Meanwhile in the TARDIS (home video)

Meanwhile in the TARDIS is the title of two mini-scenes written by Steven Moffat. They are set during Series 5 of Doctor Who. Both were made available on the Blu-Ray and DVD releases of that series.

Plot

First Episode

The first Meanwhile in the TARDIS episode is set right after the end of the first episode of Series 5, The Eleventh Hour. Amy asks the Eleventh Doctor many questions without pausing: how does the TARDIS retains its air supply? Why did he label a time machine "police box"? Where are the other windows which are on the exterior of the TARDIS ? What is a police box and is the Doctor a policeman? Has he seen his haircut? Shouldn't he change the bulb on top the exterior of the TARDIS? She also thinks the box is made of wood and his bow tie is a cry for help.

File:Meanwhile in the TARDIS.jpg

"Anything that you fancy?"

The Doctor answers most of these questions, and is asked again by Amy if he's an alien. The Doctor informs Amy that, from his perspective, she's the alien. Amy wonders if the Doctor is a space squid or a tiny slug zipped in a human suit, but the Doctor dismisses her theories, stating he's as human in appearance as he appears. Amy admits she's done with her questions, but the Doctor tells her she's just begun; he throws a switch on the TARDIS console as he opens the door, showing her the cold void of space outside.

When Amy says it looks like special effects in a studio, the Doctor proves it's real by pushing her out of the TARDIS. This leads to the beginning of the next episode, The Beast Below, which starts with the Doctor hanging onto Amy's ankle as she floats in space outside the TARDIS.

Second episode

The second episode of Inside the TARDIS bridges Flesh and Stone and The Vampires of Venice.

After almost being seduced by Amy, Doctor forces Amy back into the TARDIS. She leans on the console with an expectant gaze at the Doctor, who ignores it and pulls the door release lever next to her to lock the TARDIS doors.

Amy asks if she did something wrong. She thinks she is getting "mixed messages" from the Doctor. She unlocks the doors. The Doctor re-locks them and asks Amy how she's getting mixed messages. Amy says he showed up in the middle of the night to take her for a ride in his time machine. Amy insists that it's an obvious signal, telling her to "Get your coat, love, the Doctor's in."

The Doctor hurriedly explains he didn't bring her with him because he found her attractive. He proudly insists that he's like Gandalf in space. Amy says he acts like a regular bloke, showing off for the girls and laughing at other guys, making fun of Rory's nose.

The Doctor tells Amy that he can't "see it" any more. He's made time and space his back yard for over nine hundred years, so everything about it is now just facts to him. But Amy can "see it", which lets the Doctor see it as well. That is his only reason. Amy wonders if there have been others before her.

The Doctor reluctantly admits that he's had "a few" companions, but Amy won't let go. She wonders how many were girls. The Doctor admits girls made up " a bit over half" of his companions. Amy tricks the Doctor into accessing the TARDIS's visual records. To his dismay, the TARDIS plays black and white visual records on the round screen of many female companions, leaving out the men and K-9, from Barbara Wright to Donna Noble, in random order. Amy wonders about one of the Fourth Doctor's companions, Leela,. She appears repeatedly in a leather bikini.

Embarrassed, the Doctor decides to collect Rory to have Amy focus on her life. Amy informs him Rory is having his bachelor party. With a smirk, the Doctor tells her, "Well, let's make it a great one" before starting up the TARDIS.

Cast

• Eleventh Doctor - Matt Smith
• Amy Pond - Karen Gillan

Crew

Credited on episode as broadcast

• Writer - Steven Moffat
• Producer - Annabella Hurst-Brown
• Director - Richard Senior

Uncredited

to be added

References

• When Amy accesses the TARDIS's visual records of the inhabitants, the TARDIS plays black-and-white visual records on the round screen of many female companions, from Barbara Wright to Donna Noble. The images were in black-and-white, apparently because the earliest episodes of Doctor Who were in black and white and for a sense of consistancy, they all need to be in the same format.

Story notes

to be added

Filming locations

to be added

Production errors

to be added

Continuity

• This story is set entirely in the TARDIS. (DW: The Edge of Destruction, Children in Need Special, Time Crash, Amy's Choice, Space/Time, Death is the Only Answer)

Home video releases

DVD releases

• The episodes are two additional scenes specially filmed for "The Complete Fifth Series" boxset.

Blu-ray releases

to be added