When Dr Who first whisked his companions off into time and space we were given one last glimpse of 1963 London as his fantastic ship TARDIS set off on its travels. But what is this memorable London cityscape?

The road leading off into the distance is Watling St; the one lined with cars across the bottom is called New Change. Its origins point to financial exchange activities like the coining of bullion. Keep in mind the building foreground left; the one on the right is long gone.

This next shot from Bing has buses that seem to be from the nineties or thereabouts; the curved building along New Change is still visible here. You can see also that the aerial view from Doctor Who was in fact taken from the dome of St Paul's Cathedral:

Below is a street view retrieved recently from Google. The curved building along New Change is gone, replaced by construction work:

The new structure is almost or fully complete in their satellite image of the same location:

It's been named One New Change, a shopping centre aimed at bringing more retail traffic to the primarily financial district around Cheapside. It looks more modern than a TARDIS in this next shot from The Guardian. Doubtless it affords striking views of the cathedral but who'll notice whilst trying on frocks?

One New Change opening coverage (Guardian)