 This story was the fourth episode in Season Thirty Two (New Series 6) and saw the TARDIS personified in human-form.
This story has been written by Neil Gaiman – his first Doctor Who story. During an interview with Neil Gaiman, on BBC Breakfast, he revealed that this story is ‘very spooky’ and that fans were ‘likely to be biting their nails off by the end’.
Suranne Jones, who played the part of Idris, starred in Coronation Street and, alongside David Tennant, in Single Father. Suranne Jones also played the part of Mona Lisa in The Sarah Jane Adventures 2009 story "Mona Lisa's Revenge".
Adrian Schiller, who played the part of Uncle, appeared in Silk and Being Human. He also previously appeared in the Big Finish Productions Eighth Doctor audio story "Time Works" where he played Zanith.
Elizabeth Berrington, who played the part of Auntie, played the part of Ruby in the BBC One drama Waterloo Road.
Although we do not see him, acclaimed actor Michael Sheen provides the voice of House. Michael Sheen is credited as ‘Voice of House’ on-screen, and just as ‘House’ in The Radio Times. Michael Sheen notably played Tony Blair in The Queen and Kenneth Williams in Fantabulosa!. He also played David Frost in Ron Howard’s 2008 movie, Frost/Nixon. This film tells the story of Frost interviewing the former President US Richard Nixon. In "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon", The Doctor alludes to this meeting, moments before leaving the White House.
At one stage this story was called "Bigger on the Inside". This was changed to "The Doctor’s Wife". The original title did make it to screen as the title of this story’s accompanying edition of Doctor Who Confidential.
This story was originally planned to be the eleventh episode of Season Thirty One (New Series 5) but was delayed to Season Thirty Two (New Series 6) due to budget limitations. It was then planned to be third episode of this season but the order was changed during the production process.
This story was first broadcast on 14th May 2011. That date already has a special significance for the TARDIS. On that day in 2005, the Ninth Doctor story "Father's Day" debuted - a story in which the TARDIS apparently lost its powers and was reduced to an empty box.
The white cube which brings the message to The Doctor references the cube the Second Doctor used in the 1969 story "The War Games" to communicate with his fellow Time Lords. In that story, this contact with the Time Lords resulted in his exile to the planet Earth and the secrets of the TARDIS being removed from his mind. Conversely, this time, the sequence of events triggered by the cube leads to greater knowledge of the TARDIS.
The rift that the TARDIS uses to get to the Bubble Universe resembles one of the Cracks, which can also transport people through time and space.
Rory asks The Doctor if the House is the ‘junkyard at the end of the universe’, - a reference to Douglas Adams’ ‘Restaurant at the End of the Universe’ that appears in his novel The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
The inhabitants of House’s asteroid refer to themselves using familial titles, much like The Family of Blood in the 2007 Tenth Doctor story "Human Nature/The Family of Blood".
An Ood appears in this story (the first time that the Eleventh Doctor has encountered a member of this race). The Ood are a peaceful race but unfortunately, members of their species keep getting possessed by evil entities! The Ood first appeared in the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit" and the 2008 Story "The Planet of the Ood". A solitary Ood also featured in the 2009 story "The Waters of Mars" before the Oodkind returned in "The End of Time" – the final story for Tenth Doctor.
In this story Nephew displays green eyes to show he was under the control of House. In "The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit" and "The Planet of the Ood" The Ood’s eyes have been shown to change colour when possessed. As with the Ood controlled by the The Beast, The Doctor indicates that Nephew was another Ood he was unable to save.
Idris reveals that The Doctor first took the TARDIS seven hundred years before.
A debate, amongst Doctor Who fans, rages as to whether ‘TARDIS’ stands for ‘Time And Relative Dimensions In Space’ or ‘Time And Relative Dimension In Space’. In this story the latter acronym is cited but in the past The Doctor has used both versions.
This is the first time we have seen beyond the TARDIS Console Room since the Adventure Game, "TARDIS". Before that we saw a cavernous room storing clothes in the 2005 Tenth Doctor story "The Christmas Invasion" but those stories aside, very little of the inside of the TARDIS has been seen since the 1996 Eighth Doctor film "Doctor Who: The Movie".
The TARDIS corridors are seen for the first time in the revived series. They are a similar design to that seen in the original series, though they are now hexagonal in shape with updated roundels.
At one point Idris asks The Doctor to describe the instruction on the TARDIS door, to which he replies, ‘Pull to open’ this contrasts with the fact that when entering the TARDIS the doors open inwards.
This is the first story since "The Eleventh Hour" to show the control room used by the Ninth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor, although it is implied that this room is then erased permanently. It is also stated that the TARDIS has all of the other control rooms saved in its archive, as well as many that have not been seen yet.
The TARDIS’ secondary Console Room was first implied in the 1976 Fourth Doctor story "The Masque of Mandragora".
The Doctor has transformed TARDIS matter to energy before. In the 1982 Fifth Doctor story "Castrovalva", he jettisoned parts of the TARDIS to escape the Big Bang.
