2011 "The Doctor's Wife" Alternate Console

[timerotor]

Hi guys,
Hope all's well!
just thought you would like to know that This 'scrap heap' console
is now on display at The Doctor Who Exhibition at Olympia 2 at the end
by the exit to the shop.
It looks fantastic!

I love it!!!
All the best to you all,
Timerotor

[Kingpin]

Oh brilliant!  Another item to photograph while I'm there the week after next.  Thanks for the tip.

Was it complete, or was it in it's configuration at the end of the episode, with 5 full panels and one extracted one?

[Kingpin]

The lamp:

I'm convinced that it's a Tensor desk lamp, as a number of Google Image results and eBay auctions show lamps of similar (sadly not identical) design:



The bad news being that if it's a genuine Tensor, it's also vintage.  It shouldn't be too hard to replicate, mind you.

Edit:




The lamp isn't a 100% match, but I'd be willing to say it's a 98% match, only let down by the switch plate (which could have been modified for the episode, I'll try get some close photos if it's possible when I'm next at the Experience).  Sadly the link I found unhelpfully describes it as a "Vintage retro red desk lamp", but I bet you if there was a clearly displayed brand, it'd be a Tensor.

[galacticprobe]

Yes! Take loads of photos! And if that one panel has been "extracted" as you say, it shouldn't be too far away. It only came off after the Junk TARDIS materialized inside the old (as in 9th/10th Doctor) console room, and if you look closely you can see it lying on the floor not far from where the Idris/TARDIS is staggering to her feet. So if they do have that panel removed for the display, since they might want to show off the light panel that was behind it, the panel should (hopefully) be on the floor near the console.

Dino.

[timerotor]

Oh brilliant!  Another item to photograph while I'm there the week after next.  Thanks for the tip.

Was it complete, or was it in it's configuration at the end of the episode, with 5 full panels and one extracted one?

GREAT, I always feel its better for you guys to come and take pics and post them up, because I would feel like a spoil sport if I did it first every time there was something new of interest. Besides, I would risk getting into trouble actually.
I look forward to seeing  your pics Kingpin!
Mark
P.S I think you'd better see for yourself about the panels etc...

[Kingpin]

I just hope I can get good shots of most of the console, I saw a shot of it on Flickr and it's up against a wall!  The post 1980s console props were made to be viewed from all sides!

[Rassilons Rod]

I'm sure they could have arranged that the 5 Doctor's console could have been walked around too... But it's just too much hassle for them, I guess.

[chinandler]

My kids actually have that blue keyboard! I bought it from Argos a year or 2 ago. They just press the 'demo button' and walk away. Its so annoying! Sorry kids but it almost got 'lost', BUT when I noticed it stuck on that console, I looked at it with different eyes.... Its a keeper!

[galacticprobe]

Not sure if anyone has seen these Flickr photos of The Doctor Who Experience yet:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70304649@N00/

Pages 1 through the top of page 5 have the Experience photos, some in very high-res. Two of them have the Junk Console:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70304649@N00/5958250467/sizes/o/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/70304649@N00/5958224891/sizes/o/in/photostream/

The second link above also has a good shot of the Idris costume for anyone making one of them, however I'll be cropping that out to get the photo to meet the Forum's size limit so I can post the photos here. (If someone is considering making that costume - a prop made from fabric - then you'll like this link if you haven't seen it already: http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/846362.html#cutid1.

But now, Robbin, quickly: to the console...! (Sit back and relax people; this is a long one.)

Two different angles (and if you open the images in a new tab or window you can see them full size): the up close one first.

You'll notice that all of the panels are slightly recessed below their outer edges. In the first Junk Console photo you can see that several of those little silver "knobs" on the edge of the console aren't knobs at all, but rather look like wall hangers for things like towels and such that you can find at home improvement stores. I'm not sure what that little cone-like thing in the middle of the edge is, but it looks like it has a label on it with some writing that's sadly illegible.

