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Doctor Who fan builds 1983 Tardis in back garden

Amber Gash,in South Kymeand
Eleanor Maslin,East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
BBC A man with short blond hair is smiling for a head and shoulders photo and is wearing a black top that says The Console Room on it. He is also wearing a circular necklace on a black thin rope. Behind him are grey walls with yellow circles on it, a hat stand with a hat and brown coat and a scarf on the other side. Next to him is a clear cube on a console with several buttons.BBC
Brendan Sheppard in the classic Tardis console room, a replica of the 1983 version

A Doctor Who fan has brought a childhood dream to life by building a full-scale replica of the interior of the Tardis in his back garden.

Brendan Sheppard and a small team spent two years recreating the console room from 1983 at his home in South Kyme, Lincolnshire.

"This is the first time in nearly 40 years that it has been completely remade, 100% accurate," Sheppard said.

Visitors can step through a full-size police box into the Tardis, work the controls and dress up in classic costumes.

Sophie Aldred, who played Ace in the show, officially opened the experience on Monday.

At the centre of the room is a hexagonal console with recreations of the original buttons and switches seen in the TV programme, along with a scanner screen and other props.

Several people stand around a 1983 TARDIS Console Room replica. In the middle is a round console space which is grey with sharp edges. It has buttons all over it of different sizes and a clear cube in the middle with squares inside it. The walls are grey with yellow circles on it.
The console room was opened by Sophie Aldred on Monday

K-9, the Doctor's lovable robot dog, can be seen, along with some of the Doctor's infamous enemies.

The costumes include a replica of actor Tom Baker's iconic scarf, Peter Davison's coat and Sylvester McCoy's umbrella.

Davison even recorded a special audio episode of Doctor Who for visitors to immerse themselves in.

Sheppard, who is a former BBC director and worked on the Doctor Who DVD range, said: "It's the only one in the country and this building was custom-made for this experience.

"When you're ready to go off into time and space, you can literally set the console going."

A close-up of a remade version of the buttons and screen of the 1983 TARDIS Console Room. thick black button with white letters on them protrude out of a grey surface. Red, green and blue buttons can be seen around it along with a lit-up diamond-shaped button. In the middle is an orange screen that says 'Tardis Information system, ready for entry'.
The experience includes replica buttons and switches that can all be used

He added: "When you go to museums or experiences you're never able to touch these things.

"I believe you connect to an object by really touching it, feeling it, pressing those buttons and making sure it makes all those sounds."

The original console room, as seen in the 1980s show, was designed by Mike Kelt and debuted in the 1983 episode Five Doctors.

The replica version was created by Sheppard along with Simon Nash, who made the Tardis police box, and Darryl Harrison, who bought to life the electronics and interactive features.

A still from the Doctor Who TV show showing two men standing on a futuristic set. On the left, a man wearing a long beige coat with red trim stands with his hands on a central console. He has light brown hair, short at the front and long at the back. He is talking to a second man who has ginger hair and is wearing a black suit. The console has six sides and is covered in keyboards, screens and switches, with a crystal-type stricture at the centre inside a glass box. The walls are grey with white, plate-shaped structures.
Peter Davison (left) as the Doctor in the console room in the episode Planet of Fire, in February 1984

Reflecting on the creation, Sheppard said: "It feels exceptionally weird and I also feel very proud.

"A lot of people have worked very hard and I feel very humbled to be working with a load of very good people whose attention to detail was infinite.

"I feel emotional too, because this was my childhood."

The new replica version will be open to visitors on weekends, with a 45-minute experience costing £25.

Sheppard said the fee was the lowest that could be offered and reflected the time and effort that was put into creating the room.

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