Round Base

[galacticprobe]

I've also seen the round piece under the plinth. There is a good photo of it in the Reference section (first photo here http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=1097.0).

And you can also see it really well in this photo (not sure where I found this one, but it pops up on quite a few Google Image sites):


Dino.

[Rassilons Rod]

Thank you

Edit: I just noticed the double doors that lead inside the TARDIS are behind the pillar and next to the fault locator... Where is this from?

[tony farrell]

The photo comes from "The Dead Planet" aka "The Mutants/Daleks" episode 1. You can tell as the doors to the sleeping quarters don't yet have their circular handles - also, you can see that only 3/5ths of the scanner wall has been assembled and the light box/computer tower is orientated with the non-illuminated side facing into the control room.
Tony
(Superb work Celation, can't wait to see more progress!)

[Rassilons Rod]

Cheers, Tony

I guess they just threw all that together for a quick publicity photo

[galacticprobe]

Either a publicity photo, or a home scrap book photo taken during a dress rehearsal. I'd think for a publicity photo they'd have waited until everything was completely assembled for filming, posed everyone for the shot, and then wouldn't have shown so much of the studio surroundings (stage lights, emptiness over the tops of the walls, boom mic, etc.).

Dino.

[DoctorWho8]

Actually, having just watched Daleks Part 1, the console room was in that configuration for the actual episode.  Behind the light tower is the wall with the main doors, which for some reason was being used as a regular wall.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

[tony farrell]

You're welcome Rassilonsrod.  
However, if you look at the episode, that's actually how the set was assembled (presumably to save studio space for the petrified jungle and Dalek city). This episode also saw the introduction of the food machine, which, complete with perspex screens, appeared slap bang in the middle of the control room! The next time we saw the food machine was in "The Edge of Destruction"; it was now in the sleeping quarters and the same perspex screens separated the boys' and girls' bedrooms!
The various elements of the control room set were designed to be modular and were assembled in different positions virtually every time they were seen. This was later 'justified' by Bill Hartnell's Doctor explaining that the Tardis' architecture was "soft"!
I'm in the process of drawing the various elements with measurements and will post them shortly.
Anyway, I've 'high-jacked' Celation's marvellous thread for long enough!  
Regards
Tony

[galacticprobe]

Okay... now I'll have to watch "The Daleks" again. (I still wonder if they'd leave the boom mic in frame for a publicity shot. Sort of takes some of the magic away.)

And as one who is partial to the Hartnell era I'm looking forward to your drawings, Tony. (And as has happened in the past - sometimes the future but mostly the past, when a thread gets "hijacked", depending on the diverted topic it can break off into its own thread.) But there is this small thread http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=1094.0 in this section http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?board=51.0, so perhaps you could post your drawings in there? I'm sure they'd go well in one of those other threads if not that one.

Going back on topic, I think the original question was about that round "spacer" under the Hartnell console plinth. Any idea as to how high it was? (Going by the console's edge, I'm guessing somewhere between 2 and 3 inches? It's hard to tell from the angle unless there's a better photo from closer to floor level.) Also, I don't see that bit under the console in any of the Troughton photos. In fact the plinth looks like it's right on the floor in those. Could it have been removed when they added the metal trim to the console plinth's edges? Or could the metal edging just be thick enough to hide the spacer?

Dino.

[tony farrell]

Hi Dino,
I think what we're seeing is a disc which was designed to hide the castors on which the console was mounted. I think this disc is about an inch in depth (height?) and the reason you make it up to three inches is because of the shadow.
We know the console was mounted on castors until at least the end of the Pertwee era - look how it moves in episode one of "Death to the Daleks". I don't have the DVD of "The Web Planet", but, if memory serves, when Maureen O'Brien was alone in the control room, didn't the console rotate under the influence of the Animus?
I've attached a couple of photos - the first is from the Pilot Episode (with disc/spacer), the second is from "Edge of Destruction" and the third is from part two of "The Rescue" - the latter ones appear to show the disc/spacer had disappeared even by then.
Regards
Tony

[galacticprobe]

Tony, good points, all! Although, even with the shadow, I think that round bit's height is closer to 2 inches; it's certainly not as high as the console's edge is thick (which was about 3 inches). I'm leaning more towards somewhere between 1.5 and 2 inches. Considering it's slightly recessed even at the sides of the plinth, if it was only an inch high the bit of plinth "overhang" would make the ring hard to see unless you were at a shallow viewing angle to it. (And am I the only one who never even considered that these consoles had casters under them? )

Yes, in "Web Planet" the console does spin like a top a few times. I'm guessing for that all of its power cables were disconnected, and since we see mostly the upper part of the console while it's spinning, I can just see a couple of stage hands crouching on the floor turning it while also trying to keep it from wandering too far from the pivot point.

One thing, though: I don't think that first photo is from the pilot (first episode, perhaps?) as in the pilot there were no black and white "flags" at the top of the central column's inner workings. Also the little levers on the console panels are solid with round knobs on them, and in the pilot they were rather bland, clear rods. So I think that first photo is from the first aired episode. (Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm almost 100% certain there were no column "flags" in the pilot.)

Dino.

[tony farrell]

You're correct - I meant the first episode not the pilot...doh!

[galacticprobe]

Don't worry, Tony. I've flubbed things like this before. It happens. And as you can see I was right; if you "hijack" a thread with enough good info, it can break off into its own thread. And now we've got some great references for that round bit under the console and it won't get mixed in with general console references, so it will be easy to find.

Dino.