Photo © Chris Foster / Museum of Science and Industry

A primary school in Wythenshawe Manchester got a surprise today when Doctor Who’s TARDIS appeared in their school assembly hall.

The TARDIS was created by the technical team of the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) to promote the recent Doctor Who Up-Close exhibition.

From April 9 2008 it became a permanent fixture at Newall Green Primary School after the school won first prize in competition to win it organised by MOSI.

Primary schools throughout Greater Manchester took part in the competition, for which classes submitted posters about a significant historic figure from Manchester’s past.

Newall Green’s colourful fabric poster told the story of Richard Roberts, the little known mechanical engineer who moved to Manchester in 1816, and helped to develop the textile machinery which allowed mass, cheap manufacture of cotton.

Photo © Chris Foster / Museum of Science and Industry

“We thought it would be great if children could be inspired by this popular TV icon, to become time travellers themselves back into Manchester’s history,” said Tony Hill, Acting Director at MOSI.

“I hope the pupils enjoy having the TARDIS in their school grounds, and perhaps it may even encourage them to think about some of Manchester’s other great historic figures.”

For those not in the know, TARDIS stands for ‘Time and Relative Dimension in Space’ and is used by the Doctor to travel through time and space. It is an unreliable old time machine in the form of a 1950s police call box, which is much larger on the inside than the outside.

It was an important feature of the popular Doctor Who Up-Close exhibition in Manchester, which attracted over 225,000 people. During the exhibition, which ran during March 31 2007 – January 6 2008, the TARDIS was spotted in Manchester city centre, Warrington, Bolton, Stockport, Bury and Altrincham.

Photo © Chris Foster / Museum of Science and Industry

The school’s poster about Richard Roberts will be published on the MOSI website, together with those by the runners-up.

"It’s wonderful to have won this unusual prize, and to know that our poster is on display for other children to see,” said Sarah Rudd, Head Teacher at Newall Green Primary School. “We have a lot of Doctor Who fans at Newall Green, so I know the TARDIS is going to be a very popular spot in the playground!”