More Doctor Who leaks reveal Thirteen’s TARDIS and everyone has feelings about it

Another leak hits Doctor Who production and reveals an unauthorized look at Jodie Whittaker’s TARDIS. What do fans think?

Warning: We’re going to discuss some spoilery info about Doctor Who Season 11 below. You were warned.

For a production that’s as focused on secrecy as Doctor Who Season 11, the show certainly has had some terrible luck of late. Another leak from the iconic sci-fi series is making the rounds, this one purporting to reveal the new interior of the updated TARDIS.

New showrunner Chris Chibnall seems determined to keep as much information about the new season as possible under wraps. He’s refused to discuss plot details in any sort of depth, and encouraged fans at San Diego Comic-Con to experience Season 11 as a communal viewing experience, rather than attempting to suss out spoilers online.

This makes sense, of course. No showrunner wants their work spoiled. But in Doctor Who’s case, this is an even bigger deal. Season 11 marks a historic moment for the almost 55-year old series: The debut of the first ever female Doctor in Jodie Whittaker. Of course, this is something the BBC and Who teams want to manage as carefully as possible in order to maximize viewership from both returning fans and curious newcomers. Keeping the secrets of her debut under wraps helps with that.

We’ve seen a few things officially, of course. Thirteen’s costume and sonic screwdriver have both been revealed in the lead up to the new season (you can even buy versions of both of them already if you need your cosplay on point for the premiere), ut her TARDIS has remained a mystery thus far. That’s likely because the final shots of regeneration episode “Twice Upon a Time” showed it on fire and then exploding.

Not anymore.

A new leaked image purports to give us our first look at the interior of Thirteen’s TARDIS which, if correct, looks quite a bit different from Peter Capaldi’s version.

The photo, which is moving through Whovian social media circles with lightning speed, depicts a new interior that looks similar to the new sonic design. It’s full of crystals, metallics and hexagonal shapes. There are also several large crab-like support beams, which will look very familiar if you are a U2 fan who happened to attend their 360 tour back in 2010. (Sorry, y’all. It’s literally all I can see when I look at this.)

Redditor PrydonianRenegade modified the leaked image to depict an idea of what the new set might look like if it were properly lit up, and you can see it for yourself over at Doctor Who TV. (I think I like that one better, personally, but the jury’s still out for me.)

New Doctor Who production designer Arwel Wyn Jones (formerly of Sherlock if you’re wondering why that name sounds familiar) took to Twitter in anger over the leak, describing himself as “incandescent with rage” about it.

The TARDIS details aren’t the first leak to come out of the series’ set this year, which presents a pretty big problem for the BBC. The first was an accidental release of some promotional photos by a stills photographer, while another involved unfinished footage from the season 11 premiere shared by an unauthorized party.

The BBC is currently suing a U.S website for information that could help them track down the leaker of the episode footage, and they’ve even involved tech giant Microsoft, as it was stored and shared via their One Drive server.

Whew.

Naturally, Doctor Who fans have some thoughts about this new leaked TARDIS design. And initial reactions are pretty much as all over the place as you’d expect. (After all, this is a pretty big change.)

Some fans hate it:

Some fans like it:

And still others think we should withhold judgment until we see it onscreen for ourselves:

Now would probably be a really great time for the BBC to drop a premiere date and distract us all from all this, yeah? Just saying, guys.

Doctor Who season 11 will premiere at some as yet to be determined date this Fall.