The Matt Smith Era
Series Five, Series Six, Series Seven, The 2013 Specials (2010–2013)
Series Five
TARDIS C makes its final regular appearance during The Eleventh Hour, used as the
only prop to represent the ‘old’ TARDIS, both when it’s ‘crashed’ in Amelia’s garden, and when the Doctor
returns twelve years later,
parked upright.
The doors were altered and re-hung to allow them to open outwards for the sequence of Smith’s Doctor emerging from the box. Scenes featuring TARDIS C were recorded on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th October 2009, after which the prop was retired.
It would be brought into service again for The Day of the Doctor, redressed as the War Doctor’s TARDIS.
For the rest of The Eleventh Hour (and, indeed, the rest of Series Five) the brand new TARDIS D would be brought into service. Constructed in spring 2009, TARDIS D features several departures from the three previous props built for the programme. Although it retains similar dimensions to its immediate predecessor, it sports an entirely different paint finish, lamp, white window frames, and a St John Ambulance badge.
This had the effect of bringing the prop closer to the style of the very first TARDIS used when Doctor Who began in 1963, although the size and shape of the ‘modern era’ TARDIS props gave the design a resemblance much closer to the prop used by Peter Cushing’s ‘Dr Who’ in the two 1960s Dalek movies, Dr. Who and the Daleks, and Daleks: Invasion Earth — 2150AD. This was entirely intentional, as incoming ‘showrunner’ Steven Moffat told Doctor Who Magazine Issue 417;
“There’s no mystery to it, I just like the version of the police box in the Peter Cushing movies, that’s all. It’s the prettiest one, so I wrote it in.”
Indeed, concept art drawn by Matthew Savage in March 2009 featured a version of the prop that would look even more like the Cushing box, by being based closely on the design of a genuine 1960s Metropolitan Police Box. In researching this article, I asked Matthew about the thinking and inspiration behind the concept;
“It was something I had tried to push on Season One, but I was too late and the box was well under construction when I started in July of 2004. When it came to doing the Matt Smith box, myself and Edward Thomas hit on the idea that the TARDIS might partially regenerate when the Doctor does. In regenerating we thought the TARDIS could go back through its own database, find the plans for the original met police box and remodel its own exterior!
I really wanted to push for the original police box but I think someone with the production wanted keep the look of the Russell T Davies era box and the final Smith box feels like a compromise between the two designs.”
The ‘Pull to Open’ panel was altered for this new prop, too. Rather than being printed onto metal sheets and distressed by hand, the letters were individually laser cut, and set into a perspex backing, making it possible to light the panel in the same manner as the windows. At the same time, the wording of the sign was slightly changed — ‘Officer & Cars’ becoming ‘Officers & Cars’.
TARDIS D made its first appearance before cameras on Monday 20th July 2009, appearing at Southerndown Beach for production of the two part The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone. This was Matt Smith and Karen Gillan’s first day of filming for Doctor Who, and several paparazzi shots from the beach appeared in newspapers and online across the rest of
the week.
The prop went on to appear in The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks, Amy’s Choice, The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood, The Lodger, and the series finale The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang.
The same prop was transported to Croatia for the production of two episodes. Scenes of the Doctor, Amy, and Rory arriving in ‘Venice’ (for The Vampires of Venice) were recorded on the quayside in Trogir on Monday 30th November 2009. Two days later, the prop was erected in Vrsine for the scene of the Doctor and Amy returning Vincent Van Gogh to his own time in Vincent and the Doctor. The following week, further scenes for that episode were recorded in an alley in Trogir.
Doctor Who’s fifth series finished production in late March 2010, but TARDIS D was soon back before cameras again for use in the programme’s spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. The Death of the Doctor formed Episodes Five and Six of the programme’s fourth series, and featured Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor interacting with two of his former companions — Sarah Jane Smith and Jo Jones (née Grant). Between Friday 30th April and Friday 7th May, the prop was used for several scenes in the Funeral Chamber set, and its appearance in Sarah Jane’s Bannerman Road attic was recorded on Friday 21st May.
Series Six
After a few months off, in July 2010 production resumed for Series Six of Doctor Who. TARDIS D was used for the production of A Christmas Carol, The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon, The Doctor’s Wife, The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People, A Good Man Goes to War, and Night Terrors. All of these stories saw their principal production work carried out between July 2010 and January 2011.
TARDIS D made its final appearance before cameras on Thursday 27th January, when the sequence of Dorium being recruited for the Doctor’s army in A Good Man Goes to War was recorded. After this, the prop was retired from production, and was present at the London Olympia when the Doctor Who Experience opened there on February 20th. It remained part of the exhibits when the Experience moved to Cardiff in the summer of 2012, before being replaced with a newer model the following year. In time for the 50th anniversary in 2013, this prop was relocated to the BBC America offices in New York.
When a TARDIS prop was next needed in studio, on Monday 7th February 2011, it was the brand new prop TARDIS E. This prop was used for all the remaining episodes of the sixth series, appearing in The Curse of the Black Spot, Let’s Kill Hitler, The Girl Who Waited, The God Complex, Closing Time, and The Wedding of River Song.
Unlike the first five series of the revived Doctor Who, the decision was taken to split Series Six, and air it as two separate, shorter, runs. As such, Episodes One — Seven aired in the spring of 2011, with the remaining six being broadcast from August.
It appears that the change in TARDIS props had originally been timed to coincide with this break in production — all the episodes planned for the first half of the series were recorded using TARDIS D, while all
those from the second half
used TARDIS E.
As often happens, though, these plans changed as production rolled on. Early in the new year, a decision was made to switch two episodes around. The Curse of the Black Spot was brought forward into the first half of the series, while Night Terrors was shifted into the second half. Due to this change, TARDIS E makes its debut several months earlier than planned, while TARDIS D gets a final swan song later than was perhaps expected.
Of course the two props aren’t all that different at a glance, with only the wood grain and the style of St John Ambulance badge marking them apart, so it’s likely that the majority of the audience didn’t notice the change!
Series Seven
Following a four month break, filming for Doctor Who resumed in September 2011 with the Christmas Special, The Doctor, The Widow, and the Wardrobe. TARDIS E remained the only prop in use for this. Following completion on the episode in mid-October, production went into another extended break.
Filming for the bulk of Series Seven began in February 2012, and while TARDIS E continued as the only ‘hero’ prop in use for the series, it went through more changes to the way it looked than any of the props before
or since.
As with Series Six, this run of stories was split into two distinct sections. For the first five episodes, Asylum of the Daleks, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, A Town Called Mercy, The Power of Three, and The Angels Take Manhattan, the prop looked the same as it had for production of the previous series.
The prop was transported to Fort Bravo, in Almería, Spain, for A Town Called Mercy in early March, though it didn’t make the trip to New York for The Angels Take Manhattan. A sequence showing the Doctor and Amy returning to the police box was recorded on the shores of New York’s East River on Thursday 12th April, with the TARDIS added digitally during post production.
The first new paint job applied to TARDIS E for the series was for The Angels Take Manhattan, when the prop was given a ‘charred’ look to highlight the trouble it had experienced navigating the time paradoxes of New York. This paint effect had been applied by the week of April 16th, when scenes featuring the TARDIS in Grayle’s hallway were recorded. On Thursday of that week scenes for the episode’s final act, set in a cemetery, were filmed in Llanelli. During those scenes, River noted that the TARDIS could ‘do with a repaint’, and that’s exactly what was to happen.
When the box was next used, for the recording of Hide at the end of May, it had been given a completely new look. The style of paint used on the prop up until now, which highlighted the grain of the wood, was replaced with a flat, matt blue. This made the prop significantly lighter than any of those previously used in the modern series. At the same time, the St John Ambulance badge was replaced with a sticker in a new style. The prop went on to be used in The Crimson Horror, recorded throughout July and August.
At the end of August, for production on the 2012 Christmas special, The Snowmen, the prop was again given a new paint job, to create a heavily distressed effect. This was intended to show the state of disrepair the TARDIS had fallen into during the Doctor’s ‘retirement’ in Victorian London. Scenes with the prop on top of the clouds were recorded on Friday 31st August.
The following week, on September 5th, the prop was pressed into use for recording on Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS. Although cleaned up slightly from its appearance in the Christmas episode, the prop largely remains in a distressed state suitable to having been brought aboard the salvage ship as scrap.
Subsequently, TARDIS E was given another complete new paint job, and continued in service for the rest of the episodes recorded for the season — The Bells of Saint John, The Rings of Akhaten, Nightmare in Silver, and The Name of the Doctor. During the repainting process the prop seems to have attained a rather prominent ‘gouge’ in the door, to the bottom right of the ‘Pull to Open’ panel, which is clearly visible when the prop is first used again for filming, on October 16th for the scenes on London’s Southbank.
While the complete new paint job in May had gone a long way towards hiding the wood grain that had previously been so visible, this second complete repaint almost entirely disguises it.
There’s only one episode of the programme’s seventh season which doesn’t feature TARDIS E. Indeed, Cold War proves something of an oddity — it’s the only episode of 21st century Doctor Who to feature a TARDIS prop, but not to feature any of the ‘hero’ TARDIS props. The TARDIS’ arrival on (and subsequent HADS-related departure from) the Russian submarine was recorded on Wednesday 27th June, featuring an unusual TARDIS facade.
The handle on the main door is of a type never used before or since on the modern TARDIS props. The ‘Pull to Open’ sign appears to be set directly into a panel, without the usual surround. The frames of the windows appear to be positioned incorrectly, causing the size of the ‘panes’ to vary. The windows, and the ‘Pull to Open’ sign, are unlit. The top ‘Police Box’ sign doesn’t appear on screen at all, although the bottom of the frame can be seen in some shots. It’s also interesting to note that we only ever see the front of this prop.
It seems possible that, as the brief sequence to feature this prop features a large amount of water being poured directly down the front, an alternative TARDIS front was quickly built, rather than risk damaging their recently repainted TARDIS. Alternitively, director Douglas Mackinnon recalls that they might have borrowed one of the promotional boxes for use in this sequence, rather than constructing a new frontage from scratch. Either way, this prop is never seen again on screen after Cold War.
2013 Specials
Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary year was rounded out with two special episodes — the traditional Christmas episode, and a special made to celebrate the 50th Anniversary itself, November 23rd.
Between them, these two adventures utilise eight different TARDIS props. Four of these were ‘hero’ props for the series, two were specially built for stunt sequences, and two more were created as scale models.
The 50th Anniversary episode, The Day of the Doctor, continues to use TARDIS E. Naturally, it’s this prop which is used as the regular TARDIS for the Eleventh Doctor throughout the episode. For this prop’s first use on the special, shot from inside with the back removed while the Eleventh Doctor walked out to join his previous incarnations in a dream sequence, the main door handle is missing.
The same episode also sees the return of two previously retired props. TARDIS A-3–4, last used for production in January 2008, is used as the TARDIS for the Tenth Doctor. It’s had some minor changes made since its last appearance, though these seem to have occurred when preparing the prop for display at the Doctor Who Experience in 2012, rather than specifically for The Day of the Doctor.
The most noticeable change is the ‘Pull to Open’ sign. The panel introduced mid-way through production on Series Three has been replaced by the panel used on the doors to the TARDIS interior set from July 2007 onwards, with the incorrect ‘squashed’ text. This alteration to the prop appears to have been made when preparing for display at the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff throughout the latter half of 2012, and is visible in photos from this time.
The doors on the Ninth and Tenth Doctor’s TARDIS set, also on display at the Experience, are usually kept closed, but a quick check reveals that there’s now no ‘Pull to Open’ sign on the outside of them. The prop has also been given a new base since use in Series Four. TARDIS A-3–4 was first required on set Tuesday 2nd April.
TARDIS C, last seen in The Eleventh Hour is used as the War Doctor’s TARDIS, fitted with new handles, and given a new paint job to appear ‘battered’ by the ravages of the Time War.
All three props, TARDIS A-3–4, TARDIS C, and TARDIS E, were present on Friday 5th April for recording of the Doctor’s going their separate ways at the end of the episode. This was the first day that TARDIS C was required for production.
TARDIS C went on to appear in Night of the Doctor, the Eighth Doctor’s regeneration episode, in scenes filmed on Wednesday 8th May, the week after main filming wrapped on the anniversary special.
Following broadcast of the episode, all three TARDIS props went on display at the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, initially displayed in a row to mimic the scene shot on April 5th. TARDIS A-3–4 and TARDIS C remain at the Experience as of its final months in the summer of 2017, while TARDIS E was returned to the production team in the summer of 2016 (see The Peter Capaldi Era).
Day of the Doctor also features a specially-built new prop, made from steel. This prop was used for the sequences of the TARDIS being transported to Trafalgar Square by helicopter. It lacks many of the details of the regular props, such as the detailing at the top of the corner posts. For many of the shots outside the National Portrait Gallery, once the TARDIS has touched down, this prop is replaced with TARDIS E. The steel prop went on to appear at the Doctor Who Experience for a time in 2015.
A second stunt TARDIS — or rather, half a TARDIS, was constructed for the sequence in which the Tenth Doctor rides a horse out of the police box with Queen Elizabeth I. This oversized prop comprised the front of a police box, with two ‘half-sides’. The box was adapted in post-production to appear ‘full’.
When production resumed in September for work on the 2013 Christmas special, The Time of the Doctor, it was with another new prop. TARDIS F bears many similarities with its predecessor, but also several notable differences. Key among them for this episode is a brighter shade of blue paint, thicker window frames, deeper-set panels, and white-painted sides to the doors. The new prop also bears a different style of St John Ambulance badge. While it’s still a sticker applied to the door, the design has been slightly altered to add an extra white ‘ring’ in the centre.
The doors to the TARDIS Interior set were not updated to match the changes on this new prop, and as such became out of synch with the Exterior. The most noticeable differences between the two came about from the change in St John Ambulance badge and the white sides on the doors.
TARDIS F was first used on Tuesday September 10th in Gabalfa, for scenes of the TARDIS parked outside Clara’s block of flats.
The two specials also featured model TARDIS props for the first time in the revived series. Two 1/6 scale models were created by The Model Unit’s Nick Kool in early 2013 for use in The Day of the Doctor, for the sequence of the War Doctor’s TARDIS crashing through a wall and taking out assembled Daleks. The model effects were recorded over the weekend of 13th/14th April at Roath Lock Studios. This sequence was special, as it was the first time model work had been shot at high speed (120fps) for 3D TV in Britain.
In October, one of the scale models was redressed to feature as the Eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS for The Time of the Doctor, in a scene shot at Halliford Film Studios in Shepperton on Monday October 14th.
An Adventure in Space and Time
As well as the main special, The Day of the Doctor, the BBC produced a number of programmes to celebrate the 50th anniversary throughout November 2013. These included a drama by writer Mark Gatiss, focussing on the earliest years of Doctor Who’s history, from its creation in 1963, through to the departure of the original Doctor, William Hartnell, at the end of 1966.
The drama, An Adventure in Space and Time, shared executive producers Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner with Doctor Who, but was produced by an independent team. It was largely filmed at Wimbledon Studios in London, and on location in the capitol, including at the former BBC Television Centre, from the first week of February to the first week of March.
For this production, a new police box prop was required, to represent the prop used by the programme in the early 1960s. Propmaker Paul McNamara was commissioned to supply this prop, as well as a number of Daleks also required for the special. These props were all produced with a tight turnaround in January, and then transported from a workshop in Glasgow down to London in the final week of the month.
Although the prop is a closer match to the one used in the 1960s than the ‘hero’ TARDIS props then in use by the main series, it is not an exact replica of the original prop.
Time and budget constraints meant that a rough approximation of the design had to be created instead, which could serve the purpose. Among other alterations, the prop is considerably larger than the original, and there are notable differences in the signage, both around the top and on the ‘Pull to Open’ panel.
The prop was first required for filming on location at Wimbledon Common on February 4th, and continued in service at the Wimbledon Studios through the rest of the month.
Following broadcast of the special, the police box prop went on display, with other artifacts from the special, at the official 50th anniversary convention at London’s Excel Centre. After this, the prop was moved to the Doctor Who Experience, where it went on display with a small section of the TARDIS console room set alo created for the special.
When the Experience was redesigned in September 2014, for the arrival of Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor to the series, the props and sets from An Adventure in Space and Time were given a greater prominence, with the police box prop disaplyed as part of a small recreated set from The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964).
This set up remained in place until the Experience closed in September 2017.
