Fans of Doctor Who have been given a fresh trip through time, as the BBC has shared a new batch of behind-the-scenes photos from one of the revived series’ most beloved episodes.
The official Doctor Who accounts across social media marked 20 years since The Girl in the Fireplace was first aired, posting a set of production images from the David Tennant-era classic.
The post reads: “20 years since the debut of THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE, here’s some behind-the-scenes of bringing pre-revolutionary France into the 51st century!”
The images offer a rare look at the practical work behind the episode, from ornate palace interiors and lavish costumes to lighting rigs and crew members carefully positioning the sinister clockwork droids.
One shot shows Tennant on a wheeled rig as the team set up one of the episode’s more elaborate sequences, while another focuses on the production slate, listing director Euros Lyn and director of photography Rory Taylor.
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On the Instagram and Facebook posts, there was even a charming addition of Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler having a make-up touch-up – alongside another with Tennant as the Tenth Doctor sat next to Sophia Myles’s Madame de Pompadour.
First broadcast in 2006, The Girl in the Fireplace was the fourth episode of Doctor Who’s second modern season, and quickly became a standout instalment for Tennant’s Tenth Doctor.
Written by Steven Moffat, the episode followed the Doctor, Rose and Mickey as they discovered windows in time linking a 51st-century spaceship to the life of Madame de Pompadour in 18th-century France.
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Alongside other renowned episodes of the era, such as Blink and Human Nature/The Family of Blood, it remains a firm fan-favourite – in large part thanks to its more vulnerable depiction of the Doctor and that tear-jerking, bittersweet ending.
In fact, in 2024, Radio Times ranked all of Moffat’s Doctor Who scripts, with The Girl in the Fireplace finishing at number one.
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