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What would be your perfect console room?

Started by zebaroth, Aug 18, 2008, 04:15 am

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expendable

Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am #45 Last Edit: Nov 27, 2014, 04:59 am by expendable
With the exception of the McGann Tardis, the console rooms have always seemed a little contradictory to me - Tardises were built to explore, capable of mapping not only the surface of a world but its entire timeline as well. And yet the console room itself is usually very minimal - a console, a time rotor as part of the console (season 14 being the exception), a viewscreen/scanner, and the roundels.

Hardly seems enough for mapping whole worlds, does it? But then the Tardis could always have created specialized mapping rooms just for that.

Still, I'd like to have a three-level console room, like the current layout but wider across. The console occupies the center platform in the middle of the room, with a walkway to the Real World Interface doors and stairs going up and down. The console is like the Tom Baker unit, with a time rotor that rotates inside it's cover as it rises up and down. Specialized roundels that can project holographic planets over The ceiling becomes a massive display.

The upper level is ringed with stations with wide display screens, like the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise-D, set into the walls. Two spiral staircases from the bottom allow access to the top without crossing the center platform.

Doors are on the bottom level or landings, as they are now, but with more lockers and drawers on the outer wall, including cases that pull out of recesses for tools and medical supplies. A food/beverage machine in a little relaxation area with seating and tables, shelves with books, and a large scale fabricator cabinet for producing specialized gear as needed.

Who knows? Perhaps something like that is one of the archived console rooms Idris mentioned, from before she and the Doctor ran off with each other?

Volpone

Well practically, the console room is wildly impractical for a dimensionally transcendental space-time ship.  Why would you have people come into the room you control the ship from?  Why does everyone hang out there?  It would be like when you're getting on a plane, instead of going left to the seats, hanging a right and just hunkering down in the cockpit to chat with the pilots.  There should be a hall for entry and maybe a reception area/lounge thing--kind of like the salon in Captain Nemo's Nautilus. 

But from the standpoint of doing a show about time travel with a finite budget, it is very practical.  You've got a place for everyone to stand around.  There are controls and monitors and sensors that show and tell you things to advance the plot and create dialog:  "Doctor?  What does that blinking red light mean?"  And it streamlines the story.  If you have more TARDIS rooms, you've got more sets to build and maintain.  You've got more complex shoots.  It makes things a lot harder and less effective. 

OK.  Back on topic.  I have a control room in my brain.  I haven't committed it to wood or paper or pixels yet, but I'd embrace the hexagon effect.  6 walled room.  4 of the walls slope at about 45 degrees out from the floor to midway, and then back in towards the ceiling.  So your cross-section is a flattened hexagon as well.  Not a real sharp angle, kind of rounded.  Then your roundels on the bottom, some of them can be seats and some can be sort of coffee tables.  For simplicity's sake, the wall with the door would be straight up and down instead of angled.  And across from it, on the other side of the console I'd put a viewscreen wall, like the 80s console room.  This would be an added purpose of providing an entryway to the rest of the TARDIS.  Unlike the outside door, the inside one would be forward of the sloping walls, so you could walk behind it on both ends--kind of like men's and women's restrooms or something.  I really need to come up with a sketch some time.
"My dear Litefoot, I've got a lantern and a pair of waders, and possibly the most fearsome piece of hand artillery in all England. What could possibly go wrong?"
-The Doctor.

galacticprobe

Nov 27, 2014, 02:27 pm #47 Last Edit: Nov 27, 2014, 02:36 pm by galacticprobe
Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
With the exception of the McGann Tardis, the console rooms have always seemed a little contradictory to me - Tardises were built to explore, capable of mapping not only the surface of a world but its entire timeline as well. And yet the console room itself is usually very minimal - a console, a time rotor as part of the console (season 14 being the exception), a viewscreen/scanner, and the roundels.

Hardly seems enough for mapping whole worlds, does it?

Don't forget: in spite of what RTD had the 10th Doctor say about the TARDIS in "Journey's End", the original intent when Brachacki designed the original back in 1963 - and which held true for most people until "Journey's End" - was for the TARDIS to be able to be piloted by ONE person, which is why he designed the console as he did. So the console is quite practical (from both "practical" and budgetary viewpoints).

Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
But then the Tardis could always have created specialized mapping rooms just for that.

No doubt. If you can jettison and recreate swimming pools and bedrooms, then why not specialized rooms as well?

Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
Still, I'd like to have a three-level console room, like the current layout but wider across. The console occupies the center platform in the middle of the room, with a walkway to the Real World Interface doors and stairs going up and down.

