The year was 1941, and London was taking a pasting from the Luftwaffe; unable to subdue the capital by day, and suffering increasing losses from the Spitfire and Hurricanes of Fighter Command, the German effort had switched to night bombing. Somewhere close to the Railway Station, on London Road, Tooting stood one of the new pattern Mark Two Metropolitan Police Call Boxes. Despite the pitch-dark ''blackout' regulations in effect, it was illuminated by the occasional flash of an exploding bomb, and the flickering light of General Frederick Pile's anti-aircraft artillery firing almost blind into the night sky. If the 'bobby on the beat' came by, and needed a 'breather', he would be grateful for the concrete walls of the box and its strong, teak door. Unless, of course, he wanted to risk flagging down a passing Chula starship.........you see, things aren't always what they seem.
Flash forward 70 years, and you can see the same 1929 pattern MacKenzie Trench Call Box in place at the National Tramway Museum, Crich Tramway Village, Derbyshire. This is the area I called home for most of my adult life. The disused quarry is now a setting for the most wonderful collection of working trams, historic buildings and many other exhibits. How the Tramway Museum acquired this TARDIS - sorry - Metropolitan Police Box, is quite a story. It had been commissioned in 1936, one of many call boxes being set up around London by the Metropolitan Police. Cast in concrete, and with a solid teak door, the box had a 'phone, accessible by the public via a small external door. This could be used to communicate with the nearby Police Station in an emergency; the policeman on the beat could also use it to make calls, and contact the Police Station when the blue light on the roof began to flash - an indication that he was wanted! Inside, the Officer would find an Incident Book, and other basic tools to help deal with an emergency, along with a chair, although, according to various reports, Police Officers tended not to linger inside, as the concrete walls made it rather cold.
How the museum at Crich acquired this gem is something of a mystery. By 1969, most of the concrete Metropolitan Police Boxes had been taken out of service and destroyed. However, the one in Tooting was withdrawn, and taken to Hendon, where the training facilities of the Metropolitan Police are located. At some time in 1983, a decision was made to house the box indoors, but there then arose a snag - it was found to weigh two tons! Reluctantly, 'the Met' parted with its prize box, and it 'landed' at Crich, where it was installed at the Town End Terminus, and the telephone used by the staff to communicate regarding the working of the trams. (The 'Met' were satisfied with a replica).
Fast forward to 2003, when it is realized that this very box is the ONLY Mark Two left; it becomes listed as a Heritage Building, and the Tramway Museum becomes liable for its preservation. A restoration program was devised and in 2005, Ward Westminster began the necessary work.
Yes, above you can see a young 'Dr Who' fan asking her parents if they can go inside. This is a scene that is repeated endlessly, whenever the Tramway Museum is open! The representation of the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space) in the very first episode of 'Dr Who' - 'An Unearthly Child' in 1963, by a Metropolitan Police Box was the invention of a staff writer on the BBC show, one Anthony Coburn. The dimensions and details of that first TARDIS are not consistent with the actual MacKenzie Trench box, however (as commented on by Detective Inspector Shipton in the utterly terrifying episode 'Blink', in 2007). The explanation as to why the Doctor's TARDIS - as opposed to the many others operated by Time Lords - is stuck as a Police Box is simple. Its chameleon circuit, which disguises it as a local feature when it materializes in a new place, is broken.
What this has ensured, over a 50 year period, is that the TARDIS has become one of the most iconic images ever devised by the BBC, and along with the distinctive materialization/dematerialization sound effect (created in the BBC's own Radiophonic Workshop) is recognizable all over the world. So much so that the BBC have successful copyrighted the design of the box, over the objections of the Metropolitan Police, I might add.
There is a lot more to tell, of Police Boxes AND 'Dr Who', but I am sure there will be time in the future (removes tongue from cheek)
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