Longtime fans of Doctor Who will know that the Doctors often show more open affection for the Tardis than they do for their human companions – and Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor is no exception.

The second episode of the eleventh series of Doctor Who aired on the evening of 14 October, and showed the 13th Doctor reuniting with her blue police box/time machine/spacecraft for the first time.

When she spotted the Tardis flickering hesitantly into view on a lonely hillside on a deserted alien planet, right at the end of episode two, she spoke to it like it was a cross between a faithful pet, an old friend and a lover.

“Come to daddy – I mean, mummy,” she murmured. “I really need you right now.”

And as soon as the Tardis became solid, the Doctor was off, running up the sunlit hill to greet it. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered. 

It was inevitable that the Tardis would get a redesign this season, given that it was last seen being blown to smithereens in the 2017 Christmas special. (There’s also the fact that Michael Pickwoad, the production designer who created the Tardis interiors during Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi’s tenures as the Doctor, sadly passed away in August.) And when Whittaker’s Doctor stepped into the Tardis for the first time, we were able to see just how different it looked.

The Tardis under Capaldi was steely, grey and futuristic, featuring bookshelves and chalkboards scrawled with calculations. Under Smith’s Doctor, it was vaguely reminiscent of an underground children’s television set, with bright orange lighting, curved lines and retro clutter.

Under Whittaker, however, the Tardis is dark, moody and spacious, illuminated by glowing hexagonal lights of blue and amber. Not only that, but it has a custard cream dispenser – making it the best Tardis ever in our book.

“You’ve decorated,” the Doctor remarked as she stepped into the police box. “I like it. I really like it.”

On Twitter, Doctor Who fans reacted delightedly to seeing Whittaker’s Tardis for the first time – with many saying the scene of the reunion had moved them to tears.

Speaking to Stylist ahead of her Doctor Who debut, Whittaker discussed what she loves most about playing the 13th Time Lord.

“There are no rules,” she said. “You’re an alien but you’re in a human body, so you can physically be anything.

“And that’s the thing about this character – it fizzes out to every part of your body in a way I’ve never experienced. You’re moving – either mentally or physically – constantly, so the energy that’s required gives you this massive adrenaline rush.

“I wanted to play this Doctor like a light going on in a cave for the first time, and the wonder that you find because every encounter is new: the friends, the worlds, the monsters – everything is new.”

Read the full interview with Whittaker here.

Images: BBC / Getty Images