>Even when the three people came pelting down the quay as fast as they
>could run, flung the doors open, and plunged inside, nobody around
>seemed to notice. The furious mob of pistol- and sword-waving young
>men who had been in hot pursuit of the trio ran straight past
>the tall red box, entirely failing to take note of it or consider that
>their quarry might have taken refuge within it.

It's a good thing TARDISen have that somebody-else's-problem effect. Otherwise what would bystanders think when they saw two or three excited-looking people emerge from (what seems to be) a very small confined space?