The Doctor receives a distress call from an old Time Lord friend called the Corsair, summoning him to a place beyond the universe. Clinging to the hope that there may still be survivors of Gallifrey, the Doctor pilots the TARDIS through a rift, only to find his time machine suddenly lifeless. Landing on a sentient planetoid called House, the Doctor discovers that he has been lured into a trap. But as House tries to devour the TARDIS -- and Amy and Rory along with it -- the Doctor finds an ally in Idris, a woman with whom he shares a deep, personal and unexpected connection.

When Steven Moffat agreed to become executive producer of Doctor Who, one of the first writers he approached was Neil Gaiman. Renowned for dark fantasy comics like The Sandman and novels such as American Gods, Gaiman had been a Doctor Who fan from an early age and had long spoken publicly of his interest in contributing to the programme. When Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, Gaiman began to correspond with several of its scriptwriters, including Moffat. Eventually, the pair agreed to meet in London on March 27th, 2008. At this point, it was still a secret that Moffat was taking charge of Doctor Who but, as the evening progressed, his hints became increasingly broad. Finally, he simply told Gaiman the truth and invited him to write for Season Thirty-One.

Gaiman's initial plan was to develop an adventure based upon The Most Dangerous Game, a 1924 short story by Richard Connell in which a big-game hunter, trapped on an island, became the prey for one of his rivals. Gaiman envisaged a narrative in which the TARDIS turned into a deadly maze for the Doctor or Amy Pond. He then considered how this might come to pass, which led to the idea of the TARDIS being possessed. This, in turn, raised the question of what would happen to the vessel's true consciousness, which Gaiman imagined might be implanted into a woman. Much of the story would then be driven by her interactions with the Doctor. This character would come to be called Idris, because it was an unusual but authentic name which resembled “TARDIS”. Through Idris, Gaiman wanted to explore why it was this particular TARDIS which the Doctor had stolen -- or, indeed, why the Doctor was stolen by this particular TARDIS.

The junkyard setting was an allusion to Doctor Who's very first story

Upon hearing Gaiman's ideas in April, Moffat was delighted with the proposed narrative. It soon gained the working title “The TARDIS Trap”, and Gaiman took inspiration from various elements of Doctor Who history. One of his favourite stories was 1969's The War Games, which suggested the use of the psychic containers seen in the ninth episode of that serial. The Corsair's tattoo was meant to recall the similar inkwork seen on Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor in his 1970 debut, Spearhead From Space. The junkyard setting was an allusion to IM Foreman's scrapyard, which was where the TARDIS was hidden in the very first Doctor Who story, 1963's 100,000 BC.

The villainous House was an homage to another disembodied antagonist: the Yeti-controlling Great Intelligence first encountered in 1967's The Abominable Snowmen. At this stage, it was intended that House had grown from a spore which entered the bubble universe via one of the cracks in time which featured throughout Season Thirty-One. Gaiman wanted to give the Doctor a glimpse of the true House, an enormous mollusc-like entity concealed beneath the asteroid's mantle.

A key element of Gaiman's plot involved the appearance of a second TARDIS console room, inspired by the Fourth Doctor's temporary adoption of an alternative control room in 1976's The Masque Of Mandragora and the serials that followed. It was already planned that a new console room would be introduced as part of the overhaul which would accompany the debut of the Eleventh Doctor at the start of Season Thirty-One, and so it was agreed that the previous set -- as used by the Ninth and Tenth Doctors -- would remain standing at the Doctor Who studio facilities in Upper Boat until after production had concluded on “The TARDIS Trap”.

Various changes had to be made as Gaiman's script developed. The title became “The House Of Nothing” and then “Bigger On The Inside”, referring to the oft-used description of the time machine's inner dimensions. Gaiman was keen to explore the vast geography of the TARDIS, something which had largely been avoided since the programme's return in 2005. In particular, he intended a prominent role for the swimming pool, first seen in 1978's The Invasion Of Time. It would have been deleted by the Doctor at the start of the story to help power the journey to the bubble universe, only to reappear later, providing the Doctor with evidence of House's manipulations. However, this sequence was removed after Gaiman learned that Karen Gillan could not swim. Also dropped was a sequence in which Amy was forced to play a creepy version of Hide and Seek inside House itself.

