BBC’s Original Blueprints for the TARDIS Set

Although we’re still unclear exactly how the time travel mechanism works, these are the original blueprints for the set containing the TARDIS and other scenes from the Doctor Who pilot episode in 1963. This rare piece of memorabilia is from the collection of director Waris Hussein. As the BBC prepares to celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary, we can imagine what it might have been like designing and building the sets that first gave us a view inside the Doctor’s ship.

The blueprints actually show the entire set for the first episode, entitled An Unearthly Child. The TARDIS is shown in the bottom right of the set, with the junkyard on the top left, the classrooms of Coal Hill School at the bottom left, and the outdoor Totter’s Lane set in the top right.