Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Doctor Who episode "The Ghost Monument." Read at your own risk!
The TARDIS made its Season 11 debut on Doctor Who at the tail end of "The Ghost Monument," and the BBC America sci-fi series certainly saved its best moment for last. The Doctor led Yasmin, Ryan, and Graham into her redesigned ship and viewers were given their first official look at the time-traveling machine's redecorated interior. The TARDIS looks radically different than it has in the past few seasons, and we're impressed with the changes the show has made.
The biggest change Doctor Who fans will notice is that the interior is drenched in a yellow hue with giant crystals both surrounding and in the center of the control console. The iconic blue police box is still "bigger on the inside," but there's definitely a sense Jodie Whittaker's TARDIS design has a far more minimalist approach when compared to the past designs used for Peter Capaldi, Matt Smith, and David Tennant.
The new TARDIS interior is far less high tech looking than past iterations for sure, with electronics taking a back seat in exchange for a more analog system. The TARDIS center console consists of an hourglass, knobs, levers, and a foot pedal that dispenses custard creams. The rudimentary design and the fresh custard cream was enough to win over the Doctor who made it clear in the episode she's a fan of the changes made to her ship.
The TARDIS' more mechanical console is intentional, according to Doctor Who production designer Arwel Wyn Jones, who said the ship's design plays to Jodie Whittaker's strength as a physical actor. Jones, who according to showrunner Chris Chibnall was the man who came up with the custard dispenser, gave a tour of the new TARDIS in a video that was uploaded by the show's social media page during its first run on The BBC:
The Doctor was a fan of the TARDIS' face-lift, but it's easy for a fictional character to be won over considering Jodie Whittaker's reaction is more script-writing than organic. Doctor Who fans can be difficult to please especially in the face of change, and made their opinions known about the redesign as soon as it was shown on screen.
Head over to the next page to see what Doctor Who fans are saying about the TARDIS.
So far the buzz on social media regarding the TARDIS redesign has been largely positive. Fans were in awe of how the Doctor Who team transformed the vessel and expressed their emotions in a way sometimes only gifs can accurately depict:
As far as what the TARDIS' most popular feature is so far, there's a clear frontrunner. The custard cream dispenser became an instant hit with Doctor Who fans, who always seem to love when the series blends sci-fi and British culture in the weirdest of ways:
Other features of the TARDIS got some love as well, as many complimented the ship's overall aesthetic. One fan noted the vanity the ship appears to have gained in its transformation, as a crystalized police box almost seems to be the ship honoring itself:
There were a few who weren't a fan of the new redesign, which isn't completely surprising given what a radical transformation this is. One viewer sounded outright disgusted with the new look, and provided pictures from the past interiors that mark just how substantial of a departure this is from past seasons:
There was another set of Doctor Who fans who left their feelings about the TARDIS out of their reaction and instead chose to note the emotional reunification between the Doctor and the ship. The vessel appeared just when it seemed the Doctor had lost all hope and doomed her new friends to die on an alien planet. Jodie Whittaker really sold the relief on the Doctor's face when she walked up to the blue box and created what quite a few saw as a powerful scene:
The Doctor is back with the TARDIS and Doctor Who rolls on with new adventures on BBC America Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Check out what other shows are premiering this fall season by heading over to our fall premiere guide.