On the panel above that you can get a good look at the crank I mentioned as looking like it came from the current console's Quantum Foam Manipulators. That huge dial in the panels center has numbers from "0" (on the right) to "180" (on the left) in 10-degree increments, and only on half of the dial. The squiggly brass thing above it looks like some sort of electronic component's heat sink, and next to that, above the crank, looks like a pump hose's pick-up strainer. The cassette deck in the lower left corner of the panel is a Sony - you can see a closer photo of that cassette on page 1 of this thread - but all I could see of the model was that it looks to start with TEL(something)... So if anyone knows the model please chime in. I don't know what that switch in the lower right corner is but it looks like it came from a military surplus store (it has that military equipment look to it). The brassy fins attached to it, once again, look like some sort of heat sink that was stuck onto the side of the switch housing. Those little pointy silver things under the corners are where the Doctor connects the red "ropes" to hold him and Idris/TARDIS inside; you can see them hanging down in several photos on page 1. (Again, thanks for noticing that, Kingpin - darn, you're good!)

There is another one of those silver pointy things on the top left of the central column. In some of Warmcanofcoke's screen grab photos it looks like those pointy things on the top shift around a bit, so that top on the column may not be bolted in place, but only held in place by being slid down onto the column. If you look closely, in some photos there's a pointy thing above the panel with the "quantum foam" crank and big dial, and in others there isn't one there, but above the panel with the dome and antenna gizmo. And since these are screen grabs I'm guessing that the column's top can twist around a bit since that pointy thing moved from one place in one scene to another place in another scene.

The panel to the right has more of those towel hangers on its edge (looks like one in each corner). There is also another semi-cone-like thingy in the center of the edge, but without a clearer image of it I can't even begin to guess at what it might be. The panel itself has that small desk lamp, and the flex hose going to the handheld shower head. (Not sure what that plate it's all connected to is, though). There is some other thin copper tubing and connectors for it, and that and the flex hose blocks the view of a few other bits on the far side of that panel. Also, above and supporting the shower head looks like a part of a pogo stick? (Not sure how it's mounted because the lamp base is blocking a good part of that.) There is some sort of silver latch-like thing in the bottom center of the panel, and a brass handle (with brass mount) in the lower left corner is a door handle. (A big thanks to Kingpin for mentioning that below, so I amended my post here with his new info.)

The central column looks easy enough except for that thing on the inner top (possibly a piece of bodged ducting?). The inner mesh is an easy find at most home improvement stores, as is the flex hose that entwines it. The tubes in the center - larger one surrounded by the mesh and a possibly narrow one in the very center - are colored plexi/perspex sleeves (the outer one definitely, the inner, maybe) and there is a set of oscillating lights inside it. Tech-savvy people could build that, but I think you could buy something suitable at an automotive detailing store (or catalogue like, oh, J. C. Whitney in the States, for example). The top cap looks like a simple hollow hexagon that slides over the clear outer column cover, has a small, somewhat flat cap in the center, and a semicircle dome at each corner. As mentioned earlier there's that pointy thing on the top left side edge. The side edge facing us looks plain, while the edge on the right side has just a long screw sticking out of it. (I wonder if this was intentional, or if another of those silver points used to be there and just fell off. Considering that it's lower than where the pointy thing is mounted I'm going to go with the former and say it was intentional. Time to watch the episode again!)

I'll get to the panel to the left of center in a moment as the second Junk Console link above shows a better view of it, but I would like to point out just a few things that show up better in this photo, namely that large "wingnut" in the middle of the edge. I've got one of those - almost exact - that holds the internal-mount spare tire for my 1986 Chevy Blazer in place. So get that part number from Chevy and you've got that piece. Also notice that brass gizmo just below the extendable mirror (which is on the panel behind the one I'm about to get into); it has an iris-type aperture in it (and I have no idea what it is).

Now, referring to the second Console photo and the panel to the left (keeping the Idris costume in so as not to crop the photo, and I lightened it a little so it's easier to see more detail):