This could end up being a lot like Engineering on the original U.S.S. Enterprise: lots of wasted space. Look at the 2010 console room; it looked really cool, but there was a lot of wasted space. The Classic Series and 2005 console rooms (even the War Doctor's console room) were more space-efficient than the 2010 console room was. Sure, all of the New Series rooms give you a lower area to fiddle with the workings under the console, and the catwalk in the 2013/14 room does have things on it (bookshelves, etc.), and now the whirligig is cool to watch, but it's not shown all that much, and you've got a high ceiling of emptiness (or wasted space).

Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
The console is like the Tom Baker unit, with a time rotor that rotates inside it's cover as it rises up and down.

I think you might be mixing the Hartnell (which had the column's internals rotate), with the Tom Baker one (which had no rotating bits inside it), though it would be nice to have merged the two so the Later Tom Baker console did have a Hartnell rotor (with some color to the lights, rather than plain white like the Hartnell).

Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
Specialized roundels that can project holographic planets over The ceiling becomes a massive display.

Kind of hard to follow this one (the way it's written), but I think I get what you're thinking of. That is a cool idea.

Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
The upper level is ringed with stations with wide display screens, like the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise-D, set into the walls. Two spiral staircases from the bottom allow access to the top without crossing the center platform.

I think that would be a little too complicated - you're talking more along the lines of either a starship rather than a TARDIS, or drifting towards the Peter Cushing console room (more of the second Cushing movie than the first). This would take attention away from the console, which is supposed to be the focal point of the console room (which may by one of the reasons why they did away with that huge "Fault Locator" wall).

Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
Doors are on the bottom level or landings, as they are now, but with more lockers and drawers on the outer wall, including cases that pull out of recesses for tools and medical supplies. A food/beverage machine in a little relaxation area with seating and tables, shelves with books, and a large scale fabricator cabinet for producing specialized gear as needed.

Sort of like a combination of the early Hartnell equipment and the "pull out" bed that was in one of the Pertwee console rooms. Only rather than lockers cluttering up the place, things like medical stuff could be inside roundels (like in Davison's "Castrovalva").

Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
Who knows? Perhaps something like that is one of the archived console rooms Idris mentioned, from before she and the Doctor ran off with each other?

Well, according to the Idris/TARDIS, she had console rooms archived that the Doctor hadn't created yet, so <pun coming> Who knows? ;D

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

expendable

Quote from: volpone on Nov 27, 2014, 07:06 am
Well practically, the console room is wildly impractical for a dimensionally transcendental space-time ship.  Why would you have people come into the room you control the ship from?  Why does everyone hang out there?  It would be like when you're getting on a plane, instead of going left to the seats, hanging a right and just hunkering down in the cockpit to chat with the pilots.  There should be a hall for entry and maybe a reception area/lounge thing--kind of like the salon in Captain Nemo's Nautilus. 


If this was a cruise ship, having passengers come through the control room would be completely wrong, a nightmare for security and safety of the ship definitely. However, the Tardis is a scientific ship with a few safeguards, including isomorphic security preventing anyone but a time lord from being able to work the controls and the State of Temporal Grace circuits that prevents weapons from working in the Console room, the Time Lords can be forgiven a little arrogance in keeping the main door in and out of the Tardis here.

Quote from: volpone on Nov 27, 2014, 07:06 amBut from the standpoint of doing a show about time travel with a finite budget, it is very practical.  You've got a place for everyone to stand around.  There are controls and monitors and sensors that show and tell you things to advance the plot and create dialog:  "Doctor?  What does that blinking red light mean?"  And it streamlines the story.  If you have more TARDIS rooms, you've got more sets to build and maintain.  You've got more complex shoots.  It makes things a lot harder and less effective. 


Agreed, very practical. It's cheaper to suggest rooms than to build sets that get maybe one use.

Quote from: volpone on Nov 27, 2014, 07:06 amOK.  Back on topic.  I have a control room in my brain.  I haven't committed it to wood or paper or pixels yet, but I'd embrace the hexagon effect.  6 walled room.  4 of the walls slope at about 45 degrees out from the floor to midway, and then back in towards the ceiling.  So your cross-section is a flattened hexagon as well.  Not a real sharp angle, kind of rounded.  Then your roundels on the bottom, some of them can be seats and some can be sort of coffee tables.  For simplicity's sake, the wall with the door would be straight up and down instead of angled.  And across from it, on the other side of the console I'd put a viewscreen wall, like the 80s console room.  This would be an added purpose of providing an entryway to the rest of the TARDIS.  Unlike the outside door, the inside one would be forward of the sloping walls, so you could walk behind it on both ends--kind of like men's and women's restrooms or something.  I really need to come up with a sketch some time.


