Bradley Cooper Just Learned About Doctor Who’s TARDIS From Maestro Co-Star Carey Mulligan, And It’s Fantastic

If you’re remotely familiar with Doctor Who, then chances are you’re aware of what the TARDIS is, right? Well, evidently Bradley Cooper is one of the few exceptions to this rule. The actor, director and co-writer behind Maestro, one of the newest releases on the Netflix movie schedule, was unfamiliar with the machine disguised as a blue police box from early 1960s London that The Doctor uses to travel through time and space. Fortunately, he was educated on this cornerstone of British pop culture by co-star Carey Mulligan, and the video of this happening is fantastic.

For those wondering why Doctor Who was brought up during the promotion of Maestro, which can now be streamed with a Netflix subscription, that’s because Mulligan once guest-starred on the former show, playing Sally Sparrow in the episode “Blink.” When the actress mentioned in she’d been on Doctor Who “many moons ago” in an interview with Capital Official and noted she had to throw herself around the TARDIS, Cooper quickly asked what a TARDIS was, which led to the hilarious moment below:

That one question was enough to leave Mulligan, the interviewer and “everyone in the room” stunned, and it got even worse when Cooper inquired about if it’s a “monster.” He evidently was familiar with Doctor Who growing up, but he obviously he wasn’t paying enough attention since he didn’t know that the TARDIS is The Doctor’s preferred mode of transportation. Cooper initially started to look up what the TARDIS was, but Mulligan eventually came in with the save, mentioning its distinctive exterior, how it’s bigger on the inside and that it spins around while flying.

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Granted, Doctor Who isn’t a property nearly on the same level as something like Star Wars or Marvel, although now that the show can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland, that will hopefully help with boosting its profile. Nevertheless, I’m astounded that Bradley Cooper knew about Doctor Who and couldn’t immediately picture the TARDIS. It’s been an integral part of the show since the very beginning, and frankly, it’s probably safe to say that exterior is more associated these days for its importance to Doctor Who rather than when police boxes used to be commonplace.

But hey, better he learns late rather than never! Also, I realize Bradley Cooper is a busy man and probably doesn’t have a lot of time to stream new TV shows between his hefty work schedule and family life, but now would be a great time for him to jump onto Doctor Who if he’s interested. Following the 60th anniversary specials that delivered that big twist with David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctors, the Fifteenth Doctor is taking center stage, starting with the Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road,” which will see Gatwa’s incarnation of the Time Lord meeting his new companion, Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday.

While new episodes of Doctor Who are streaming on Disney+ from this point forward, if you’d like to view the first 13 seasons of the show’s modern era, those can be accessed with a Max subscription. Following “The Church on Ruby Road” arriving Christmas Day, Season 14 will on a yet-to-be-revealed date on the 2024 TV schedule.