Uncle, Auntie and Nephew were originally conceived as monstrous amalgams of various alien races

Uncle, Auntie and Nephew were originally conceived as monstrous amalgams of various alien races. Their generic names were meant to suggest the loss of their individual identities, while contrasting with Idris, who was a recent arrival on House's asteroid. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that the Doctor Who budget could not accommodate the extensive prosthetics necessary to realise Gaiman's vision. As such, the physical changes to Uncle and Auntie were rewritten to be more subtle, while Nephew was made an Ood so that an existing costume could be pressed into service. “Bigger On The Inside” was initially placed seventh in the Season Thirty-One running order, but it was later shifted to eleventh, coming just before the climactic The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang. As a result, dialogue for Idris was added which warned the Doctor about the events which were about to unfold in the finale, recalling a similar premonition in 1964's Inside The Spaceship.

Gaiman had been inspired by 1970's Inferno to depict the Doctor and Idris travelling using only a makeshift TARDIS console. This element was soon recognised as another opportunity to engage young fans via the children's programme Blue Peter. In 2005, Doctor Who and Blue Peter had collaborated on a contest which produced the design of the Abzorbaloff for the following year's Love & Monsters. A similar initiative resulted in John Bell being cast as Creet in 2007's Utopia. This time, the Blue Peter episode broadcast on October 7th, 2009 challenged viewers to create their own version of the TARDIS console, using only everyday items.

Soon afterwards, however, issues arose with “Bigger On The Inside”. Despite the amendments to Gaiman's script, it was clear that it would be an expensive production. Unfortunately, it was scheduled to be made as part of the final recording block for Season Thirty-One, when the programme's budget often started to run low. Rather than compromise Gaiman's vision for the ambitious episode, it was decided in December that “Bigger On The Inside” would be deferred by a year; The Lodger took its place in the schedule for Season Thirty-One. Gaiman received the news on January 2nd, 2010 -- ironically, just one day before he was going to announce on his popular blog that he was writing for Doctor Who, having been bombarded with questions on the subject for many months. Despite the delay to “Bigger On The Inside”, the Blue Peter competition proceeded as scheduled. On February 17th, it was revealed that Matt Smith had chosen the work of twelve-year-old Susannah Leah from Leeds, West Yorkshire as the winning design.

In early 2010, Neil Gaiman began redrafting his script to fit the requirements of Season 32

In early 2010, Gaiman began redrafting “Bigger On The Inside” to fit the requirements of Season Thirty-Two. The most prominent change was the addition of Rory Williams to the TARDIS crew. Moffat had offered to write Rory out of “Bigger On The Inside” in order to simplify the revisions. However, Gaiman enjoyed the character, and felt that his inclusion would make the scenes in the House-possessed TARDIS flow more smoothly since Amy would now have someone with whom she could interact. Gaiman had to account for the different story arcs running through the two seasons, with discussion of the Doctor's apparent death in the season premiere, The Impossible Astronaut, taking the place of references to the cracks in time. In particular, when Amy was sent back to the TARDIS to fetch the sonic screwdriver, she originally found her engagement ring; a modified version of this scene ultimately appeared in The Lodger. Moffat also asked Gaiman to include Idris' cryptic message that “the only water in the forest is the river,” presaging the events of episode seven, A Good Man Goes To War.

Despite the move to Season Thirty-Two, Gaiman still had to exercise caution with regards to the episode's budget. He hoped that the inclusion of Rory might mean that he could reinstate the sequence involving the TARDIS swimming pool, but this was now deemed too expensive. Similarly, Gaiman had to drop a TARDIS scene in which Rory was threatened with madness in the Zero Room, previously seen in 1982's Castrovalva, and another in which House toyed with Amy and Rory's perceptions as they traversed a hallway lined with mirror-like walls. In the TARDIS graveyard, one draft depicted Idris deactivating the chameleon circuits of the other time machines, resulting in the sight of dozens of everyday objects suddenly metamorphosing into their default TARDIS state. This was amended to Idris de-cloaking various TARDIS components, but the sequence was ultimately dropped in editing.

“Bigger On The Inside” was scheduled to be made as part of the first production block for Season Thirty-Two, alongside Mark Gatiss' Night Terrors. At this point, the two were intended to be the year's third and fourth episodes. The director would be Richard Clark, who had previously handled 2007's Gridlock and The Lazarus Experiment. While Clark focussed on recording Night Terrors, a substantial change was made to the opening moments of “Bigger On The Inside”. Originally, it saw the Doctor, Amy and Rory about to be sacrificed to rain gods on a primitive planet. The arrival of the Corsair's psychic container frightened the locals and afforded the time travellers a chance to escape back to the TARDIS. This sequence was effectively dropped, with the Corsair's message instead simply arriving outside the doors of the TARDIS. The abandoned sequence would later be reworked as a mini-episode on the DVD release of Season Thirty-Three.

