It was presented as a symbol of Scotland every bit as recognisable as Tunnock’s Tea Cakes, Nessie or Edinburgh Castle.
So while the sight of the King and Queen being brought in to open tonight’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow via the TARDIS may have raised a few eyebrows, the audience was happy to embrace the spectacle.
Palace aides were quick to explain that there was a sound case for treating Doctor Who’s famous time-travelling police box as an “icon of Scotland”. Several actors who have played the Doctor are Scottish, including Sylvester McCoy, David Tennant, Peter Capaldi and Ncuti Gatwa; the TARDIS was inspired by a police box designed by Scottish architect Gilbert Mackenzie; and Glasgow has more surviving original UK police boxes than any other city.
For dedicated Whovians, there was another detail to savour: the Doctor is said to hold a medical degree from the University of Glasgow, as well as one from the Prydonian Academy on his home planet of Gallifrey.
The opening ceremony at the Hydro Arena began with a three-and-a-half-minute film showing the TARDIS travelling across Scotland, with cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy and Scottish actor Greg McHugh at the controls.
In the short film, the pair were walking through Glasgow when the phone inside one of the city’s distinctive police boxes suddenly began to ring, leading them to pick up.
What followed was a call with “the palace” about how to get Their Majesties from Balmoral, the Royal Family’s private residence in Aberdeenshire, to Glasgow quickly enough for the ceremony.
After debating which of them was actually qualified to “drive” the machine, Hoy and McHugh climbed inside and set off — leaving the Seventh Doctor, McCoy, looking baffled after apparently having parked it there himself.
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at the Commonwealth Games in a TARDIS
The King gazed out into the crowd after stepping out of the phone box from Doctor Who
Charles and Camilla were later greeted by Scottish cyclist Sir Chris Hoy
Charles shook hands with Dr Donald Rukare, the President of Commonwealth Sport, before taking his seat
The King and Queen were led to the Royal Box, where they were seated next to Andy Burnham
Camilla was introduced to the new Labour leader’s partner, Marie-France van Heel, before taking her seat
The newly inducted PM even appeared to amuse Camilla with a joke
During a chaotic journey though time and space, the TARDIS materialised at a number of famous landmarks – including Loch Ness, Edinburgh Castle, The Kelpies in Falkirk, the University of Glasgow, the Victorian Glenfinnan Viaduct and a Jurassic period Highlands – before finally alighting at Balmoral Castle.
Thanks to the marvels of technological wizardry, two figures were then briefly glimpsed in the shadows boarding the Time Machine.
To the sounds of the legendary Doctor Who soundtrack, the TARDIS was then seen approaching the arena before the stage lit up and it landed, with the King and Queen stepping out with a cheery wave.
Charles, wearing a navy suit and a pink tie, was followed by Camilla, who donned a vibrant blue Anna Valentina jumpsuit.
Followed by kilt-clad Hoy and McHugh, the royal couple were then led to their seats in the Royal Box, where they were greeted by Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
The newly inducted PM introduced Camilla and Charles to his wife, Marie-France van Heel, before he and the Queen appeared in great spirits as they shared a laugh.
The opening ceremony comes just five days after Burnham visited Buckingham Palace to complete his appointment as PM.
‘Hopefully there was no travel sickness,’ a royal insider joked knowingly in reference to the Queen’s well-known lack of enthusiasm for flying at the best of times, let alone in a spinning extraterrestrial Time Machine.
She arrived in Glasgow alongside Charles earlier today, with the King set to read aloud a message later tonight which he placed inside his Baton back in March 2025. That Baton has since travelled to each of the 75 Commonwealth Nations over the course of 500 days.
The royal couple appeared in good spirits ahead of Charles’s duty to officially start the Commonwealth Games later tonight
A raft of political figures sat beside Charlies and Camilla in the Royal Box at the Glaswegian arena
Charles appeared jubilant upon his arrival to the Hydro arena
South Africa’s flag bearer Bridget Calitz leads her country’s team out on to the stage
Every nation competing in this summer’s Games presented a Baton representing their culture (The Nigerian team is pictured)
Team Cameroon are pictured carrying their Baton and flag across the stage
Team England were greeted with a cheer as they strolled out donning white and red tracksuits
The English were led by Sian Honnor, who was ‘speechless’ to discover the news earlier this week
The biggest roar of the night was however reserved for Team Scotland
Actor Sam Heughan later took to the stage alongside a model of the Loch Ness monster
It came before an image of the Glasgow Central train station clock was shown on screen
But before Charles once again takes to the stage, each of the 74 teams competing in the Games completed a lap of it with their Batons and flags.
Team England were the second European nation, after Cyprus, to take to the stage. Sporting white and red tracksuits, they were led out by bowler Sian Honnor, who gushed about being handed flag-bearing duties earlier this week.
‘I was actually speechless when I learned the news,’ she said. ‘Which is very unusual for me.’
This summer marks the second time in 12 years that the Games have been held in Scotland after the nation stepped in to take over hosting duties from the Australian state of Victoria.
Organisers in the southern hemisphere pulled out in July 2023, citing spiralling costs, a little more than a year after agreeing to host. Victoria’s auditor general had dubbed the Games a ‘waste of taxpayer money with no discernible benefit’.
The spectacle in Glasgow will, therefore, be scaled down due to the significant lack of preparation time.
The number of events being held has plunged from 20 to just 10 (including cycling, swimming and basketball), and although 3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories will take part, this is 2,000 fewer than normal.
No new stadiums have been built as running costs have been slashed from the close to £800million spent in Birmingham four years ago, to £160million now.
And, for the first time since 1954, the BBC will not be airing the games after TNT Sports splashed out £5million to secure the rights. Live coverage will be on HBO Max at a cost of £4.99, although daily highlights can be seen on Channel 5.
The athletics events will be held in the significantly smaller Scotstoun Stadium, which holds just over 10,000 people and tickets sales are said to have been generally sluggish.
Organisers were said to have been hoping for a late surge in sales as recently as this morning, when seats worth between £45 and £95 for tonight’s opening ceremony were yet to have been snapped up.
It was 12 years ago that Glasgow last hosted the Commonwealth Games. The opening ceremony that summer was held at the 60,000-capacity Celtic Park and featured Rod Stewart, Ewan McGregor and John Barrowman.
This year’s venue for the opener, Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, is significantly smaller, holding a little more than 14,000 people.
Only 500,000 tickets have been made available for the 11-day event, down from the 1.2million which went on sale in 2014.
