless you want to hit your head on a very solid shelf.
- Dimensions Matter: If you’re building a replica, decide if you want a "Screen Accurate" TARDIS (which is often smaller and made of wood) or a "Historical Accurate" Police Box (which is taller, wider, and meant to look like concrete).
The blue box is more than just a prop. It’s a piece of British street history that was saved from the scrap heap by a sci-fi show that didn't have enough money for special effects. That’s the real magic.
To see the most accurate version of the original design, plan a visit to the Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire. They maintain one of the few remaining genuine Mackenzie Trench boxes in the world, allowing you to compare the real-world architecture with the BBC's famous time machine. For those in London, the Earl's Court box remains the most accessible "tribute" to the design, even if its origins are more modern than they appear.