Fabula
Object
Object

Hand-Held Temporal Disruption Device

A metallic, hand-held device emitting localized temporal disruption to erase matter, used as a weapon in the Auderly House tunnels.
5 appearances

Purpose

To act as a self-contained temporal actuator capable of limited dematerialization and disintegration within a localized field, serving as a key component in a malfunctioning time-travel weapon system.

Significance

This crude time case shifts the investigation from a localized threat to a conspiracy of temporal assassins, forcing UNIT to confront the existence of a working time machine controlled by hostile forces. Its activation reveals the Doctor’s tactical deception when used as bait in Auderly House, ultimately exposing the Daleks’ attempt to alter history by eliminating Sir Reginald Styles.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

5 moments
S9E1 · Day of the Daleks Part 1
Doctor unravels alien weapon and time device

The crude time case from the Auderly House tunnel is picked up by the Doctor, who identifies it as a mini-dematerialisation circuit. When Jo inserts the mini-dematerialisation circuit into its inset, the time case activates unexpectedly, triggering a localized temporal disruption that erases the prisoner in the ambulance.

Before: Recovered from the tunnel debris, untested and presumed inactive.
After: Activated unexpectedly, causing a prisoner to vanish from the ambulance under Benton’s watch.
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S9E1 · Day of the Daleks Part 1
Doctor uses alien assassin's time device

The mini-dematerialisation circuit is inserted into the alien case containing the temporal device. When the Doctor activates the circuit via a concealed button, it triggers localized temporal displacement, dissolving the assassin’s matter and confirming the device’s functionality as a crude time machine.

Before: Inactive and unpowered, contained within the alien case retrieved from the tunnels under Auderly House.
After: Activated and depleted after successfully displacing the assassin into the temporal void, leaving no physical residue.
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S9E1 · Day of the Daleks Part 1
Time machine triggers prisoner's vanishing

The crude time machine sits inactive on a workbench in the UNIT lab, its temporal feedback circuit having visibly overloaded. The Doctor identifies the failure's cause, transforming a seized device into a diagnostic tool that explains the temporal anomalies powering the prisoner's vanishing. Its momentary functionality has already claimed a human life before vanishing itself.

Before: The time machine had briefly functioned, allowing the assassin to infiltrate and then begin to vanish mid-sentence before the device failed completely.
After: Permanently inactive and inert, the device remains on the workbench as a harbinger of the Dalek's temporal technology and the catastrophic threat it poses.
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S9E1 · Day of the Daleks Part 1
Doctor realizes assassins will strike again

The crude time machine’s temporal feedback circuit overloads in the Doctor’s hands, its formerly flickering circuits now dark and lifeless—a silent testament to catastrophic failure. The Doctor uses this collapse to articulate the nature of the Dalek weapon before him, turning inert scrap into irrefutable proof of temporal warfare.

Before: Flickering with temporal energy, recently capable of localized matter erasure, now inert.
After: Completely dead and unresponsive, its feedback circuit burned out, returning no temporal effect.
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S9E1 · Day of the Daleks Part 1
Doctor lures Jo to haunted house trap

The Doctor examines the once-active time case now rendered inert by a failed temporal feedback circuit, identifying the overload as the cause of the prisoner’s dissolution. This insight triggers his decision to lure the assassins by exploiting their reliance on this technology.

Before: Powered and functional, recently used to effect a temporal vanishing
After: Dead and cold, confirming a critical system failure within its core
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