Inside the Spaceship

Stories set completely inside the TARDIS are, theoretically, the most exciting invention ever. We never got one when I was a kid (I must have seen "Castrovalva" but, perhaps tellingly, it completely failed to make a lasting impression on me in the same way Adric dying or the creepy Malus did). I did, however, have the "Doctor Who: A Celebration" book and so could fantasise about how great "The Invasion of Time" must have been, with its second half set entirely within the "lattice walls and red brick corridors" of the TARDIS. We laugh now.

Because, you must understand, the TARDIS was by far the most exciting thing in Doctor Who. I lived for those glimpses of roundelled walls and scenes set inside the console room; to me they were what made a story, along with Part 1 and, the best bit of every adventure, the TARDIS landing and the Doctor exploring. I think when I was particularly young, and this may be a damning indictment on the Davison era I don't know, I would happily have done away with the last three parts of a lot of stories and skipped straight to the next Part 1 and it's lovely TARDIS scenes.

But just what was it about the inside of the Doctor's ship that fascinated us so much? Now, with our cynical and wizened old eyes, we can see that it's usually the cheapest set of the story, home to an establishing scene surrounded by a few stock walls and that battered old console. Perhaps it's the idea of it as a safe haven, the one place where the Doctor and companion can retreat to and escape the dangers of the world they are in for the shelter of another time and planet altogether. It was that sense of escape and the infinite possibility of what lay outside the TARDIS doors each episode that fired up my imagination. Although, what with the TARDIS being such a wonderful invention and all, I didn't see why the Doctor didn't just stay inside the TARDIS and explore that each week, it would have been so much more interesting.

And there lies the real appeal of the TARDIS, the idea that it went on forever. Perhaps "Castrovalva" had a lot more to answer for after all? Glimpses of the companion's bedrooms or the TARDIS boot cupboard were far more intriguing than a quarry-like alien planet. The TARDIS was the one constant throughout the whole of the series but, frustratingly, we never seemed to learn any more about it. And that's why "The Invasion of Time" and, to a lesser extent, "Inside the Spaceship" always seemed such an exciting proposition. After all, what could be more thrilling than whole episodes set inside the TARDIS?

"Inside the Spaceship" is rubbish, of course. Nowadays they'd use an enforced two week slot without any extra sets to expand upon the new characters, perhaps showcasing a couple of two-handers to really let the audience get inside their heads. Instead, the production team of the time chose to do the opposite and actually subvert their characters. The Doctor may say "as we learn about others so we learn about ourselves" but with everyone acting strangely and collapsing for two episodes, the only thing we learn about anyone in "Inside the Spaceship" is that Ian has a horrid stripy dressing gown and Susan shouldn't be trusted with a pair of scissors.

Perhaps it was better that we only got rare glimpses through the police box doors after all. As those rare prolonged trips through it proved, the mystery was always more exciting than the finding out.