Would be interesting to see, yes!

Quote from: galacticprobe on Nov 27, 2014, 02:27 pm
Don't forget: in spite of what RTD had the 10th Doctor say about the TARDIS in "Journey's End", the original intent when Brachacki designed the original back in 1963 - and which held true for most people until "Journey's End" - was for the TARDIS to be able to be piloted by ONE person, which is why he designed the console as he did. So the console is quite practical (from both "practical" and budgetary viewpoints).
Yes, agreed!

Quote from: galacticprobe on Nov 27, 2014, 02:27 pm
This could end up being a lot like Engineering on the original U.S.S. Enterprise: lots of wasted space. Look at the 2010 console room; it looked really cool, but there was a lot of wasted space. The Classic Series and 2005 console rooms (even the War Doctor's console room) were more space-efficient than the 2010 console room was. Sure, all of the New Series rooms give you a lower area to fiddle with the workings under the console, and the catwalk in the 2013/14 room does have things on it (bookshelves, etc.), and now the whirligig is cool to watch, but it's not shown all that much, and you've got a high ceiling of emptiness (or wasted space).

Before the bookcases were put up there, the catwalk was wasted space. But the console room is the center of operations in a TARDIS, so anything that directly affects ships operations, say exploring worlds, means having some way of communicating your needs to the people flying. So instead of bookcases, you have consoles like you'd find on the bridges of the Enterprise.

Quote from: galacticprobe on Nov 27, 2014, 02:27 pm
Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
Specialized roundels that can project holographic planets over The ceiling becomes a massive display.

Kind of hard to follow this one (the way it's written), but I think I get what you're thinking of. That is a cool idea.
Sorry, that got away from me for a bit. I was thinking of some sort of holographic display that would appear over the time rotor to allow anyone operating the ship to effectively pilot to a point on a planet or ship, then have the ceiling acting as a massive display for showing off more details.But then a holographic display would wreak havoc on the budget.

Quote from: galacticprobe on Nov 27, 2014, 02:27 pm
I think that would be a little too complicated - you're talking more along the lines of either a starship rather than a TARDIS, or drifting towards the Peter Cushing console room (more of the second Cushing movie than the first). This would take attention away from the console, which is supposed to be the focal point of the console room (which may by one of the reasons why they did away with that huge "Fault Locator" wall).
Well, the TARDIS is  space/time ship. It would be more complicated but like I said above, fit better as a ship going exploring.

Quote from: galacticprobe on Nov 27, 2014, 02:27 pm
Sort of like a combination of the early Hartnell equipment and the "pull out" bed that was in one of the Pertwee console rooms. Only rather than lockers cluttering up the place, things like medical stuff could be inside roundels (like in Davison's "Castrovalva").
Yes.

Quote from: galacticprobe on Nov 27, 2014, 02:27 pm
Well, according to the Idris/TARDIS, she had console rooms archived that the Doctor hadn't created yet, so <pun coming> Who knows? ;D

Dino.


>.<; indeed, heh.

galacticprobe

Nov 28, 2014, 07:35 am #49 Last Edit: Nov 28, 2014, 07:59 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: expendable on Nov 28, 2014, 05:33 am
If this was a cruise ship, having passengers come through the control room would be completely wrong, a nightmare for security and safety of the ship definitely. However, the Tardis is a scientific ship with a few safeguards, including isomorphic security preventing anyone but a time lord from being able to work the controls and the State of Temporal Grace circuits that prevents weapons from working in the Console room, the Time Lords can be forgiven a little arrogance in keeping the main door in and out of the Tardis here.

Now you're getting back to the show's roots! (Something that's desperately needed!) In "The Web Planet", the Zarbi were zapped by the TARDIS force field when they tried to follow the Doctor in (and the 1st Doctor took much glee at their discomfort). Also, I think it was stated in Troughton's final story, "The War Games", that Timelords were supposed to use their TARDISes for "observing and data-gathering only, not interfering", so there was never the intent for people other than Timelords to enter a TARDIS, so having the console room where it is, near the main entrance, is practical (especially if you need to take off in a hurry; you wouldn't want to have to make a 5-minute or longer journey though the TARDIS just to get to the Demat Lever when danger is lurking or following you closely: think the lava flow at the end of "The Mind Robber").

