The TARDIS Project

Well, it doesn’t seem all that long ago we were doing this for “The Daleks,” does it? At two episodes, “Inside the Spaceship” (aka “The Edge of Destruction,” “Beyond the Sun” (although that last is a product of a fan error in an early reference book), etc.) is the shortest story of the first season. In fact, the story behind the story is interesting, to me at any rate. Just before production started on “Doctor Who’s” first story, there was some question by higher ups as to how viable this “experiment” would be. The show was given thirteen episodes to find its feet; if people didn’t take to it and (just as importantly for the BBC) if the production just didn’t justify the cost, then that would be the end. Unfortunately, this requirement didn’t jibe with the scripts already commissioned. In fact, thirteen episodes would only take things through the second episode of “Marco Polo!” Somehow, two extra episodes needed to be filled, but no extra budget could be allocated. Thus, we get “Inside the Spaceship,” with only the four regulars and only the standing TARDIS sets. Even with the success of “The Daleks,” it wasn’t sure up to the filming of the first part of this story that the series would continue, which gives the Doctor’s line about how “this could be the end” in episode two a certain poignancy. For the whole story of the production (and much more competently told), take a look at its “Brief History of Time (Travel)” link.
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