The set made its debut in ‘The Snowmen’ at Christmas.

Pickwoad, the show’s production designer since 2010, told the show’s official website: “There was a desire that a new TARDIS should be much more technical and be darker and moodier than before, along with a sense that this machine can fly. Working in the previous TARDIS it became apparent that the gallery was not only difficult to get to, but awkward to use and so the idea of a gallery that could go right around the interior and give a lot of scope for shooting would be a positive design feature.”

The designer continued: “The feeling of technical precision in the Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and highest- energy atomic particle accelerator, Hi-Tec Architecture and what might Barnes Wallis, the great inventor engineer who I once had the privilege of meeting, have come up with, were some the of the inspirations.”

Discussing how the set differs from the previous TARDIS interior, he commented: “The overall size of the new TARDIS is the same as the last, but appears to be larger as all of the space is accessible. The staircases connecting the different levels, all in different directions, take on the essence of an Escher drawing and were designed to give a confusing yet magical look. The new design incorporates enough lights as part of the design to basically light the set for wide shots. They can be made to chase round the set to give a sense of motion or acceleration, and turn red for danger. The pairs of blue and amber circular lights on the gallery were based on Dalek head rings, a not inapposite reference for TARDIS evolution.”

Pickwoad added: “The console itself returned to more of the look of earlier designs, allowing for more positive technology, veering away from the whimsical, yet retaining a sense of entertainment. This may be considered retro, but allows for a greater range of controls and levers that can be combined with touch screens and computer panels, which in themselves have less shape. The Doctor, of course, always needs a lever.”

Executive producer Steven Moffat explained the changes last year: “I thought we’d been getting progressively whimsical with the interior of the TARDIS. And I started to think, ‘Well, why is that? It’s not a magical place. It’s actually a machine.’ And actually potentially, as you’ll see more spectacularly later, quite a scary place sometimes. We make a lot of use of that.”

Series 7 Part 2 will begin on Saturday 30 March on BBC One and BBC America.

> Find out all the latest cast news and story details in our Series 7 news summary.

What do you think of the new TARDIS set? Let us know below…

> Buy Series 7 Part 1 on DVD on Amazon.

Watch the Series 7 Part 2 trailer…