The "Temporal Grace" circuit started malfunctioning in the Classic Series, as Nyssa mentioned in "Arc of Infinity":
(After repairing the scanner's audio link);
Nyssa: "Doctor? There are many other repairs to do."
The Doctor: "Well, there's nothing urgent, is there?"
Nyssa: "The navigational system? That must be faulty. We never seem to arrive where we intend."
The Doctor: "No. Well, you see, ever since the Cybermen damaged the console..."
Nyssa: "And that's another thing. The Tardis used to be in a state of temporal grace, you said. Guns couldn't be fired."
The Doctor: "Yes. Well, nobody's perfect." (Then he dashes out of the console room with Nyssa hot on his heels.)


That's the one thing they really need to do: get back closer to the show's roots: the Temporal Grace that worked fine prior to the 5th Doctor; the "Metabolism Detector" on the lock (3rd Doctor in "Spearheads from Space") that would only allow the Doctor or his designated companions to successfully turn the key in the lock; ditto with the force fiend that would zap anyone other than the Doctor or his companions that tried to enter of the door was open... Make the TARDIS a "TARDIS" again, and not a pleasure craft for anyone that wants a joyride.

Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
Specialized roundels that can project holographic planets over The ceiling becomes a massive display.

Quote from: galacticprobe on Nov 27, 2014, 02:27 pm
Kind of hard to follow this one (the way it's written), but I think I get what you're thinking of. That is a cool idea.

Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
Sorry, that got away from me for a bit.

Wibbly-wobbly... nerdy-wordy... stuff? ;)

Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
I was thinking of some sort of holographic display that would appear over the time rotor to allow anyone operating the ship to effectively pilot to a point on a planet or ship, then have the ceiling acting as a massive display for showing off more details.But then a holographic display would wreak havoc on the budget.

Ah, now I get it - sort of like the ceiling in the console room from the 1996 TVM. That would be good for "rough course plotting". The "Fine plotting" would need to be done on a smaller screen, especially as you're closing in on the landing site. Trying to all that on a huge, planetarium-like holographic ceiling would make one motion sick! :P

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

asimov

Nov 28, 2014, 03:07 pm #50 Last Edit: Nov 28, 2014, 03:08 pm by asimov
Hi all,

Going to throw another spanner in here. I have just been thinking why the TARDIS doesn't have big screens and never has had. I believe partly this is due to the BBC budget, and the fact that all Time Lords are telepathic and have an empathy with the TARDIS they travel in, perhaps screens are not really important.

You see when you see the Doctor turning things on the console quite manically at times, and pushing buttons, I figure this is just to impress his companions.

I have a feeling that most Time Lords could actually pilot a TARDIS on thought alone.

This has been shown in a few stories when the Doctor seems to have control over the TARDIS even when he is just close. For instance I remember him closing the doors of the TARDIS once without even touching the console.

Perhaps the console room does not really exist, and it is just the construct in the human mind that enters it. This would answer why it changes a lot. Or you could just go with the normal theory that the TARDIS can be re-configured. I do like my second theory though.
------------------------------------------------------
Asimov

expendable

Quote from: galacticprobe on Nov 28, 2014, 07:35 am
That's the one thing they really need to do: get back closer to the show's roots: the Temporal Grace that worked fine prior to the 5th Doctor; the "Metabolism Detector" on the lock (3rd Doctor in "Spearheads from Space") that would only allow the Doctor or his designated companions to successfully turn the key in the lock; ditto with the force fiend that would zap anyone other than the Doctor or his companions that tried to enter of the door was open... Make the TARDIS a "TARDIS" again, and not a pleasure craft for anyone that wants a joyride.


[Gunshot. Time rotor column with a bullet hole in is expelling a jet of compressed white smoke]

The Doctor: You shot it! You shot my TARDIS! You shot the console!
Mels: It's your fault!
The Doctor: Aaah! How is it my fault?
Mels: You said guns didn't work in this place! You said, "We're in a state of temporal grace"!
The Doctor: Oh, that was a clever lie, you idiot! Anyone could tell that was a *clever lie*!

(Doctor Who - S06E08 - Let's Kill Hitler)

There's no place for the Doctor to take the Tardis for a complete overhaul, so most of his attention is keeping the ship operational. Systems like Temporal Grace, entrance force field and metabolic detector are not as important so must wait to be repaired. (Although how did Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton get inside?)

And besides, it's fun to watch people taking in the impossible Tardis interior the first time.

