Time Columns are found in the Secondary
and Tertiary Control Rooms.
Many (but not all) Primary Control Rooms are also equipped with them. The central Time Column
is made of glass and
contains a crystalline assembly made up of
multiple motors and rotors, including the
Time Rotor,
the Energy Storage Unit,
and the Conceptual Geometer Relay. All Type 97 TARDISes have their Time Vector Generator installed in the central column.
For this reason
the Type 97 column looks very different than the one found on a Mark I Console.
Indeed each Type of TARDIS has a unique Type of Time Rotor that must be matched with the Main Space-Time Element to ensure proper operation.
The Conceptual Geometer
probably measures imaginary spaces and might be necessary to travel through Time
(but not space)
in the Vortex.
The Geometer is equipped with an agronomic trigger and field separator. The Conceptual Geometer can be found near the Ancillary Power Station and its Relay is found inside the Time Column.
The power necessary for a TARDIS to make complete a trip through time is many orders of magnitude more then that of a star
(the Earth's sun has an output of 4x1026 watts). Because of its immense power requirements the Time Column is located directly over one of the Hearts of the TARDIS - the Main Space Time Element.
Thus the Rotor provides access to the richest source of temporal energy on a TARDIS.
The Rotor holds the power of the Heart of the TARDIS in check by "weighing it down" to prevent its escape. In this way it controls the power of the counter-magnetization thrusts
emitted by the Space Time Element.
Each space-time jump drains the
Time Rotor's
Energy Storage Unit to the point where it can only travel a few seconds into the future. It takes a TARDIS 12 minutes to charge the Energy Storage Unit
with Temporal Energy
for another space-time jump.
This is done using the Temporal Reactors fueled by Artron Energy. The Temporal Reactors are filled with chronoplasmic energy, which is contained by Zybanium shields.
The Time Rotor has a status display on the console. Using this, the drive systems can be tested to ensure that the time rotor is primed for dematerialization. During flight the Time Rotor rises and falls in time with the cycling of the Dimensional Stabilizers. The time rotor pulses with artron energy during Vortex travel.
When it lowers, it performs a complete scan of
all TARDIS power "thrust" systems. When it rises it provides the operator with a status report on
the time changes
of these systems and indicates the amount of the power-thrust delivered. The frequency of its cycling slows as a TARDIS prepares to materialize. The Column can only move when the power
to the drive systems
is on. When fully materialized the column will be retracted and unlit. But if a TARDIS is in hover mode the rotor will continue to glow. The central column appears not to oscillate when traveling through Inner Time (such as on Gallifrey).
When some types of Scanning Modes are enabled, the Time Rotor with rotate within the Column.
If the Time Column was to stop moving while in the Vortex the TARDIS could fly right through the Time Spiral. The column holds the power down and prevents it from escaping. But this restraint could be overridden with a magnetic field if it was as strong as the fields of an entire solar system combined. It would take 5 minutes for such a field to pull the Time Column all the way out of a Console, releasing the power from the Heart of the TARDIS. The escaping
Artron
Energy from would flood a TARDIS, and the crew would be blown to atoms in seconds.
To remove the TARDIS Locking Mechanism while in flight, the Time Rotor must be disconnected. This is necessary to override the fail-safes designed to prevent tampering with the lock while in the Vortex.
Original Type 40 Time Column
First Upgraded Type 40 Time Column
Second Upgraded Type 40 Time Column
Third Upgraded Type 40 Time Column
Time Column from an unknown TARDIS Type
Fourth Upgraded Type 40 Time Column
Fifth Upgraded Type 40 Time Column
Sixth Upgraded Type 40 Time Column