Doctor Who: The TARDIS is dead, long live the TARDIS

Looks like the Peter Capaldi era of Doctor Who is over for real: They officially dismantled his TARDIS set.

The Twelfth Doctor era is officially over on Doctor Who.

Of course, we all knew that already. After all, outgoing Doctor Peter Capaldi officially regenerated into Jodie Whittaker at the end of 2017 Christmas special “Twice Upon a Time”. We’ve seen our first female Doctor for ourselves already. (Even if she did get only one line.) It’s really real.

In the process, the TARDIS console room burst into flames — there may have actually been some explosions — and the Doctor found herself plummeting through the sky toward Earth. While it seems safe to assume that Thirteen will somehow manage to survive this event unscathed, the same can’t really be said for her blue police box.

How do we know this? Well, because the old TARDIS is gone. As in, completely disassembled.

The official Doctor Who Twitter shared a time-lapsed behind-the-scenes video depicting painstaking removal of every piece of Capaldi’s TARDIS. And it’s honestly kind of sad.

To be fair, demolition is probably a strong word. Disassembled is perhaps more accurate. But Twelve’s TARDIS is certainly gone, and off to an uncertain future.

What might happen to it now? That’s unclear. With the closing of Cardiff’s Doctor Who Exhibition earlier this year, we don’t exactly know whether there are plans for any of these props and sets beyond spending some time in a storage container or building somewhere. But it’s unlikely that the folks behind-the-scenes will destroy any of the main props or sets, and that’s what really counts. (They’ll probably open some version of the Exhibition up again someday, after all.)

The idea of a new TARDIS for Thirteen shouldn’t really come as a shock, either. Rumors have been swirling for a while now that Thirteen would get a new TARDIS after her regeneration. And it makes sense. After all, everything about Doctor Who is changing right now. It seems obvious that this would too.

Of course, change is always a relative term. At its most basic level, the TARDIS will probably look pretty much the same. Maybe some of the windows will be smaller, in a nod to the Hartnell TARDIS we saw in “Twice Upon a Time”. Maybe the St. John’s medal will disappear off the door again.

But the interior probably won’t suddenly turn bright pink or end up covered in ruffles, no matter how much fun the idea of angering the virulently anti-female Doctor contingent seems. (Which, honestly, is kind of a shame.)

Thirteen’s new outfit is a near-perfect mix of nostalgia, functionality and fun. So it seems pretty safe to assume that her TARDIS console will follow similar lines. Maybe it will have some fancier gadgets or a few more mirrors. Perhaps we’ll finally get a look at the wardrobe for once. And, of course, much like her outfit, her new set will probably feature plenty of callbacks to previous Doctors. But I wouldn’t expect too much that’s out of the ordinary. Part of Thirteen’s thing seems to be forging a new path, while still remembering her roots.

(I really will miss Capaldi’s console room though.)

Next: Saying goodbye to Twelve: Ranking the Peter Capaldi era of Doctor Who

Doctor Who will return this autumn for season 11, new Doctor, new TARDIS and all.