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Reference Pictures: Mk I Console (1963)

Started by Scarfwearer, Aug 22, 2009, 12:40 pm

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tony farrell

Having just this minute popped over to the auction site the latest bid is £720 (as of 16.00 GMT on 21/03/19); so, someone is willing to pay a lot of money.

I think Marc you may be partially correct: Most of the photos from The Power of the Daleks are already 'out there' in glorious HD in the ether (we have a great many of them here on TB already). A high-definition version of the  rarely seen colour shot of Troughton in the Colonists' Communications Room is also available  :).

The Wheel in Space and Fury from the Deep photos do seem to be much rarer but - I dare say - that these too will have already 'escaped into the wild'. As an aside, it would be interesting to know whether the negatives of these photos are being offered as part of the sale - the auction house's website only mentions prints of the photos.

Where I do think that Marc is going to be proven entirely correct is in regard to the various set plans. I do think it highly likely that these might disappear only to re-appear after a discreet interval in an expensive publication. (If this does turn out to be the case, I hope the Dodd family will get some benefit.)

That said, you never know - the person who places the winning bid might be entirely altruistic and make them available as a tribute to the design talents of the late Mr Dodd.

In the meantime we'll have to cheekily hope that someone took some more photos of the various set plans at the auction's viewing day! ;)

T

markofrani

Wow! the collection sold for £4,600.00!!!

tony farrell

Well, at least that's a good result for the Dodd family.  :)

markofrani

I did have a look at everything and while there were some fascinating (for me anyway!) BBC plans of the interior sets from 'Power' and 'Wheel', there really was not much Tardis related material. The Unearthly Child console photo was the best there was. Most of the photos, as you say Tony, are readily available elsewhere...

tony farrell

I think seeing plans of anything is always fascinating especially if the plans contain detailed notes!

I remember, some time ago now, as a result of me having some of the set plans from Frontier in Space which mentioned Ackland Snow as the supplier of the plastic elements of these sets and you noting Ackland Snow was mentioned on the original Brachacki Tardis interior plans that we both concluded that Ackland Snow were the sub-contractors who made the original Tardis moulded roundel backings. So, two completely unconnected sets of plans can lead to surprising discoveries!

Even from the small snippet of the Power of the Daleks plans you've posted it's possible to draw some quite significant conclusions: Mr Dodd has very helpfully provided the full-size dimensions for the Dalek production line and has then told Shawcraft to scale those dimensions to the Dalek toys. So, even though the production line set was never built at full size, its entrance/exit was and we therefore now know the dimensions of the doorway and height of the 'girders' and of height of the full-sized set. Mr Dodd has also hold Shawcraft what materials, colours and finishes to use in their model and stressed that these should be followed to match the full-sized set of the Dalek ship.

It would be fascinating to see what snippets the other plans might reveal. For example we know that the 'wall map' was re-used from the Polar Base set in The Tenth Planet. If the Power of the Daleks set plans show this, then we can add those dimensions to the already available, but incomplete, studio floor plans of the Polar Base which - incidentally - shared the same computer banks as appeared in Fury from the Deep (also designed by Dodd).

I bet these few examples aren't the only examples of where elements of sets get re-used and so, from a simple couple of notes on a partial plan we can make connections. It's a bit like that old game of 'joining the dots' - the more dots you have, the better the picture you can create.   :)

T

thescarletttimelord

Aug 20, 2019, 01:09 pm #125 Last Edit: Aug 20, 2019, 02:25 pm by animatronick
Simething I haven't really seen get pointed out yet, but during the beginning of the Hartnell era, the toggle switches on the panel with the five ping pong lamps, werent always switches, but nubs! Take a look
detail_UnearthlyChild (1).jpg

I wonder how long it was like this
When Life Gave Me Jelly Babies, I Added Licorice.

tony farrell

Aug 22, 2019, 05:44 pm #126 Last Edit: Aug 22, 2019, 05:50 pm by Tony Farrell
Quote from: animatronick on Aug 20, 2019, 01:09 pm
Something I haven't really seen get pointed out yet, but during the beginning of the Hartnell era, the toggle switches on the panel with the five ping pong lamps, werent always switches, but nubs! Take a look
detail_UnearthlyChild (1).jpg


Sorry, I'm not sure that I agree with you here Animatronic. If you look closely, the 'nubs' (as you call them) aren't at right-angles to the metal plate on which they are mounted which they would be were they simply on/off push-button switches; in fact, the heads of the switches shown are slightly angled towards the console's outer fascia which would indicate that they are all in their 'on' positions.

I think what we are seeing here are 'ball-headed' toggle switches whose stems are hidden inside tall 'bushings' (the threaded circular section which holds the locking nut).

Quote from: cosmichobo02 on Aug 21, 2019, 12:51 pm
Believe they changed in the Time Meddler


I've just had a look at The Time Meddler and as far as I can see, the only shot we get of these switches is a medium distance one which is looking down at the console (the switches are only just visible through the Central Column's perspex cylinder):

Monkey 14_zpst8yopuat.jpg

In fact, because this control panel was fitted with dummy black slider (piano) switches, it wasn't actually televised very much at all - as far as I can see, apart from The Time Meddler, the only other story in the entirety of Season Two in which we even get a glimpse of this panel is The Daleks' Invasion of Earth.

