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Randomiser/door control

Started by Fardels Bear, Mar 14, 2012, 06:47 am

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Fardels Bear

A query about the lever with the big red ball on the Tom Baker console!

I was watching The Armageddon Factor again last night, and noticed that right at the end when the Doctor adds the randomiser to the console, it looks as though the thing to switch it on is the huge lever with red ball on the end which eventually becomes door control.  Have I got that right?
"Does he still have that rubbish beard?"

DoctorWho8

You are correct!  It actually wasn't the door control until Castrovalva.  Ironically the lever was removed with the old black one reinstated, I think in Destiny of the Daleks, then put back in later on in Season 17.  Or was that the flashy light box associated with it?
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

galacticprobe

Mar 14, 2012, 06:37 pm #2 Last Edit: Mar 14, 2012, 06:37 pm by galacticprobe
Didn't that lever briefly have a grey knob on it? The knob was about the same size as the red one, but a light grey.

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

DoctorWho8

Nope.  It was either the black rectangle ones or the red sphere.  Got a reference on what you were thinking?
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

Fardels Bear

Thanks for that.
Also noticed the Tardis prop was not looking too good in Armageddon - a couple of windows are broken.
"Does he still have that rubbish beard?"

galacticprobe

Mar 15, 2012, 02:32 pm #5 Last Edit: Mar 15, 2012, 02:41 pm by galacticprobe
Quote from: DoctorWho8 on Mar 14, 2012, 07:13 pm
Nope.  It was either the black rectangle ones or the red sphere.  Got a reference on what you were thinking?
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff


I think my reference is a slightly malfunctioning brain cell (or two - billion :P). After looking back through all of the reference photos, and a few I grabbed years ago from Google Images (before I found this great storehouse of knowledge), I think I may have been confusing it with this lever/knob (lower left corner of the photo):
Early80s15.JPG

I thought I saw the grey knob on the other lever in an episode, but I was probably wrong. (Too many levers with big rounds knobs on them, not enough brain cells!). My wife and I are always watching the Classic Series stories we have on DVD (as well as New Series ones), so as we go through the Tom Baker stories, if I just happen to catch that specific lever with a grey knob I'll get a screen grab and the title of the story and which episode it's in.

Until then I'll just write this one off as a confusion of levers on my part. (Hmm... maybe that's why my TARDIS never got me where I wanted to go! ;D)

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

DoctorWho8

Interesting to note, the panel in the front is one of the two that had a hole for the key to time tracer.  It now has a knob to fill in the hole.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

warmcanofcoke

Mar 19, 2012, 08:28 pm #7 Last Edit: Aug 09, 2012, 10:14 pm by Scarfwearer
103ArmageddonFactor0013.jpg

The Armageddon Factor : Randomiser

randomiser2.jpg

The Leisure Hive : Randomiser
why doesn't the Guide mention them? - Oh, it's not very accurate.
Oh? - I'm researching the new edition.

galacticprobe

Mar 20, 2012, 12:46 am #8 Last Edit: Mar 20, 2012, 12:47 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: DoctorWho8 on Mar 19, 2012, 03:11 pm
Interesting to note, the panel in the front is one of the two that had a hole for the key to time tracer.  It now has a knob to fill in the hole.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff


They did a similar thing with the Pertwee console and the extendable cubby for the Demat Circuit. After "The Three Doctors", when the Doctor got his new Demat Circuit and didn't need to fiddle with it anymore, that cubby became a large, empty hole that was eventually used for inserting the Time Tracker/Tracer in "The Time Monster".

TARDIS console philosophy: if there is a hole that's no longer needed for plugging something into, cover it with a knob; if there's a knob or something else that's no longer needed, turn it into a hole. ;D

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"