Filming for “Bigger On The Inside” began on September 22nd and 23rd at the recently-opened Dragon Studios facility in Pencoed, where the TARDIS corridor sets had been erected. Plate shots were captured there on the 24th, while the main unit relocated to Upper Boat Studios for the material in Idris' cell. After the weekend, scenes on the asteroid surface were recorded at Taff's Well Quarry in Taff's Well from September 27th to 29th. The makeshift TARDIS console made its debut on the last day, with Susannah Leah present for the occasion.

The rest of the work on “Bigger On The Inside” was confined to Upper Boat. First, sequences in the junkyard shanty were taped on September 30th, followed by those in the current TARDIS console room on October 1st. More shanty material was recorded on the 2nd, after which Clark's team moved over to the old TARDIS console room. It marked the first time that new Doctor Who material had been shot on the set in almost nine months, since some additional filming for Matt Smith's first adventure, The Eleventh Hour. After a day off on Sunday the 3rd, further junkyard scenes -- within both the shanty and Uncle's tent, as well as outside -- were taped on October 4th. Both TARDIS sets were in use on the 5th, while work on the 6th was limited to the modern version. October 7th was chiefly concerned with pick-up and effects shots, notably for the Doctor and Idris' journey via the makeshift console. Finally, Clark spent October 12th completing outstanding material in the current TARDIS console room. This was the last day on Doctor Who for interim producer Sanne Wohlenberg, who was returning to Wallander. Doctor Who had now found a permanent producer in the form of Marcus Wilson, who had previously produced shows like Taggart and Whitechapel.

In December, the running order for Season 32 underwent a number of changes

In December, the running order for Season Thirty-Two underwent a number of changes. Moffat had become concerned that the length of the Doctor Who season was inviting viewer fatigue, especially since the latter episodes usually aired during the warmer days of June and even July. As such, it was decided that the thirteen episodes of Season Thirty-Two would be divided into two halves, to be broadcast in Spring and Autumn 2011. Moffat thought that positioning a massive cliffhanger at the end of the seventh installment -- thereby leaving viewers in suspense for the entire summer -- would bolster interest in the final six episodes. However, Moffat now worried that several of the stories which made up the first half of the season -- particularly “Bigger On The Inside”, Night Terrors and episodes five and six, The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People -- were too alike. All three adventures offered dark storylines and visuals, and took place in predominantly interior settings. As such, he elected to bring the intended ninth episode, The Curse Of The Black Spot, forward to become episode three. This pushed “Bigger On The Inside” to the fourth position, while Night Terrors would be the new episode nine.

Another change occurred in March 2011, when it was observed that calling Gaiman's episode “Bigger On The Inside” immediately telegraphed the fact that Idris was the TARDIS. Cheekily, it was decided to rechristen the story The Doctor's Wife. This was a title concocted in 1983 by producer John Nathan-Turner, who posted it in his office as part of an otherwise legitimate list of forthcoming adventures. Nathan-Turner had grown suspicious that information was being leaked to fans, and he planned this subterfuge as a way of ferreting out the offenders. The title “Bigger On The Inside” was not completely discarded, however, as it was ultimately used as the name of the accompanying episode of the behind-the-scenes programme Doctor Who Confidential.

Also dropped in post-production was the explanation that House had chosen his voice from the memories of Amy and Rory in order to engender their trust. Rory then recognised the voice from various movie trailers; this was a reference to Don LaFontaine, who had narrated more than five thousand trailers before his death in 2008. House's dialogue was actually provided by Michael Sheen, a four-time Laurence Olivier Award nominee for his stage work, who was also well known for movies like 2006's The Queen and 2008's Frost/Nixon. Although Sheen was a friend of Gaiman's, his involvement with The Doctor's Wife almost didn't come to pass after Gaiman underestimated the seriousness of Sheen's offer to participate.

The Doctor's Wife was broadcast on May 14th, the same day that the 2011 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest was held. Partly to accommodate the international musical event, the BBC One schedule was rearranged. Don't Scare The Hare, which had been Doctor Who's lead-in, was moved earlier in the afternoon. The Doctor's Wife was scheduled at the later time of 6.30pm, sandwiched between So You Think You Can Dance and its results show.

• Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition #29, 14th December 2011, “The Doctor's Wife” by Andrew Pixley, Panini Publishing Ltd.
• Doctor Who: The Complete History #67, 2016, “Story 216: The Doctor's Wife”, edited by Mark Wright, Hachette Partworks Ltd.