Tardis vs. Police Box

[galacticprobe]

True, Marc. However since Pete (petewilson) had wondered how the Doctor got the console out of the TARDIS in "Inferno", I was looking for the earliest story where we see it outside of the TARDIS:

"Spearheads From Space", the 3rd Doctor's first story, and we only see the TARDIS from the outside; no interior scenes, and the Doctor never has time to fiddle with the TARDIS other than trying to take off;

Next came "Doctor Who And The Silurians" (the only story of the series to have "Doctor Who And" in the title); no TARDIS or console in that story; we see the Doctor tinkering with Bessie for the first time, and then getting right into it with the Brig and Silurians;

The next story is "Ambassadors Of Death" and the first time we see the console outside of the TARDIS, but no explanation of how it got outside is ever given.

That said, the "short hops" Crispin mentioned - which we did see in the final scene of "Inferno" (the next story and the last of Season 7) - show that the console on its own can travel short distances through space (and jump dimensions if its power source is mucked with) without the TARDIS. So this could explain the in-universe method the Doctor used to get the console outside of the TARDIS. (And of course, as Crispin also mentioned, the Doctor could have gotten it out in pieces, though I like Crispin's first suggestion better, and it makes for a more interesting and plausible explanation, and certainly it seems the easiest.)

And of course, we have the same question and plausible explanations in reverse later in the Pertwee era: how did he get the console back inside the TARDIS? I'm with Crispin's speculation on the console's short hop abilities for both.

Dino.

 

[davros skaro]

considering in "Inferno" at the end, the doctor asked the brigadier if he could have a couple of his men to help him with getting the console out of the dump he got stuck in. So ..... I'm thinking he did a short hop with it, as it has its own power banks, which would allow it to do this once disconnected from the Tardis. Then once he's finished work on it the same to get it back in.

What I don't get is: 1) Why take it out in the first place as there is plenty of room in the console room?
                          2) Why he didn't allow Liz in the Tardis nor took her on a trip in it?

Chris.

 

[galacticprobe]

What I don't get is: 1) Why take it out in the first place as there is plenty of room in the console room?

Hypothetically speaking... Outside there was more room to have gadgets around the console while having comfy chairs and such to sit on when taking a break. (By that time the console room had no furniture in it anymore.)

Practically speaking... It was easier to film the Doctor tinkering with the console and the bits around it without having to continually cut between the console room set and the lab/sitting room sets, and they didn't have to set up the TARDIS prop in the lab/sitting room sets. Saved time and money.

                          2) Why he didn't allow Liz in the Tardis nor took her on a trip in it?

Hypothetically speaking... It could have been a resurgence of the 1st Doctor's desire to keep "Earthlings" out of the TARDIS. It was enough that the UNIT people knew something of what the TARDIS could do from the previous adventures (when he was the 2nd Doctor), but like an Area 51 scenario, the Doctor didn't want anyone getting inside the TARDIS and possibly trying to figure out how she worked, especially the military (i.e. UNIT). And there was no way the Doctor could have taken Liz (or anyone) for a trip in the TARDIS because, at that time, the TARDIS was not working at all.

Practically speaking... All of the Doctor's stories for Season 7 were set some distance from UNIT HQ (except for "Spearheads", which had half the story with the Doctor recovering from regenerating, and then for the other half jumping right into stopping the Autons), but they were all set on Earth in the "current" time for the 3rd Doctor's period. (Somewhat a repeat of this statement above, but augmented...) There was no way the Doctor could have taken Liz (or anyone) for a trip in the TARDIS because, at that time, the TARDIS was not working, and the plot device of having the Time Lords manipulating the TARDIS to transport the Doctor to where they needed him to intervene hadn't been thought up yet. There was also no real reason to have the TARDIS nearby on those stories (which is why no one went inside the TARDIS), but it did give the writers a chance to show the Doctor tinkering with the console even if he was away from the box and UNIT HQ.

I hope some of this makes sense.

Dino.

 

[Volpone]

Also, the state of the TARDIS control room set wasn't great either by this point.  Eventually they did wind up doing stories that used the black & white photograph roundel wall and it works if the story is strong and the viewer is willing to suspend disbelief, but it isn't a particularly convincing look when shot in color.  The counsel is in terrible shape too, but there's really no way around that.  You've got to have something for the Doctor to run experiments on.