Terror Of The Autons

[markofrani]

Terror Of The Autons 1971 EEE Season 8 Story 55

The new DVD release of 'Terror Of The Autons' has some great photos of the Brachacki prop. Here's a few...


The one above shows something odd about the opening door. The hinges appear to be attached to a strip of wood.


The roof and lamp base appear to be rough mock-ups for some reason.  




And on location with the correct roof and lamp housing but minus the base...

[tony farrell]

The location publicity photos were taken before the studio recording of this story (in studio September 1970). As such, the location photos mark the final appearance of the roof created in the 1966 refit of the Tardis. The studio footage marks the first appearance of a new (wider) rood section and a new base.

If you look carefully, the lamp isn't a mock-up but rather is the lamp's top resting on the square base (i.e., before the four struts have been fitted)!

T 

[galacticprobe]

If you look carefully, the lamp isn't a mock-up but rather is the lamp's top resting on the square base (i.e., before the four struts have been fitted)!

Presumably you mean that second photo down in the first post. I can see what you mean, and looking more closely at that lamp you can see the "ceiling light" just peeking out from behind the TARDIS lamp roof cap. I think that's what makes the lamp look like some sort of mock up. But once you see that "chrome dome" light fixture (and the bulb in the center) is behind the prop, the TARDIS lamp's parts fall into perspective.

It's also interesting to note how the Top Signs are mounted in that first photo. The dark letters on a frosted background signs were reserved for the front and rear faces, but in this case we have one of those mounted above the doors (as is the norm for this box), and one mounted on the side, where we normally see a Top Sign with white letters on a black background.

Dino.

[tony farrell]

No Dino, what you call "the chrome dome light" is the Tardis' domed lamp top 'plate' - it looks like it might be chrome because of its speckle-painted surface.

Also, the reason the side's top sign appears to be black lettering on a frosted background is because it's back lit. If you look further down Jonathan's original post, you'll see that it is still white lettering which has been painted on a dark (blue) piece of Perspex. A similar trick of the light is evident when the Tardis materialises on Nerva Beacon in "The Ark in Space".

T