The Doctor's Wife

216 – "The Doctor's Wife"
Doctor Who episode
The Doctor (Matt Smith) and Idris (Suranne Jones, left) pilot the makeshift TARDIS. This set was based on a Blue Peter contest-winning design produced by Susannah Leah, a 12-year-old viewer.
Cast
Doctor Matt Smith – Eleventh Doctor
Companions Karen Gillan – Amy Pond Arthur Darvill – Rory Williams
Others Suranne Jones – Idris Michael Sheen – Voice of House Paul Kasey – Nephew Adrian Schiller – Uncle Elizabeth Berrington – Auntie
Production
Directed by	Richard Clark
Written by	Neil Gaiman
Produced by	Sanne Wohlenberg[1]
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Piers Wenger Beth Willis
Music by	Murray Gold
Production code	2.3
Series	Series 6
Running time	45 minutes
First broadcast	14 May 2011 (2011-05-14)
Chronology
← Preceded by "The Curse of the Black Spot" Followed by → "The Rebel Flesh"
List of episodes (2005–present)

"The Doctor's Wife" is the fourth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was broadcast on 14 May 2011 in the United Kingdom, and later the same day in the United States. It was written by Neil Gaiman and directed by Richard Clark.

In the episode, an entity called the House (voiced by Michael Sheen) lures the alien time traveller the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) to an asteroid outside the universe, by sending a distress call to the Doctor's time machine, the TARDIS. The House removes the matrix of the TARDIS and places it in the body of a woman named Idris (Suranne Jones), who proceeds to help the Doctor prevent House from escaping its pocket universe with the TARDIS.

"The Doctor's Wife" was originally intended to be produced as part of the previous series, but was pushed back due to budget constraints. Gaiman revised the script many times, having to add and remove characters and events as production saw fit. The episode was filmed in the autumn of 2010 and featured a makeshift TARDIS control room which was the design from a winner of a contest on the children's programme Blue Peter. The episode was seen by 7.97 million viewers in the UK and was met with positive reviews from critics, with praise for Jones's performance. The episode won the 2011 Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation and the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.