Bizzare question but are the TARDIS shields 2 way?

[senko]

All these people in the new series leaning out the doors in deep space to see various sights has got me wondering are the TARDIS shields 2 way or 1 way. That is if one of them fell out would they hit a spherical shield (or other shape) and be able to try and climb back in or would they fall right through the shields and out into deep space (and potentially a black hole/star/etc)?

[Catsmate]

Jun 14, 2016 10:22:30 GMT senko said:

All these people in the new series leaning out the doors in deep space to see various sights has got me wondering are the TARDIS shields 2 way or 1 way. That is if one of them fell out would they hit a spherical shield (or other shape) and be able to try and climb back in or would they fall right through the shields and out into deep space (and potentially a black hole/star/etc)?

That's an interesting question. I seem to recall people (Rory's dad?) sitting in the TARDIS doorway in space, so the shield holds in air and presumably stop the person from dropping into space if they fell. Though how easy would it be to climb up? Could you get a grip on an energy barrier?
I see an interesting way to torment a PC there...

[senko]

That episode was the one on TV today with him sitting there having a meal while watching the earth and its what got me thinking about this although there have been other moments such as when he took Donna to the creation of earth and pointed things out for instance. I know the TARDIS shields can be extended out from the doorway to allow the doors to be opened while keeping air in or to create a tunnel of air like in Time of angels when River jumped from the ship's airlock to the TARDIS but does that extend to people? Like you said presumably it does but radiation and atmosphere shields don't always stop physical objects (see many sci fi movies).

Either way it does offer possibilities if it is a 2 way shield like you there's a way to torment PC's, if it isn't then there's another if something important where to fall out those doors.

[Catsmate]

Jun 14, 2016 11:57:50 GMT senko said:

That episode was the one on TV today with him sitting there having a meal while watching the earth and its what got me thinking about this although there have been other moments such as when he took Donna to the creation of earth and pointed things out for instance. I know the TARDIS shields can be extended out from the doorway to allow the doors to be opened while keeping air in or to create a tunnel of air like in Time of angels when River jumped from the ship's airlock to the TARDIS but does that extend to people? Like you said presumably it does but radiation and atmosphere shields don't always stop physical objects (see many sci fi movies).

Either way it does offer possibilities if it is a 2 way shield like you there's a way to torment PC's, if it isn't then there's another if something important where to fall out those doors.

Right back to The Stolen Earth (IIRR) the TARDIS's shields could be extended several metres. As you suggest I'd keep it vague until the idea crops up and then choose the most interesting option.

[Marnal]

"Horns of Nimon" establishs that the TARDIS Doors have there own separate force field generator, independent of the generators that protect the rest of the exo-shell. The only reason I can think of to do this is that you might want to be able to leave the ship while the force-field is on - implying that you can't get far from the ships when the force fields are up.

This appears to be confirmed shortly afterwards [in the same story] when the use the door force field generator to make a corridor to a nearby space-ship airlock. The character are show to be standing on the force-field with out any real difficulty.

Plus, as noted above, it has no trouble holding in 14.7 pounds per square foot of air pressure.

So, yes, it does stop stuff from getting out just as much as it stops things from getting in.

[Stormcrow]

TARDIS force fields are created and projected by devices called plot generators, whose mysterious properties are not yet fully understood. Research into this... um... field is ongoing.

[senko]

Ah thank you Marnal so someone can fall out the doors and then have to try and figure out how to get back up to them given Rory's dad had his legs out a fair way while sitting on the edge of the TARDIS.

EDIT
Purely conjectural but I'd say the main shields are right up against the outer shell while the door shields can form a ) bubble or a - corridor around the entrance for people to come and go. Of course how big said bubble/door shield is depends on the time lords settings (or GM plot). It makes sense its on a different circuit though because otherwise you couldn't get out without lowering the main shields. This way the door shields can be off to allow people to come and go, on in the "standard" | configuration so if you've disabled the Atrium you can open them and take a look out or a non-standard configuration allowing such tricks as walking to an airlock or sitting with your legs hanging over the edge.

[Catsmate]

Jun 14, 2016 23:44:00 GMT senko said:

Ah thank you Marnal so someone can fall out the doors and then have to try and figure out how to get back up to them given Rory's dad had his legs out a fair way while sitting on the edge of the TARDIS.

EDIT
Purely conjectural but I'd say the main shields are right up against the outer shell while the door shields can form a ) bubble or a - corridor around the entrance for people to come and go. Of course how big said bubble/door shield is depends on the time lords settings (or GM plot). It makes sense its on a different circuit though because otherwise you couldn't get out without lowering the main shields. This way the door shields can be off to allow people to come and go, on in the "standard" | configuration so if you've disabled the Atrium you can open them and take a look out or a non-standard configuration allowing such tricks as walking to an airlock or sitting with your legs hanging over the edge.

I like the idea of a PC (or NPC) "falling out" and rolling around on a spherical, frictionless force bubble in space and having to be rescued (or figuring out some way to get back aboard). Or even all the TARDIS crew, shades of Open Water 2:

The friends decide to jump into the water for a swim. However, nobody thought to lower the ladder to re-board the ship, and they find themselves trapped in the water with only two masks, a dive knife, and a toy dolphin float. <>
Unable to climb the high, smooth sides of the boat, they tread water for a while. The group resorts to removing and using their bathing suits to make a rope. After a couple of attempts they manage to get one end of the rope wrapped around a railing. Instead of having the lightest person climb up, Zach attempts to climb up. He pulls himself up and his fingers brush the gunwale but the makeshift rope rips apart due to being too heavy. The group are now mostly naked and have only a partial rope.

If using this idea make sure to check in advance what they've got in their pockets...


In Horns the main defence shields are inoperative (the Doctor was fiddling) and the TARDIS collides with the Skonnan ship, suffering minor impact damage. However:

‘The defence shield on the door operates on a separate circuit. If I can reactivate it and extrude it...’
...
He touched a control and the TARDIS door slid open.
Beyond the door was a kind of transparent energy-corridor, leading directly to the airlock of the other ship.
‘There,’ said the Doctor proudly. ‘What do you think of that?’

The Doctor and Romana use this to access the ship's airlock and board.

[senko]

What has the nasty doctor got in his pocketses? String, Jellybabies a mainframe CRAY supercomputer?

I haven't seen that episode but I read the summaries didn't they crash into the ship after the main shields were lowered? If so how much damage did the TARDIS take?

[Catsmate]

Jun 15, 2016 10:44:07 GMT senko said:

What has the nasty doctor got in his pocketses? String, Jellybabies a mainframe CRAY supercomputer?

Hopefully a grapnel and some paracord, I do . Well they're in my bag actually.
BTW there's a mostly complete list here of everything the Doctor has pulled from his pockets in the series. I'm gradually expanding a version of it to cover later stories and the EU novels.

Jun 15, 2016 10:44:07 GMT senko said:

I haven't seen that episode but I read the summaries didn't they crash into the ship after the main shields were lowered? If so how much damage did the TARDIS take?

Yep they crashed all right. Not much damage from the impact, according to the novelisation:

With a clangorous thud the TARDIS struck. The impact threw the Doctor and Romana to the floor, and jarred a few more bits loose from the dismantled column.
The Doctor picked himself up and helped Romana to her feet.
‘Quite right, K9,’ he said cheerfully, ‘we seem to have arrived.’ He looked at the scanner, which showed a vista of corroded metal hull. ‘We must be jammed right up against the side of the ship.