Doctor Who Series 11: 10 Big Questions After 'The Woman Who Fell To Earth'

5. What Has Happened To The TARDIS?

So the TARDIS has materialised in a galaxy, far far away. But why? Has somebody taken control over her, is she sitting in quarantine jealously guarded by a bespectacled Spoilerphobe Beast? The episode ends with the Doctor expecting to rendezvous with the TARDIS, only to find herself and, to her horror (and probably delight), her friends floating in deep space.

It would be quite possible to keep the TARDIS until the final episode, but given the range of locations and time periods we already know the team will be exploring, that seems unlikely. Plus, there have been a few location report photographs of the TARDIS in situ, suggesting we won’t have to wait quite that long.

One of the peculiarities of the opening episode was the foregoing of the credits roll. There are a number of possible explanations – the desire to save the Doctor’s signature theme to her first appearance in the train, or a decision to introduce it, uncut, compete with the middle eight, in the first end credits. But more interestingly, might it be the case that the TARDIS interior features in the credits animation in some way? If so, then there is a strong possibility that the travellers will quickly find themselves in the safety of the Doctor’s ship just before the first eleventh series titles run. Indeed, they might already be in the TARDIS for all we know.

In an interview at the San Diego Comic Con, Whittaker let slip that not everybody will be happy with the gender switch. This implies an encounter with somebody who already knows the Doctor, and the most likely suspect has to be the TARDIS herself. Maybe nobody has taken her after all, and she’s simply gone off in a huff.