Moment Ten
The Doctor unlocked the door to the TARDIS and stepped inside. The console looked the same as ever, ready for him to press the dematerialisation switch and whisk him off to some distant point in time and space. But, thanks to the Time Lords, the TARDIS wasn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future. Instead, like the Doctor, it was stuck on 20th Century Earth.
Turning, the Doctor saw that his lab assistant, Liz Shaw, had followed him into the TARDIS and was gazing round at the vast interior. The expression on her face was one he had seen on the faces of his companions many times before: disbelief that something which looked like an ordinary police box could be so huge inside. And, given her scientific background, he knew she must be trying to reconcile what she saw with what she had been taught was scientifically possible.
"Well, Miss Shaw, what do you think?" He had a feeling he knew what she was going to say; everyone . . . correction, every non-Gallifreyan who set foot in the TARDIS said the same thing, or some variation on it. The idea that such a vast space could fit into a much smaller space was beyond the understanding of most races. He'd once tried to explain it to Ian and Barbara by comparing it to their ability to use television to show a large building in a small sitting room, but he doubted they had truly understood.
"It's . . ."
"Bigger on the inside? That's what everyone else says." The Doctor crossed over to the console. For a moment, his finger hovered over the dematerialisation switch, but he then remembered what had happened the last time he pressed that switch. Because he had repeatedly interfered in the affairs of others, his fellow Time Lords had forced him to regenerate and banished him to Earth. And, as part of the punishment, they had disabled the TARDIS to make sure he couldn't escape from his exile. So, when he tried to operate the TARDIS, he only succeeded in causing the engines to backfire.
"Yes, I can see it's bigger on the inside," Liz said, joining the Doctor at the console. "But what's it all for?"
The Doctor answered Liz's question with one of his own. "If I told you this machine could travel in time, would you believe me?"
The look on Liz's face told him she would not, at least not without proof. Proof which, thanks to his fellow Time Lords, he could not give her; the TARDIS was immobilised and it was going to stay immobilised until they decided otherwise. That was one of the things he hated about being stuck on Earth, knowing that he was effectively a prisoner on the planet. It wasn't that he disliked Earth - quite the reverse, in fact - but, after roaming around in space and time for so long, the thought of being confined like this was hard to bear.
"Well, it can," he told her, running his hand over the console. "Or rather it could. Now . . ." He shook his head and sighed. "Forced to walk the slow path." He sighed again, recalling all the places the TARDIS had taken him, all the people he had met. Now, the only chance he had of returning to all that was for his fellow Time Lords to lift his exile. Unless he could somehow get the TARDIS working again by himself. It wouldn't be easy, especially in this relatively primitive time, but there had to be a way. It was just a matter of finding it . . .
He gave the console a comforting pat. "Don't worry, old girl. Whatever they've done to you, I'll find a way to fix it." He turned to Liz. "If the Brigadier wants me for anything, tell him I'm busy."
Liz shook her head at the sight of the Doctor talking to a machine as if it was a living thing, then walked out of the TARDIS.