Rift energy has been a feature of stories including the 2005 Ninth Doctor stories "The Unquiet Dead" and "Boom Town", while artron energy has been mentioned as far back as the 1976 Fourth Doctor story, "The Deadly Assassin". It has never been revealed what the exact nature of artron energy is, but it appears to be a form of energy with a physical connection to the process and actuality of time travel.
Previous TARDISes in human form include Marie in the BBC Books’ The Eighth Doctor Stories novel "Alien Bodies" and Compassion from "The Shadows of Avalon" to "The Ancestor Cell " (Although they were evolved future TARDISes); the idea of TARDIS minds in human bodies was also seen in the Big Finish Productions audio story "Unregenerate!".
The TARDIS also previously took on the form of The Brigadier to communicate with The Doctor in the Big Finish Productions audio story "Zagreus". Although this communication may have been aided by Rassilon and the TARDIS having been contaminated by anti-time.
The Doctor mentions meeting King Arthur, assuring Rory ‘It was the real one. Fortunately I was able to re-attach he head!’. The legendary ruler played an important role in the 1989 Seventh Doctor story "Battlefield" when hostile forces travelled to Earth in search of him. Ultimately The Doctor revealed Arthur had died at the Battle of Camlann. In this story The Doctor’s companion, Ace, even got her hands on King Arthur’s mighty sword, Excalibur.
In the 2007 Children In Need special "Time Crash", whilst the Tenth Doctor waits for it to click, with the Fifth Doctor, that they are the same Time Lord, the physical appearance of the TARDIS is referred to as a desktop theme. The idea of the time machine’s aesthetics being a ‘desktop’ is again used in this story. We also get hear the Cloister Bell, the solemn announcement of danger that tolls in the TARDIS, warning that disaster is imminent. The Cloister Bell was first heard in the 1981 Fourth Doctor’s final story "Logopolis".
The Doctor visited the Eye of Orion for a spot of relaxation in the 1983 Twentieth Anniversary special "The Five Doctors", a story which also featured Gallifrey and the High Council. The closing moments of "The Five Doctors" saw The Doctor remind his companions that he originally took the TARDIS and went on the run from his own people. During the closing moments of "The Doctor's Wife", whilst alone at the TARDIS controls, he again mentions the Eye of Orion, possibly recalling the happier moments he spent at that peaceful alien location.
There are several echoes of the 2010 story "The Eleventh Hour" in this story. The idea of The Doctor being ‘A mad man with a box was first expressed in that story and the line, ‘Basically... run! was also first heard in the Eleventh Doctor’s debut story. We also see the previous Console Room for the first time since "The Eleventh Hour" and The Doctor tries to open the TARDIS by clicking his fingers. It worked in "The Eleventh Hour" - but not in this story!
The Doctor mentions he had an umbrella that resembled the patchwork of body parts that Uncle and Auntie both have. This is a reference to the Sixth Doctor and Seventh Doctor.
The Doctor asserts that he killed all of the Time Lords, referring to the events of the Time War.
The Doctor refers to another Time Lord, The Corsair, who changed gender via regeneration. While it has been hinted a few times before (and most directly in the ending of "The End of Time") this story offers the first concrete confirmation that Time Lords can change gender when they regenerate. Although The Doctor may have been joking, as he had made similar comments on different subjects before, to amuse his companions.
The Doctor and Idris operate a TARDIS control panel outside of an outer TARDIS shell, as the Third Doctor did in the 1970 story "Inferno". When The Doctor and Idris build this console, to go after the TARDIS, there are 3 walls, left, right, and centre. But when the custom console is flying through the rift, the centre wall has mysteriously disappeared. This console was designed by schoolgirl Susannah Leah in a Blue Peter competition.
A hallucination of Rory mentions waiting 2000 years for the third time (see the 2010 story "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang").
While housing the Matrix, Idris names herself ‘Sexy’ in reference to The Doctor calling her ‘you sexy thing in the 2010 story "The Eleventh Doctor".
Behind The Doctor’s back, Amy and Rory again discuss what they are going to do with him concerning them witnessing the death of his 1103 year old self. (see "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon" and "The Curse of the Black Spot").
Following on after this story, on BBC3, was the fourth chapter of the sixth series of Doctor Who Confidential. Titled "Bigger on the Inside" it was presented by Russell Tovey and looked into the making of this story.
In 2012 writer Neil Gaiman accepted a Hugo Award for his script for this story - the sixth occasion that Doctor Who has won the category Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form in the last seven years.
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The Firsts:
The first time the Eleventh Doctor encounters the Ood.
The first Doctor Who story where the TARDIS is personified in human-form.
The first time a hypercube - a form of communication for Time Lords - is seen since the 1969 story "The War Games".
This story offers the first concrete confirmation that Time Lords can change gender when they regenerate.
This is the first time we have seen beyond the TARDIS console room in the revived series.
This is the first story since "The Eleventh Hour" to show the control room used by the Ninth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor.
The first Doctor Who story to be written by Neil Gaiman.
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(Position = 1 out of 13)
(Position = 37 out of 241)
