Please don't ask me where I got this from, but the central column definitely had a seam:


And don't forget the picture posted in this thread:

another few pics of the console...

Yet another example of an expensive prop being damaged by poor handling - the column innards are in a very poor state of repair and this console was still comparatively new when this photo of Davison et al was taken!

Well, it's not like today where we've got a dedicated studio for the Console Room set. Back in the Classic years, that studio was shared with other productions, and at the end of the 'Doctor Who' filming day, the Console Room set was "broken down" and set aside to make room for those other productions' sets... and the next day the 'Doctor Who' sets were re-assembled. So there was a lot of manhandling of the console prop, and it was no doubt done by stagehands that wanted to get it done quickly, so they didn't "Handle With Care". It also explains why the console and its panels appeared in different positions, sometimes during the same story.

Even when they moved studios in the New Series, the 2005 console's panels and some controls were relocated when things were re-assembled in the new studio. (Those were early days of the New Series and probably no one thought to make a "road map" of the console and controls before they broke things down for the move, so they didn't know exactly where every piece was supposed to go when they re-assembled it.) But now, with the dedicated studios for 'Doctor Who' sets, and most likely dedicated prop-handlers, I think more care is taken when it comes to the console (and the TARDIS prop).

Dino.

I'm wondering if the central crystally bit was actually quite brittle in its construction. Maybe Mark can answer that next time he's around?

The Davison picture looks like some sort of publicity shot as they are all staring at the camera.

Oddly though, the monitors are both displaying a nice screen saver of the roundels. Don''t think I've seen them showing that or any other live feeds before. Usually its either text (BASIC programme script probably) or wire frame graphics.

It looks like both of Jonathan's images are publicity photos as all of the actors in both photos are looking straight into the camera. As for the images on the console monitors in the Davison photo, a monitor is a monitor; it will take any video signal you feed it and display it. So all someone would have needed to do was hook up a camera video feed to the monitors' inputs, aim the camera at a wall, and BINGO! You've got images of the roundel walls on the monitors for a nice publicity photo (oddly a B&W photo, but still a nice one).

They could have aimed the camera at anything and had it display on the monitors, which makes it seem even odder that someone would have just aimed it at a wall for a publicity photo.

Dino.

The computers were Acorn BBC model B's I beleive. I had the computer myself back in the day, and was cream with a brown keyboard.

The monitors had a socket for a normal Ariel socket and a BNC type as well if my memory serves correct.

You hit the nail on the head with your last line Dino. As it would have been so easy to connect a camera or other video source to them, why only do it for a publicity shot and even then just have a wall on there?

I lost a lot of my bookmarks but I'm thinking there used to be a site from user purpleblancmange that had all sorts of behind the scenes pics and stuff from the 5 Docs console.  Anyone have the link to that site?

If it was his blog, I believe he decided to set it to private.

Quote from: Kingpin on Dec 13, 2015, 01:02 am
If it was his blog, I believe he decided to set it to private.

I believe Kingpin is right and it was Purple's blog. I've been in touch with Purple on and off since his blog went private, and without giving too much away, he said he had to take his blog private because of personal attacks and abuse with regards to both his 'Doctor Who' info, and personal issues which he didn't want to mention (and I didn't pry).

But as he said in one of his e-mails - and I agree with him - some people feel they can be as abusive as they want all because they are able to hide behind a keyboard. So anything that Purple might have on the "Five Doctors" console is lost to us unless someone in closer contact to him gets his permission to re-post some of his images here. I don't have either - copies of his images or permission to re-post them, but the point is moot for me since I don't have copies of the images.

Dino.

I have a couple of pictures which might be of use...

Oooh. Not seen that on set one before

That on set one looks like its the Experience piece. The walls are all one length of roundels per panel.

A nice big ole picture I hadn't seen before: