The TARDIS shooting set - finally complete!

[Christopher]

However, I maintain that there's nothing wrong with what we saw of the TARDIS interior in that serial. The interior is so vast, who's to say what can't be in there? From the imaginative to the boring. Either way, as a kid, I was wowed by that sequence.

To me, it went in the "boring" category. It looked like the producers were too cheap to build sets and too lazy to find a decent-looking location.

Also, I think that viewers these days, in the wake of the '96 movie and the modern series, are used to the idea of the TARDIS interior having a variety of architectural styles that could encompass anything. At the time I saw "The Invasion of Time," when it aired on PBS in the '80s, that wasn't the case. The TARDIS had a definite, fairly standardized interior style based on clean white or grey walls with roundels in them. And it was usually futuristic and high-tech-looking rather than having the retro aesthetic that's dominated since '96. The only exception to that was the wood-panelled secondary console room from season 14, and even that retained the roundelled walls and introduced grooved columns which were then repainted grey and incorporated into the later console room set, so it still felt like part of the familiar TARDIS aesthetic.

So when "The Invasion of Time" came along and showed us these brick-walled institutional hallways of mid-20th-century design, it was completely unlike anything that had ever been associated with the TARDIS, and so it just felt wrong and cheap and lazy.

 

[davejames]

And a sickbay ("Cold Blood") and a kitchen ("The Curse of the Black Spot"). And at least six squash courts remaining after he jettisoned squash court 7, the swimming pool, and the scullery room in "The Doctor's Wife."

I do think it's a fun running joke that we keep hearing about all these fantastic rooms that we never actually see... but I also agree it's about time we saw SOMETHING besides just the console room and a generic corridor.

Even if it was a rather ordinary looking library or bedroom, it would do a LOT to help make the TARDIS feel like a more real and believable place.

 

[Skellington]

I think there should be scene where a character flicks through CCTV camera feeds at breakneck speed while looking for something. "Library ... Nope. Wardrobe ... Nope. Cloister room, tennis court, ballroom, nope nope nope...".

 

[Psion]

I think there should be scene where a character flicks through CCTV camera feeds at breakneck speed while looking for something. "Library ... Nope. Wardrobe ... Nope. Cloister room, tennis court, ballroom, nope nope nope...".

A perfect use for CGI. And the BBC could even host a contest for folks to provide a still image or short video for such a shot, with the winners getting used in the scene and their names added to the credits.

 

[Christopher]

I think there should be scene where a character flicks through CCTV camera feeds at breakneck speed while looking for something. "Library ... Nope. Wardrobe ... Nope. Cloister room, tennis court, ballroom, nope nope nope...".

It seems to me it would be more in character for the Doctor to race through the corridors and peek in each of the doors one by one.

Except the current corridor sets don't have any doors except between different segments of corridor.

 

[DWF]

However, I maintain that there's nothing wrong with what we saw of the TARDIS interior in that serial. The interior is so vast, who's to say what can't be in there? From the imaginative to the boring. Either way, as a kid, I was wowed by that sequence.

To me, it went in the "boring" category. It looked like the producers were too cheap to build sets and too lazy to find a decent-looking location.

Also, I think that viewers these days, in the wake of the '96 movie and the modern series, are used to the idea of the TARDIS interior having a variety of architectural styles that could encompass anything. At the time I saw "The Invasion of Time," when it aired on PBS in the '80s, that wasn't the case. The TARDIS had a definite, fairly standardized interior style based on clean white or grey walls with roundels in them. And it was usually futuristic and high-tech-looking rather than having the retro aesthetic that's dominated since '96. The only exception to that was the wood-panelled secondary console room from season 14, and even that retained the roundelled walls and introduced grooved columns which were then repainted grey and incorporated into the later console room set, so it still felt like part of the familiar TARDIS aesthetic.

So when "The Invasion of Time" came along and showed us these brick-walled institutional hallways of mid-20th-century design, it was completely unlike anything that had ever been associated with the TARDIS, and so it just felt wrong and cheap and lazy.

Prior to The Invasion Of Time we'd only seen one other room in the TARDIS which was a combination sickbay/sleeping room in The Web Planet. There were no roundels in that room so there really wasn't a set design for the TARDIS interior. And since the interiors can be altered and added if need be there's never been a regular set for very long.

And as for the St. Ann location in The Invasion of Time seeming cheap that's a rather odd complaint for a real location let alone Doctor Who.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I know a lot of people don't like the sequence, but one of my fondest childhood Doctor Who moments was of The Doctor and Leela roaming around the brick-walled corridors in The Invasion of Time. I want to see more of this (not necessarily brick walls, but you get the idea) and what we saw in episode one of Castrovalva.

Personally, I really like the brick-wall corridors from "The Invasion of Time." (And my theory is that they weren't going in circles. There really is a sequence of identical rooms in the TARDIS like that.) It looked more appropriately ecclectic than the more futuristic corridor sets from "Castrovalva" or "The Doctor's Wife." Heck, if those locations still exist, I would recommend using them for the new series.

I would like to see at least a little bit more of the TARDIS interior. Enough to see it as a functioning living space as well as a piece of sci-fi production design.

Plus, I want to see one of the secondary, air conditioned swimming pools where I suspect Frobisher has been hanging out all this time!

 

[Christopher]

There's already too much Earth-based design inside the TARDIS. I know the Doctor likes our planet, but come on, there's a whole universe out there that he explores just as gleefully, and there's the whole past and future of our planet as well. So I don't want the TARDIS corridors to look like some decrepit old hospital in 20th-century England. That's not eclectic. That's the exact opposite of eclectic, a word that means drawing from a wide range of different sources.

And I certainly don't want to be reminded of "The Invasion of Time." Part of the reason I hated the location work so much is because I hated the whole damn serial. It was one of the worst storylines in one of the worst seasons of the entire series.

 

[Peacemaker]

I think there should be scene where a character flicks through CCTV camera feeds at breakneck speed while looking for something. "Library ... Nope. Wardrobe ... Nope. Cloister room, tennis court, ballroom, nope nope nope...".

And just to tweak the fans and watch them argue, as they rooms flip by, we catch a glimpse of something moving (an errant Sontaran or Cyberman, perhaps) or a Silent staring into the screen (the viewer looks shocked for a moment, but flips by "Nope," forgetting he saw it), and that event is never touched on again. It's just there for the fun of it, like a little Easter Egg.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Ever since the '96 movie I've looked at the TARDIS not as much as a spaceship, but as a big box of Lego that can be made into whatever the operator wants it to look like. Sure, it comes with a default "look" or three that is built according to the instructions, but like any good Lego set it can be rebuilt and remodeled into whatever you can do with the bricks. Luckily, "The Invasion of Time" happened as the Fourth Doctor was going through a phase when he was missing 20th century London and al its dreary industrial architecture and remodeled part of his TARDIS to remind him of all the times he chased big rubber monster suits down London alleys. Or something.

I agree that the internal adventures from "Invasion of Time" could have been done far better, but I like the action that happened within the story to generally forgive the obvious use of an industrial location for the shoot. On the flipside, they could have at least spruced said location up with a roundel or column or whatever in the corners, insomuch as the current consoles are littered with earth-born anachronisms.

And on the flip-flip side, what the hell was the Doctor doing with a man-eating plant in the bowels of the TARDIS in the first place? And what had he been feeding it all this time?

Mark

 

[Cutter John]

Maybe the 'desktop theme' controls for the rest of the ship are a bit wonky. Just like the Chameleon circuit.

With a new companion coming on board, this would be a great time to have a story open with the Doctor giving the new girl a tour of the Tardis. Nothing fancy just a short scene of them walking down a corridor with the Doctor pointing out directions and poking his head into a couple of randomly wierd rooms. the scene ending with a *Ding* "Oh, we've landed."


And I'm with you guys. The new corridors are horrible looking.

 

[Christopher]

I don't think the new corridors are horrible, just imperfect. They at least echo the high-tech, clean TARDIS-interior aesthetic of old, but they're kind of impractical since they don't really connect to anything but other corridors.

 

[Sindatur]

I don't think the new corridors are horrible, just imperfect. They at least echo the high-tech, clean TARDIS-interior aesthetic of old, but they're kind of impractical since they don't really connect to anything but other corridors.

House had control of the Architecture, though, right? He changed what they saw, so, who's to say there weren't doors along those corridors when he took control? For that matter, who's to say he wasn't simply moving around a single corridor or two, maybe that short stretch that it actually is, goes past an immovable Base part of the TARDIS? They could very easily add some doors to them next time they are used, and not have to worry about contradictions.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ Or what we saw were service corridors.

 

[Christopher]

The point is, this was our first look at the TARDIS corridors in the new series, and it would've been nice if they'd been a better design, rather than being something that needs to be rationalized by fan theories after the fact.

 

[Starkers]

Well at least they exist now (one presumes) and could be retrofitted a bit. They just need to add some doors!

 

[Robert D. Robot]

^ Or what we saw were service corridors.

"Ohh we used to dream a living in a service corridor! Would 'ave been a palace to us!"

 

[Robert D. Robot]

..... Luckily, "The Invasion of Time" happened as the Fourth Doctor was going through a phase when he was missing 20th century London and al its dreary industrial architecture and remodeled part of his TARDIS to remind him of all the times he chased big rubber monster suits down London alleys....

I like that idea. I think the Lego bit is reinforced at the end of "The Doctor's Wife" when House had jettisoned Amy and Rory's bedroom and the Doctor indicates to them that the TARDIS has created their new bedroom (without bunk beds!) for them.

I would like to see a mix of styles. I would like to see perhaps the clean, "alien" architecture of Gallifrey (as Christopher has mentioned) as a unifying theme tying things together (seen especially in corridors), along with architectural "mementos" the Doctor has preserved. I really believe that the cool library Console Room from 8/9 is still onboard and hope we get to spend a few moments there again.

 

[Photoman15]

Let's hope, especially since the Tardis was telepathically linked to Rory, that she created a bedroom for them they could, ah, um.... enjoy better than bunk beds.

 

[Sindatur]

Let's hope, especially since the Tardis was telepathically linked to Rory, that she created a bedroom for them they could, ah, um.... enjoy better than bunk beds.

Well, obviously they found a way to enjoy the Bunk Beds, or the Doctor wouldn't have a wife

Christopher, I wasn't necessarily rationalizing, just saying they aren't written into in a corner with the Corridors, there are a myriad of ways they can write themselves out of that continuity and change the corridors by adding doors or whatever