Inspirations: The Doctor's Wife

Back in the 1980's, producer JNT became annoyed at the number of spoilers which were finding their way into the fanzine domain. He was keen to engage with fandom, at least until it turned against him, and was happy to grant interviews - but some announcements he really wanted to manage himself, especially if they were newsworthy. He realised that many fans worked within the BBC - he even cast one in his first year, and commissioned another for a story - so decided to add the title "The Doctor's Wife" to his office planner - just to see where it might lead.

When Steven Moffat took over as showrunner, he approached a number of writers for story contributions. One of these was Neil Gaiman - one of the best known fantasy writers in the world.

He first came to fame - for my generation at least - with the BBC adaptation of his novel Neverwhere, which featured Peter Capaldi amongst its cast.

Globally, he now has a number of films, TV series and stage plays to his name, including collaborations with the late Terry Pratchett (e.g. Good Omens).

It was originally intended that Gaiman would write for Moffat's first series in charge, and it was decided early on that his story would revolve around the TARDIS. The Eccleston / Tennant TARDIS set was ordered retained especially for this.

In the end, the deadline got pushed back and the Gaiman story was to be produced for Series 6.

Doctors may come and go, and we've had dozens of companions, but the TARDIS is the one true constant throughout the entire history of Doctor Who.

It has enjoyed comparatively few changes of appearance in 60 years, both inside and out. The console rooms alter design - referenced in this episode as its "desktop theme". To the casual viewer, the Police Public Call Box shell has never changed, though we fans can spot varying shades of blue or changes in dimensions.

When DWM produced a special looking at the companions, for the 50th Anniversary, once it had covered Susan to Clara, it ended with a look at the TARDIS - arguing rightly that it has always been as much a companion to the Doctor over the centuries as any schoolteacher, UNIT soldier or Time Lady.

It has been a character in its own right ever since The Edge of Destruction - though you could argue it was exhibiting very odd behaviours since it decided to wait and warn the Doctor about the radiation dangers of Skaro only after everyone had already been infected - and then it chose to do so silently.

In the following two-part story, it elected to warn everyone of the peril they faced when one of its components became stuck - but it did so in the most cryptic manner possible.

You'd think it didn't like any of them.

Over the years we've learned a lot more about it, in terms of its "personality". It is definitely much more than a machine. It has telepathic circuits and some form of psychic bond with its operator.

The Doctor certainly speaks to it, and of it, like a person - specifically a 'she'.

This was the background against which Gaiman crafted his story - initially known as "Bigger on the Inside". (Other working titles were "The TARDIS Trap" and "The House of Nothing").

What would happen if the Doctor could actually "meet" the TARDIS and interact with it? What would they have to say to each other?

One of his inspirations was the novel The Most Dangerous Game (1924). It's best known for the 1932 film version starring Fay Wray, Leslie Banks and Joel McCrea - a companion piece to King Kong in production terms. 

In this a sadistic big game hunter stalks human prey after they become marooned on his private island. (The crazed villain of the piece is called Zaroff...).

Gaiman liked the idea of the companion being hunted through the endless corridors and rooms of the TARDIS. (Not the Doctor, however, as he would know the ship too well).

The being doing the hunting would be the TARDIS itself, which led to the idea of it becoming possessed by a hostile alien entity - which in turn led to the idea of its own "personality" being transplanted somewhere else.

The notion of a sentient TARDIS had been covered in spin-off media, but never properly explored on screen.

Having the House planet look like a gigantic junkyard was a deliberate nod to the series' origins in Totters Lane - since Gaiman wanted the episode to be a love letter to the series and to long-term fans.

Originally there were lots of little references, such as mention of the mercury fluid-links, but these were cut. A Dalek sucker was to have been found by Amy.

The white Time Lord message cube was first seen in The War Games.

An opening scene was supposed to show Amy and Rory in the TARDIS swimming pool, but this was cut as the budget was tightened - though Gaiman was told it was because Karen Gillan couldn't swim. The pool - described as a bathroom - had been seen in The Invasion of Time, only to be said to have been jettisoned by the time of Paradise Towers.

It was back, but unseen, in the new series - getting a mention in The Eleventh Hour when it had spilled into the library. It was intact for River to plunge into at the beginning of this series.

The "desktop theme" description had first been used by Moffat in Time Crash for Children in Need.

House was a disembodied entity as Gaiman loved creatures like the Great Intelligence (he is a big Troughton era fan). In the original version, House had come into our universe through the Crack.

This was reversed to have it exist in a bubble universe - similar to E-Space from Season 18 - and want to leave for our universe to feed. 

Burning up rooms to create thrust had been seen in Logopolis and Castrovalva.

Nephew was going to be a big new creature - a huge hulking brute who was part-hyena - but cost-cutting also saw that thrown out in favour of reusing an existing Ood costume.

The junkyard TARDIS was the latest collaboration with Blue Peter - the result of a competition for young fans to design a console made from discarded items.

This competition was run prior to Series 5 where the story was supposed to be placed.

It was Gaiman rather than the showrunner who added the mention that the Corsair had once been female, indicating for the first time that Time Lords could change gender.

Next time: Shiny (Un)Happy People...