>[2622] A LA GIFT OF TARDIS - The "gift of the
>TARDIS" to which Corwin refers is the automatic, telepathic
>translation function that Time Lord ships perform for their crews,
>seamlessly rendering almost everything they hear spoken or see written
>into a language they can easily understand. It's a bit fancier trick
>than annotated reality, which is more what Utena had in mind.

In the original canon this was first lampshaded in The Masque of Mandragora (Fourth Doctor, SJS) and was then not mentioned on TV until New Who.

S.