Guess What Whovians are Getting for Christmas? A New TARDIS Interior!

The Christmas special is marking a change for Doctor Who. It’s the first step towards the 50th Anniversary, The Doctor (Matt Smith) is being joined by new companion, Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman), and the TARDIS is getting a makeover.

The TARDIS interior has gone through several changes over the show’s 49 year history. Originally the inside what stark and white, but always with the familiar console and port hole design on the walls. In the 1996 movie the interior took one of its most drastic changes, becoming a massive, vaulted room of Edwardian iron work. When the series returned the interior changed again, with a raised platform for the console, coral pillars, and green lights illuminating the time rotor. It’s been tweaked for each Doctor since, most recently with the 11th Doctor’s TARDIS looking both steampunk and Seussian.

Now it’s changing again and the BBC has released this teaser image,

(Click to embiggen)

Here’s a blurb released along with it,

The BBC's Doctor Who has revealed a sneak peak at a brand new TARDIS that will debut in this year's Christmas special, The Snowmen. The second TARDIS for Matt Smith it will be the first TARDIS for new companion Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman), who makes her entrance on Christmas Day at 5:15pm on BBC ONE. The new set was designed by Michael Pickwoad, the show's production designer, and will be home to the Doctor and Clara as they travel through space and time when the adventure continues in spring 2013 with eight epic episodes.

And a description of another image appearing Doctor Who Magazine from Doctor Who TV,

It's black, with a blue hue from the time rotor lighting the room. There's a disc looking thing on the wall, with a red light in the middle and purple lights surrounding it. The time rotor looks very similar to the one in the Lodger TARDIS. It looks much smaller than the current version, perhaps even smaller than Nine and Ten's console room.

So the room must be black with the console itself a lighter color, since it looks almost white in the picture. I love the detail of the Gallifreyan symbols. Hmm, and it’s a smaller console room, too. That’s interesting. I wonder if this has anything to do with us supposedly seeing more of TARDIS this season. It’s rumored one of these, “eight epic episodes,” will be called, “Journey to the Center of the TARDIS.”

It’s only a sneak peek, but what do you think of the new design? Are you surprised it’s changing already?

The Doctor Who Christmas special, “The Snowmen” airs Christmas Day on BBC One, BBC American, and Space.