Does anyone know when the Ankh door key and lock first appeared on the Brachacki prop?
The earliest pic I've found was from the last Pertwee story 'Planet Of The Spiders'.



Also on looking closer at some stills from 'Robot' it looks like the lock slot to take this key was already in place - the yale lock below has been painted over...


...but without the silver cover plate when seen in the 'Android Invasion'

Quote from: exilea board=newbury thread=1196529224 post=1206465476I'm sure they could adjust the resistance of the latch to accommodate a pewter wafer key  .

Well... I dunno... just look how thin the part is that sticks through the gap of the door...

I reckon Purp is right, they didn't bother... no need really!

-Marc

Yeah, they added the "slit" at the end the Pertwee's season.  And yes, they added the silver face in Android Invasion after the prop was repainted.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

thanks for the info!

The key and lock were in existence at least at the start of Pertwee's last season. I can't find a clear picture of the lock slot but here are a couple of screen caps of him opening the TARDIS in Part 1 of Time Warrior:



The position of his hand shows that the lock slot was there, even if it's not visible.

jona

I stand corrected.  They added it at the beginning of Jon Pertwee's last season.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

Although nothing to do with the Brachacki prop, I do like the way that the Yale lock and key slot idea was combined for the 96 TV movie.  Best of both worlds you might say.

Just a question,
was it an actual lock? was it a real functioning lock?
I mean, would you put this "Ankh" key in the "slot", turn it and the door would open? Or was it just for looks?

Aaron

if it was a lock, it wouldn't be much good (in real life)  You could open it with a butter knife.  As for the actual Brachacki prop, I don't know.

They managed to make a custom lock for the 1996 TV Movie.  There's some closeup caps of it somewhere.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

I've understood that a key made of pewter (as the replicas are) would be useless in a lock like that, because the torque of turning it in the lock would just bend it out of shape...

But in principle, a normal lock mechanism would work, you would just need to attach some sort of receptacle for the spade to fit into to turn the latch.

Mr Blancmonge... do you know what the original key(s) was/were made of?

-Marc

I know the original was pretty soft and later replicas of this was made an an equally soft metal, so I guess it really was something like pewter.  As to Aaron's question, no it wasn't a real lock on the BBC prop - just a slot, but the TVM did have what appeared to be some form of movement - whether this was a lock is debatable.

Quote from: purpleblancmange board=newbury thread=1196529224 post=1206451161I know the original was pretty soft and later replicas of this was made an an equally soft metal, so I guess it really was something like pewter.  As to Aaron's question, no it wasn't a real lock on the BBC prop - just a slot, but the TVM did have what appeared to be some form of movement - whether this was a lock is debatable.

Well that all tallies then. Just a hole, a real lock would have totally buggered a pewter key...

-Marc

Quote from: rassilonsrod board=newbury thread=1196529224 post=1206455374

Well that all tallies then. Just a hole, a real lock would have totally buggered a pewter key...

-Marc

I used to have one of those pewter replicas. I'm fairly confident they would be able to hold up to turning a knob-like mechanism. I imagine the TVM lock was more or less designed like a doorknob, but had a slot for the key instead of the knob pin. So yeah, it could be opened with a butter knife in real life if need be 

My pewter key has been bent by just living in my wallet.

Door latch mechanisms are pretty tough mechanisms... ever tried turning one with your fingers?

-Marc