As always, I stand to be corrected. So, it would be really interesting to see what evidence there is for these switches having been replaced.  :)

T

dw_1200

Quote from: Tony Farrell on Aug 22, 2019, 05:44 pm
This control panel was fitted with dummy black slider (piano) switches


Oh wow, I didn't know this console featured casted piano switches :o
I thought they all had working finger grip sliders.

Love this forum. After seven years I still find something new ;D

cosmichobo02

They are push buttons and can seen to be used in the Daleks, after the Doctor dematerialises before removing the fluid link, he presses one which activates a light, when Susan shuffled off to the fault locator, also the Time Meddler was a educated guess as I know they were toggle switches in Master plan and don't get to see the console much due to missing stories etc etc

cosmichobo02

I personally will rewatch but I know a light the top right if I'm not mistaken illuminates for a brief moment as if a button is pressed not a switch.
CH

cosmichobo02

So just found the clip on YouTube and low and behold a light comes on then goes off and seeing his hand on those buttons, logic of Electronics it must have been a button.  Here's the link for people to judge for themselves https://youtu.be/f8lfHBdZ0tI

davidnagel

Aug 30, 2021, 01:37 pm #131 Last Edit: Aug 30, 2021, 01:39 pm by davidnagel
Prove me wrong but I think the meter that ended up being on top of the panel in Troughton's era, was always mounted from underneath. I've never seen a meter thats the shorter height, only those that are taller, so I wonder if they were all mounted from underneath the panel. The surrounding trim, just a precut ring etc.

meters.PNG

For a meter that they've just dumped on top, they went to a lot of effort to make it exactly like the original meter.

meters2.PNG

Presume this is one of the other meters thats falling into the console. The surround still in the same position. Makes me wonder if the reason we don't see this panel later on? is because they moved the fallen meter across to the other panel?
Regards
David

fivefingeredstyre

Aug 31, 2021, 06:18 am #132 Last Edit: Aug 31, 2021, 06:22 am by fivefingeredstyre
Quote from: davidnagel on Aug 30, 2021, 01:37 pmProve me wrong but I think the meter that ended up being on top of the panel in Troughton's era, was always mounted from underneath. I've never seen a meter thats the shorter height, only those that are taller, so I wonder if they were all mounted from underneath the panel. The surrounding trim, just a precut ring etc.

meters.PNG

For a meter that they've just dumped on top, they went to a lot of effort to make it exactly like the original meter.

meters2.PNG

Presume this is one of the other meters thats falling into the console. The surround still in the same position. Makes me wonder if the reason we don't see this panel later on? is because they moved the fallen meter across to the other panel?
They are panel meters, from memory they are always mounted from the underside or back when situated in real life. I bought a couple of the correct sized meters off of eBay a couple of years back. I'll dig them out when I get the chance and post some pictures.

One question I've always pondered was whether or not we ever saw the pointers moving in the series, or were they always static?

davidnagel

Aug 31, 2021, 08:59 am #133 Last Edit: Aug 31, 2021, 09:45 am by davidnagel
That'll be appreciated Steve.

But like I said, the larger piece in Troughton's era, I'm confident its one and the same meter. Why bother recreating the graphics inside the meter (I don't think it came like that?) to the finest detail if its a new one?

meters.PNG

Here's the same meter moved to another panel for "The Mind Robber", you can see its quite dirty/paint ruined around the spot it'd be mounted from under the console.

Meter_zpsjmus9yvb.jpg

And as we know, the panel from which this meter, the spot has only a wooden circle plate that would have held the meter in place.

mindrobber.PNG

25.jpg

Quote from: fivefingeredstyre on Aug 31, 2021, 06:18 amOne question I've always pondered was whether or not we ever saw the pointers moving in the series, or were they always static?

I do plan to bring a video together of the console through its tenure, literally video of it whenever it appeared on screen, if I see anything I'll report back!
Regards
David

fivefingeredstyre

Quote from: davidnagel on Aug 31, 2021, 08:59 amThat'll be appreciated Steve.

But like I said, the larger piece in Troughton's era, I'm confident its one and the same meter. Why bother recreating the graphics inside the meter (I don't think it came like that?) to the finest detail if its a new one?

meters.PNG

Here's the same meter moved to another panel for "The Mind Robber", you can see its quite dirty/paint ruined around the spot it'd be mounted from under the console.

Meter_zpsjmus9yvb.jpg

And as we know, the panel from which this meter, the spot has only a wooden circle plate that would have held the meter in place.

mindrobber.PNG

25.jpg
Not had a chance to dig the meters out yet, but i'm certain the fit from behind and are secured from the front by a surrounding bezel. its the same with old car speedometers.

In the mind robber pictures the meter is just sat on the console table. If its anything like the meters I have, there will be two connection rods that protrude from behind the back of the meter. Just a guess but they are probably poking through a speaker grill hole.

The console was in a terrible state from 68 onwards. You can see some of the smaller levers have been broken off. Its been bugging me for years as to what was actually wrong with the meter that they had to keep moving it around and in and out of its original placement in the last few years...