Quote from: galacticprobe on Nov 28, 2014, 07:35 am
Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
I was thinking of some sort of holographic display that would appear over the time rotor to allow anyone operating the ship to effectively pilot to a point on a planet or ship, then have the ceiling acting as a massive display for showing off more details.But then a holographic display would wreak havoc on the budget.

Ah, now I get it - sort of like the ceiling in the console room from the 1996 TVM. That would be good for "rough course plotting". The "Fine plotting" would need to be done on a smaller screen, especially as you're closing in on the landing site. Trying to all that on a huge, planetarium-like holographic ceiling would make one motion sick! :P

Dino.


Overhead display for panoramic views, then a hidden holographic projector that forms images just over the time rotor to allow the operators to see where they're going without turning around, although in my models I usually make sure the piloting station has a direct view of the main view screen.

hologram_earth.jpg

Quote from: asimov on Nov 28, 2014, 03:07 pm
Hi all,

Going to throw another spanner in here. I have just been thinking why the TARDIS doesn't have big screens and never has had. I believe partly this is due to the BBC budget, and the fact that all Time Lords are telepathic and have an empathy with the TARDIS they travel in, perhaps screens are not really important.
After the initial imprinting, any Time Lord can pilot a TARDIS, perhaps a bit clumsily, but for best effect they're linked to the TARDIS directly. So I agree with you, under normal circumstances, screens are probably not as important and are kept merely for those circumstances where an unlinked operator must navigate the TARDIS.

Quote from: asimov on Nov 28, 2014, 03:07 pmPerhaps the console room does not really exist, and it is just the construct in the human mind that enters it. This would answer why it changes a lot. Or you could just go with the normal theory that the TARDIS can be re-configured. I do like my second theory though.

The console is a critical component containing the essential circuits for ship operations, while the secondary console contains the fuses. When the console is upgraded, it upgrades the ship, so I'd have to say the console rooms do exist, if merely a very specialized component of the Pedestrian Infrastructure. And I love the idea that the Tardis can dynamically reconfigure itself, adding and removing rooms as needed, even allowing the console rooms to swap. That there's a string of console rooms archived off the main schematic is just fun.

galacticprobe

Nov 29, 2014, 10:07 am #52 Last Edit: Nov 29, 2014, 10:11 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: expendable on Nov 28, 2014, 08:40 pm
[Gunshot. Time rotor column with a bullet hole in is expelling a jet of compressed white smoke]

The Doctor: You shot it! You shot my TARDIS! You shot the console!
Mels: It's your fault!
The Doctor: Aaah! How is it my fault?
Mels: You said guns didn't work in this place! You said, "We're in a state of temporal grace"!
The Doctor: Oh, that was a clever lie, you idiot! Anyone could tell that was a *clever lie*!

(Doctor Who - S06E08 - Let's Kill Hitler)

I chalk that off to another case of bad writing on Moffat's part. (He seems to have gotten hung up a bit on that whole "Rule 1-The Doctor lies" a little too much at times, and this is one of them. The Doctor's correct response should have been something like "Oh, that was a clever lie, you idiot, because that circuit hasn't worked for centuries! I really should get round to fixing it!")

Quote from: expendable on Nov 28, 2014, 08:40 pm
There's no place for the Doctor to take the Tardis for a complete overhaul, so most of his attention is keeping the ship operational. Systems like Temporal Grace, entrance force field and metabolic detector are not as important so must wait to be repaired.

Agreed there!

Quote from: expendable on Nov 28, 2014, 08:40 pm
(Although how did Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton get inside?)

It could have had something to do with Susan and the affection she had for Ian and Barbara. (That's one we'll never know, other than the fact that it was the first episode, and the full capabilities of the TARDIS hadn't been 'thought of' yet.) And the same question could be asked how Steven stumbled into the TARDIS at the end of "The Chase", or how Dodo, Sarah Jane, Tegan (and others) snuck in to become stowaways. As with other TARDIS systems, I'm guessing at that time, the circuit was becoming intermittent (or the TARDIS was acting on her own - she in sentient, after all), and at some point the circuit finally failed.

Quote from: expendable on Nov 28, 2014, 08:40 pm
And besides, it's fun to watch people taking in the impossible Tardis interior the first time.

Oh, agreed, especially when Victorian Clara said "It's smaller on the outside", and the look on the Doctor's face was priceless. But that could still be achieved; all the Doctor has to do is (probably) 'think' that it's okay for people to get in and the TARDIS telepathic circuits adjust the force field accordingly.

