Returning to the Regency

3 June 2024

As The Doctor and Ruby travelled back to the Regency period in Season one, BBC Archives looked back at the TARDIS's previous trips to that time in history.

Full length shot of Jonathan Groff, Millie Gibson and Ncuti Gatwa wearing Regency costumes, standing on a staircase — Image caption,
Jonathan Groff, Millie Gibson and Ncuti Gatwa in a publicity picture for the 2024 episode Rogue

"Ready for this? Here we go. History." The Ninth Doctor, 2005

Although The Doctor has travelled to many different times in the Earth's history, it is only recent regenerations that have chosen the Regency period as their historical destination.

On the first visit, the Twelfth Doctor took Bill Potts to visit the 1814 London Frost Fair in the episode Thin Ice (2017). The Doctor explains that the TARDIS has a vast wardrobe where they can both find suitable clothes to wear for their adventure.

The Doctor, wearing a dark frock-coat, blue cravat and top-hat, with Bill, who is wearing a green velvet coat, fur-trimmed gloves and feathered hat — Image caption,
The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Bill (Pearl Mackie) arrive in a chilly London of February ,1814

"Travelling to the past, there's got to be rules." Bill Potts (2017)

Bill, wearing a long green coat over a full-length beige dress, follows The Doctor, who is wearing a dark coat and waistcoat, down some snow-covered steps — Image caption,
Bill and The Doctor head down to the Thames to experience the Frost Fair

The Doctor, wearing a dark coat and top hat, looks intrigued, while stallholders from the fair ply their wares behind him — Image caption,
But The Doctor soon realises that there's something lurking beneath the ice

The Doctor and Bill face each other in a room decorated with Regency furnishings — Image caption,
The Doctor and Bill get to experience the inside of a grand Regency house

"It's just time travel. Don't overthink it." The Twelfth Doctor (2017)

The Doctor's next visit to the Regency era was with Ryan, Yaz and Graham in the 2020 episode The Haunting of Villa Diodati. They turned up at Villa Diodati on the same stormy night in 1816 that inspired Mary Shelley to begin writing her novel Frankenstein. While her companions have clearly made use of the TARDIS wardrobe to find Regency outfits, this time The Doctor stays in her own clothes.

Ryan and Graham, both wearing coats and top hats, with Yaz, wearing an empire-line dress, short jacket and bonnet stand with The Doctor — Image caption,
Ryan (Tosin Cole), Yaz (Mandip Gill), The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and Graham (Bradley Walsh) arrive at the Villa

The Doctor and Mary Shelley, with three other figures behind them, stand looking out through a rain-splattered window — Image caption,
"It was a dark and stormy night ..." The Doctor and friends are trapped in Villa Diodati with Mary Shelley (Lili Miller)

"History is vulnerable tonight." The Thirteenth Doctor (2020)

Ryan, wearing a frock-coat and cravat, leans with his elbow on the mantle of a fireplace in a candle-lit room — Image caption,
Ryan looks to be the epitome of a Regency gentleman

Graham, wearing a frock-coat and cravat, holding an unlit candelabra, is looking around the room from his spot by the fireplace — Image caption,
Graham is haunted in the Villa

"Quality historical experience, that." The Thirteenth Doctor (2020)

It would seem that The Doctor and the TARDIS have become fond of the Regency era, despite (or maybe because of) the horrors that lurk there. Perhaps they might feel differently after the adventures of Rogue.