That box with the ribs in the lower left corner (it's blue in the other image) looks like it could be a sort of amplifier module. The looped wires on its sides could just be wires connecting its inputs to its outputs. The two push-button switches next to it (in the center of the panel) are what we in the states call the "Radio Shack Specials". Not too hard to find, and below them on the edge is that huge wingnut. Above the buttons is that large brass ring with notches in its edges that looks like it came from the Tennant console, and has a tinted dome in the middle. Domes like that are found at craft stores unless you can get a cheap one from a place that sells the small domes to cover security cameras. (My money is on the craft stores). There is a thin copper tube - curlicued - connecting that component (dome and ring) to the amp module. That antenna (aerial) thing just above the dome is easier to see in the other image, but it's another such dome with brass rods converging in the center like the rays of the Death Star beam. In both images it looks to be mounted with a rod to the top of the dome on the panel, but in neither photo can I tell what is connecting the converging rods together. The lower right corner of this panel has a BNC (Bayonet Neill-Concelman) connector box. I don't know where you'd find such a box because in over 30 years of working with electronics I've never come across a gizmo like this. It's obviously a sort of interconnecting device, possibly as a piece of test equipment, but I don't know what for. (It could be an easy scratch-build, though, as those connectors are also "Shack Specials".) Below this odd box on the panel's side edge are three terminal-like components with curved copper wire connecting the top terminals together, and another wire does likewise with the bottom terminals. You can get a closer, side view in the other photo, but I still can't make out what they are. (Note: This is the panel that comes off when the Junk TARDIS materializes in the "old" console room to show the lighty things inside the console, and again a big thanks to Kingpin for correcting me there. You can also see this in one of the photos on page 1.)

So that's three panels and the column in mostly graphic detail. Anyone who can help ID the bits that elude me please jump right in. I won't post any of the other panels here as those are in good detail on page 1, posted by Warmcanofcoke (with great images of those little lights on the console's underside) and Invadrzim (with some really excellent details of the other panels). So, can others help ID components on this console? I could do it all in time, but it would be nice to have some help. (Once again many thanks to Kinkpin for the help he's given so far!)

Dino.

[Scarfwearer]

however I'll be cropping that out to get the photo to meet the Forum's size limit so I can post the photos here.

The width of the picture and its size for uploading purposes are largely independent quantities, so there's never any need to crop a photo to make it fit the forum size limit.
The picture below is 200K - well inside the limit, but still has the original width and height - you just need to reduce the detail setting when saving the picture.

For more info, see the article about posting photos: http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=1282



Crispin

[Kingpin]

(Note: I think this is the panel that comes off when the Junk TARDIS materializes in the "old" console room to show the lighty things inside the console.)

It's actually the panel to the left, the one with the RADAR dish that had detached once it'd materialised inside the TARDIS.

I'm also not sure what those little pointy silver things are under the corners, but there is another one on the top left of the central column.

If I'm not mistaken, those were used to attach the velvet ropes for the Doctor and Idris.

The brass crank handle is actually a door handle.


The silver "pointy thing" on the left side of the top of the Time Rotor is supposed to hold the chain and coathanger, which appears to have been lost (or removed I suppose, as it could easily be taken by a member of the public).  The screw sticking out of the Hexagonal Time Rotor cap might be to hold it in place, it looks like the hole's been countersunk to let the screw fit flush with the edge.

[galacticprobe]

Crispin, I tried your suggestions (as defined in the link in your post) and was able to reduce the byte size without reducing the physical size of the photos. I've inserted them into my post above, so you can remove the photo from your post to avoid duplicate photos. And I was really only going to crop that one photo to remove the Idris costume from it, but since I was able to reduce the byte size without losing detail I left the photo un-cropped (for all of us Idris/TARDIS fans).

Kingpin: nice catch on that door handle. I took a closer look at the photo and it was that piece of the thing the shower head is mounted on that threw me. At first glance it looked like that black corrugated piece was part of the brass handle making it look like a crank, but looking closer I see that it was a door handle, and that corrugated piece was actually behind it. And you're also right about the panel that comes off, and the silver pointy things under the console. (That's actually clear to see on page 1 of this thread, as are a few other details, some of which I've added to my post above.)

Anyway, as promised I've inserted the photos into my long post above (just in case the Flickr links go dead at some point). Also this eliminates the need for people to constantly flip between pages to view descriptions and photos. (I'll leave the links in the post for now.)

Dino.

[Kingpin]

In visiting B&Q and Wickes yesterday I saw a pretty similar door handle on sale, with prices varying between £12-25.

The return trip to the Experience is scheduled for this coming Saturday, so I'll be hoping to get some in-depth photos of it then.

[davidnagel]

How is that crazy man affording all these trips to the Experience?! lol

Nice details on this particular prop. Not a fan myself! But a good ole read here.

[galacticprobe]

I just had a thought on that big wingnut (like the one that holds my Blazer's spare tire in place). Since it is on that panel that comes off after the Junk TARDIS materializes inside the 10th Doctor console room, maybe they used that wingnut to hold that panel in place until it was time for the panel to come off and show those lights inside? Any thoughts on that?

Dino.