Quote from: expendable on Nov 27, 2014, 04:57 am
Overhead display for panoramic views, then a hidden holographic projector that forms images just over the time rotor to allow the operators to see where they're going without turning around, although in my models I usually make sure the piloting station has a direct view of the main view screen.

Okay. I have it now. (That last explanation was a good one!)

Quote from: asimov on Nov 28, 2014, 03:07 pm
Going to throw another spanner in here. I have just been thinking why the TARDIS doesn't have big screens and never has had.

Well, there was always a "decent" sized "TV-type" screen in the console room from Season 1 through Season 11. Season 12 never saw the console room, and Season 13 was so sparse - not even decent roundels - that is was the only Classic Series room that never had any sort of monitor in it. However, from Season 14 on it always had a large wall monitor screen. That only went away in the 1996 TVM and the 2005 console room. A nice large round one came in with the 2010 console room, and having it nestled into a huge roundel was clever, and it looked good. I don't know why they got rid of it again with that 2013 console room.

Quote from: asimov on Nov 28, 2014, 03:07 pm
I believe partly this is due to the BBC budget,..

See above. ;)

Quote from: asimov on Nov 28, 2014, 03:07 pm
...and the fact that all Time Lords are telepathic and have an empathy with the TARDIS they travel in, perhaps screens are not really important.

Quote from: expendable on Nov 28, 2014, 08:40 pm
After the initial imprinting, any Time Lord can pilot a TARDIS, perhaps a bit clumsily, but for best effect they're linked to the TARDIS directly. So I agree with you, under normal circumstances, screens are probably not as important and are kept merely for those circumstances where an unlinked operator must navigate the TARDIS.

Now it's getting waaaaay too complicated! (And too far into speculation as to how things work rather than what it would look like, which I think was the original idea to this thread.)

Quote from: asimov on Nov 28, 2014, 03:07 pm
Perhaps the console room does not really exist, and it is just the construct in the human mind that enters it. This would answer why it changes a lot. Or you could just go with the normal theory that the TARDIS can be re-configured. I do like my second theory though.

Quote from: expendable on Nov 28, 2014, 08:40 pm
The console is a critical component containing the essential circuits for ship operations, while the secondary console contains the fuses. When the console is upgraded, it upgrades the ship, so I'd have to say the console rooms do exist, if merely a very specialized component of the Pedestrian Infrastructure. And I love the idea that the Tardis can dynamically reconfigure itself, adding and removing rooms as needed, even allowing the console rooms to swap. That there's a string of console rooms archived off the main schematic is just fun.

Agreed, expendable! And well said!

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

asimov

Nov 29, 2014, 02:32 pm #53 Last Edit: Nov 29, 2014, 02:35 pm by asimov
Hi all,

Just had another thought why the early console rooms were smaller(apart from budget).

If you were on your own in the TARDIS and you could configure the rooms as you wanted, why would you make it so that you have walk up a flight of stairs to the console. Why would you make the room sooooooo big that you had to walk a mile to the console.

No you would configure it small, so as soon as you got through the door and you could take off immediately. Even in the old TARDIS layouts there were massive huge rooms in the TARDIS, but the console room was always small.

Perhaps if there was a crew of one in the TARDIS the timelord would configure the room small so it could be operated by one Timelord.
There may have been TARDISes which were operated by a whole crew and these would have a larger console room.

I also suspect that while the TARDIS was in flight that the console room would not be used as such. Hence the lack of chairs.
So the Timelords would spend a lot of time in other rooms where they would be more comfortable while the TARDIS was in flight.

We always assume that the TARDIS dematerialies and then rematerialises in another place in an instant, but I believe some journeys would take longer than other journeys, and obviously they would not show this in a 45 minute show.
------------------------------------------------------
Asimov

The14thDr

Quote from: asimov on Nov 29, 2014, 02:32 pm
We always assume that the TARDIS dematerialies and then rematerialises in another place in an instant, but I believe some journeys would take longer than other journeys, and obviously they would not show this in a 45 minute show.

I can't remember where, but I definitely remember reading that in one of the classic episodes, they mentioned that the further away from modern-day Gallifrey you flew, the longer a journey took.

Also, I can never really subscribe to the idea that a TARDIS was meant to be flown by six pilots, especially when you picture some of the classic era consoles. But when you think about some of the more recent consoles, such as the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor's TARDISes, I suppose you could picture two (maybe three at a push) Time Lords flying the TARDIS. That would leave two to three panels per pilot. Six is just overkill.

