Final Thoughts
Where are they now?
Conclusions
And that’s that! Almost twenty years since production began, thirteen complete seasons of modern Doctor Who (plus many more one-off special episodes), and ten ‘hero’ TARDIS props, seen in a whole variety of different combinations.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about them — I’ve certainly enjoyed doing the research, sifting through thousands of pictures, and trying to work out the bits that just didn’t add up. For a while I was convinced there were eleven props, meaning nothing made sense. The day I worked out that there were only ten might well be the happiest of my life.
I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible in writing all of this up, and in checking with people involved on the production where I’ve made leaps of logic. It’s possible that there may be one or two errors in all this, though, and I’ll be tweaking and updating as necessary, if and when new information comes to light.
And then I’ll blame either the Time War or the Flux for them being incorrect in the first place.
Where Are They Now?
The ten ‘hero’ TARDIS props of the modern series are now spread out all over the world.
TARDIS A-1–2 and B-3–4 were mixed up several times during production, and have remained in specific hybrid forms now for more than a decade. Frame B, paired with Doors 1 and 2, was sold at auction in 2010, and is now in the United States. Frame A, with Doors 3 and 4, remained at the Doctor Who Experience until its closure in September 2017, after which it was returned to storage in Newport.
TARDIS C was also at the Doctor Who Experience, still in its modified form as the War Doctor’s TARDIS from The Day of the Doctor, until its closure in September 2017, after which it was returned to storage in Newport.
TARDIS D was shipped to the BBC America headquarters in New York in time for the 50th anniversary, and was still on display there through at least summer 2015.
TARDIS E and TARDIS F remained in use by the production team through Twice Upon a Time in December 2017, and are now in storage.
TARDIS G remained on display at the Doctor Who Experience, still with the ‘Clara mural’ on the front, until its closure in September 2017, after which it was returned to storage in Newport.
TARDIS H was on display at Madame Tussauds in Blackpool, before appearing at a number of other events relating to Doctor Who.
TARDIS I and TARDIS J remain at the BBC, and have both been used for filming for Ncuti Gatwa’s era.
Who Am I?
Hello. I’m Will. I’m a Norfolk-born freelance writer and designer based in South Wales.
Lots of my day-to-day work is Doctor Who related — In the past I provided the photo covers for Titan Comics’ Doctor Who and Torchwood ranges (with the occasional dip into the world of Sherlock), I still produce covers for Big Finish, and have previously been responsible for exclusive products at the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay.
I’ve also written a lot of nonsense about monsters and spaceships for the Adventures in Time and Space role playing game by Cubicle 7.
There’s examples of my work in my portfolio, and if you’ve enjoyed this history of the Police Boxes, you might also like my history of David Tennant’s Doctor Who costumes.
You can follow me on Instagram, where I promise I don’t just post about TARDIS props.
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