People travelling along Pāpāmoa’s Gravatt Road at night could be forgiven for thinking a timelord from a long-running British television series is arriving.

The sight of an iconic Doctor Who TARDIS next to a traditional English phone box tends to raise eyebrows and sometimes brings traffic to a stop.

Retired ex-pat plumber Ian Parsons is accustomed to his creations getting plenty of attention.

“I’m from the UK but I’ve been here in New Zealand for 43 years and the phone boxes remind me of home.

“About six months ago, I had a friend of mine moving to Australia, so I thought I’d build him a Tardis for the going away party. I’ve always been a fan of ‘Doctor Who’. Tom Baker was the best one, of course.”

Ian has always dabbled in creative projects, ranging from photography to carpentry. Construction of the full-sized replica took him around a month.

“I have solar lights inside, so when people are passing by at night they can see the top of the Tardis flashing as if the doctor’s arriving and the phone box lit up.

"I had friends over one evening and we must have had a good hundred toots from cars going past.

"It was a good laugh.”

The red phone box is complete with two British ‘bobby’ helmets and Ian intends to add a mannequin inside.

“Now that might cause a bit of distraction on the road,” laughs Ian.