We always figured there was some sort of super scientific Gallifreyan sorcery involved when building a TARDIS but it turns out you just need a devoted television crew.
The Doctor Who YouTube channel recently released the video above showing a timelapse of what goes into setting up The TARDIS — or rather a TARDIS — for an series 9 episode. This one in particular was the, lets call it, “special edition” time machine as it’s the version donned with Rigsy’s (Joivan Wade) painting (it was probably assembled with greater care than most others). We imagine there’s probably a second unit truck somewhere in the background of every Doctor Who shoot with various replacement TARDIS parts to swap out as needed. Oh man, that means there’s probably a specialized TARDIS prop team! Talk about a dream job.
It’s strange to think that we could take set work like this for granted. Sure we see the TARDIS appear and disappear through its travels but this work has to be done every single time a set change is needed. It kind of makes us wonder if that particular set/prop team appreciates episodes with less real world appearances of the time machine; when they don’t have to worry about the elements and can just do what needs to be done in the comfort of a sound stage.
Does seeing how the TARDIS sausage is made take the magic out of the show a bit? Let us know what you think of the build in the comments below!
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Image: Doctor Who