Time vortex (Doctor Who)
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In the science fiction television series Doctor Who, the time vortex (sometimes called the space-time vortex) is the medium that TARDISes and other time machines travel through.
In the classic series, the "howlaround" or "slit-scan" tunnel seen in most versions of the series' title sequence is supposed to be a representation of the time vortex (first implied in the pilot episode "An Unearthly Child"), although it is sometimes also shown as nothingness.
In the new series (revived in 2005), the direction of the TARDIS's time travel through the vortex can be discerned from the surrounding colours: blue for travelling into the past and red for travelling into the future, most likely inspired by the Doppler Effect.
The vortex is outside normal spacetime, and therefore normal rules of physics do not apply. For instance, in the vortex the equation for the relationship between energy and matter is E=mc³ (The Time Monster). In the Virgin New Adventures novel Just War by Lance Parkin, it was stated that the vortex was built by the Time Lords as a transdimensional spiral that connected all points in space and time. The canonicity of the non-television stories is unclear.
The vortex is an extremely hostile environment. In the serial Planet of Giants, opening the TARDIS doors in-flight caused the First Doctor and his companions to shrink to doll-size. Doing the same thing in Warriors' Gate exposed the interior of the ship to the time winds, which age whatever they come into contact with. Time Lords appear to have some resistance to this, although unprotected travel within the vortex is still extremely dangerous and often considered fatal (Shada). In Day of the Daleks a person travelling through the vortex could be drawn to a specific location by the use of a device called a "vortex magnetron".
Beings that dwell in the vortex include the Chronovores (The Time Monster), the Vortex Wraiths (the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels The Slow Empire and Timeless), clockwork creatures (the Eighth Doctor Adventure Anachrophobia), the Vortisaurs (the Big Finish audio play Storm Warning), the Tar-Modowk (No More Lies) and the Reapers (Father's Day). It is unknown if any of them are related to each other. In the Eighth Doctor Adventures, Sabbath's employers set up their headquarters in the vortex, casting many of the natives out into the linear universe.
In the Virgin Missing Adventures novel The Well-Mannered War, the TARDIS accidentally wanders into the time spiral, which exists at the parameters of the time vortex; its forces are strong enough to destroy even the TARDIS. The TARDIS is equipped with a device that forces materialisation in the event it enters the spiral, but the Doctor stated that for this to happen, "there would have to be erosion in the systems circuitry on a massive scale". Like all spin-off media, the canonicity of the novel is unclear, but the spiral is briefly mentioned in Episode One of The Sun Makers.
In the 2005 series episode The Parting of the Ways, Rose Tyler inadvertently exposed herself to the energies of the vortex while attempting to activate the Doctor's TARDIS. The exposure gave her absolute power over time and space, but almost killed her in the process. The Doctor was able to save her life by absorbing the vortex energies, but his cells were damaged and as a result he had to regenerate.
While infused with the power of the vortex, Rose resurrected Jack Harkness who since then has contained a near-infinite amount of life, which grants him effective immortality, which he can pass on through kiss. When battling the life stealing demon Abaddon, what looked like the energies of the time vortex streamed out of Jack and into the demon.
Doomsday and Invasion of the Bane clarified that time travellers in the vortex, such as Rose Tyler and Sarah Jane Smith absorb background radiation called "artron energy" which some creatures such as Daleks can use as an alternative energy source, and other races such as the Bane can use to identify time travellers.