That said, I would like to update my plans for my dream TARDIS interior. I would go for a nice technical console that combines the 2013 and Five Doctors consoles into one. As much as I love the 2010 console, it doesn't scream "look at me, I'm a time machine" as much as some of the other interiors have. The same goes for the 2005 console. Having said that, though, I think I'd keep the ribs that go in between each panel, although I'd make them more machine-like and less organic (like on the concept art).
Secondly, I'd like to have a 2014-style console room that has both a functional and a homely feel to it. After all, the TARDIS is as much a house as it a time machine. I'd keep the bookshelves and the blackboards that line the walkways, as well as that big comfy arm chair. For the scanners, I would have one mounted on the console (similar to the Five Doctor's console), two mounted on the base of the time rotor and one big one mounted into the wall next to the doors. Who knows, maybe I'll eventually get around to making a model on SketchUp?

Kind regards, The14thDr :D
"Would you like a jelly baby?"

expendable

Nov 30, 2014, 04:13 am #55 Last Edit: Nov 30, 2014, 04:16 am by expendable
Quote from: galacticprobe on Nov 29, 2014, 10:07 am
Agreed, expendable! And well said!

Dino.

Thank you!

Quote from: asimov on Nov 29, 2014, 02:32 pm
Hi all,

Just had another thought why the early console rooms were smaller(apart from budget).

If you were on your own in the TARDIS and you could configure the rooms as you wanted, why would you make it so that you have walk up a flight of stairs to the console. Why would you make the room sooooooo big that you had to walk a mile to the console.

No you would configure it small, so as soon as you got through the door and you could take off immediately. Even in the old TARDIS layouts there were massive huge rooms in the TARDIS, but the console room was always small.

Perhaps if there was a crew of one in the TARDIS the timelord would configure the room small so it could be operated by one Timelord.
There may have been TARDISes which were operated by a whole crew and these would have a larger console room.
Agreed. One pilot, keep the room small and simple.

Quote from: The14thDr on Nov 29, 2014, 05:34 pm
Also, I can never really subscribe to the idea that a TARDIS was meant to be flown by six pilots, especially when you picture some of the classic era consoles. But when you think about some of the more recent consoles, such as the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor's TARDISes, I suppose you could picture two (maybe three at a push) Time Lords flying the TARDIS. That would leave two to three panels per pilot. Six is just overkill.
Probably you only need all six pilots for a bit of critical flying. The rest of the time, you have one or two manning the console in flight while the others, while not requiring much in the way of sleep, can be off doing something else until it's their turn to man the console room.

Quote from: The14thDr on Nov 29, 2014, 05:34 pmThat said, I would like to update my plans for my dream TARDIS interior. I would go for a nice technical console that combines the 2013 and Five Doctors consoles into one. As much as I love the 2010 console, it doesn't scream "look at me, I'm a time machine" as much as some of the other interiors have. The same goes for the 2005 console. Having said that, though, I think I'd keep the ribs that go in between each panel, although I'd make them more machine-like and less organic (like on the concept art).
Secondly, I'd like to have a 2014-style console room that has both a functional and a homely feel to it. After all, the TARDIS is as much a house as it a time machine. I'd keep the bookshelves and the blackboards that line the walkways, as well as that big comfy arm chair. For the scanners, I would have one mounted on the console (similar to the Five Doctor's console), two mounted on the base of the time rotor and one big one mounted into the wall next to the doors. Who knows, maybe I'll eventually get around to making a model on SketchUp?

Kind regards, The14thDr :D
Wonderful room you've described! Would love to see it if you do make a model!

galacticprobe

Nov 30, 2014, 10:02 am #56 Last Edit: Nov 30, 2014, 10:18 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: asimov on Nov 29, 2014, 02:32 pm
Just had another thought why the early console rooms were smaller(apart from budget).

If you were on your own in the TARDIS and you could configure the rooms as you wanted, why would you make it so that you have walk up a flight of stairs to the console. Why would you make the room sooooooo big that you had to walk a mile to the console.

No you would configure it small, so as soon as you got through the door and you could take off immediately. Even in the old TARDIS layouts there were massive huge rooms in the TARDIS, but the console room was always small.


Actually, at the start of the Series the console room was rather spacious. It started getting smaller as the Hartnell years wore on, and even smaller as the Troughton years wore on. Then from the Pertwee era up until the late Tom Baker era, the room sort of "undulated" in size, sometimes being a little bigger than others. In fact, in "The Invasion of Time", at one point the room was so small that there was barely enough room between the console and the scanner wall for Leela's hips to slide through; at the start of that story the room was very small, but later in the story (Part 5 on) it got a little larger. Then from the late Tom Baker years (Season 18) on, the room stabilized and was pretty much the same size (give or take a few feet) until "The Five Doctors" console room design, which was pretty well standard in size until the end of the McCoy TV era.

