Original artwork, not a still
Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.
— Doctor Who · 1963
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is technobabble as a character trait: whenever the Doctor does not feel like explaining, the neutron flow gets reversed and the problem goes away. The Tardis wiki records the Brigadier saying the Doctor used it when he did not want to explain something, and later Doctors, including the Twelfth in "The Girl Who Died", quote it half-seriously.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Doctor WhoShow the scene
Few phrases are so tied to one Doctor with so little use. The Tardis wiki records that "The Sea Devils" (1972) is the only story with the full phrase in the Pertwee era: the Third Doctor reverses the polarity of the neutron flow to destroy the Sea Devil base. Despite that single use, plus several shorter "reverse the polarity" lines, it became his signature, and he says it again in "The Five Doctors" (1983) to free the TARDIS from a force field.
Sources (2)
- Tardis Data Core: The Sea DevilsNotesReference checked
- Tardis Data Core: Reverse the polarity of the neutron flowThird Doctor paragraphReference checked
Context reviewed