I think the reason for that was because unlike the New Series, the Classic Series shared a studio with other shows, and the 'Doctor Who' sets were broken down and put back up as needed when filming. That's why some of the consoles, and the rooms' walls, were "warped in storage". They didn't have a dedicated studio for the series like they do now. So each time the set was re-assembled it looked a little different than it had the time before (sometimes even in the same story).

I suppose back then, that after a while of doing this (going into 7 years of production by the time Pertwee took over the role) it became a pain to set up such a huge set for a filming day, and then having to tear it all down at the end of the day so other shows could use the studio. So the producers/designers gave us that big gap in Season 7 (Pertwee's first) with no console room. This would give viewers a chance to forget what the room looked like so the production team could start shrinking the room down. They did this again in Season 12 (Tom Baker's first); we never saw the console room again until the start of Season 13 when we had the even smaller room than what Pertwee worked with. Season 14 gave is a really small room, with a smaller console (which was pretty well set and never changed size-wise), but it gave viewers a chance to forget what the main room looked like. Then in Season 15 we saw a redesigned main console room that expanded or shrank through to Season 18 depending on how much room was available. Then we finally got to the 'stabilized' sized room we had from "The Five Doctors" onwards. But in the beginning, the console room was always rather large.

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

jmyprime

Hello there! Long time lurker, first time poster!

For the last two years or so, I have been almost unbearably bored. So, I've filled in quite a lot of time pondering what my perfect TARDIS Console Room would look like.

I've always been partial to Art Deco; as an art style, an architecture style and a decor scheme. I would very much like to live in a home either already decked out in AD or one I could soon decorate myself. In my spare time, I've constructed in my imagination my very own Console Room with Console in a mix of 1920s Art Deco, many classic DW elements (like roundels, some columns here and there and various mixtures of control panel elements) and just a little dash of steampunk. Example: the bottom edge of the control console would be a huge clock gear, with one or two slightly smaller ones collaring the time rotor. But the overall architectural effect I'm going for is what I only recently found out is called Decopunk.

As for the rotor, it would extend from the console straight up to the ceiling. Without much training in construction or electronics, I can only imagine how it would be built to not only rotate back and forth but also cycle up and down to meet in the middle as well. In my head, it's incredibly impressive! The time rotor itself would be based upon a very expensive German industrial chandelier lamp, and sort of seque into an adaptation of the current TARDIS rotor. The area where the rotor meets the ceiling would be pure Jules Verne; an umbrella-like canopy based upon the George Pal version of The Time Machine with those cool Gallifreyan sigils all over it.

The entire space would also be a fully-functional room, fit for dwelling. There would be at least a comfy couch and a couple of chairs, a tea service, large-screen TV, sound system, climate control and adjustable lighting. The console itself would be the remote control! Aside from the expected TARDIS lights and sound effects, there would be inset controls for choosing and playing music, changing TV channels and inputs, internet/wifi capability, webcam, the works!

To provide at least the illusion of near-infinite space, I would employ clever lighting and design tricks to force a false sense of perspective. Some examples include deceptively painted fake corridors, gangway hatches, partial staircases and carefully scaled roundel patterns. I've even spent hours collecting Google images I'm more than happy to post to illustrate some of my concepts!

I've been blown away by all of the finished consoles I've seen here; my current particular favorites are Spannt's Computer Desk console, and the amazing work of Jaranelo. Actually seeing these things imagined, planned and completed has been a source of profound encouragement. All that's really stopping me is lack of money, time and workspace. But that won't be the case forever, and I'm itching to get started!

galacticprobe

Jan 05, 2015, 09:46 am #58 Last Edit: Jan 05, 2015, 09:46 am by galacticprobe
Well, welcome out of "Lurk Mode", jmyprime. Those are some interesting concepts you've got there!

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

noahfischel

Something futuristic with a lot of levers and switches and buttons. Think of the Smith-Capaldi console, but with even more levers and switches. And I like the big view screen from the first Smith console. Also, I really like the gear panel as well from the Smith-Capaldi console.

I'm a very physical sort of person, so if I were piloting a TARDIS, I'd be running around more than the Eleventh Doctor just playing with controls and what not.
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes." - Fourth

"I will not forget one line of this... Not one day... I swear..." - Eleventh

"No one like the tangerines." - Twelfth