Hole in the Console

[cobalt]

They redid the panel that had the radiation detector and the two large dials.  It ended up being a metal sheet with new controls on it.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

I remember hearing a story about that panel - supposedly someone on the production team mentioned that it would be good for there to be a section of the console, where The Doctor could "make some repairs." The idea being that there might be an access panel that he could open up to access wires or something, which he could then fiddle with during dialogue scenes.

Upon hearing that a "place where the doctor could make repairs" was needed, one of the BBC prop men took a hammer to the console and smashed that whole face of it to bits.

Viola, one "damaged" area in need of repair.

End result, they had to slap a huge metal plate over the sudden, and unexpected hole.

Can't remember where I heard the story.

[Rassilons Rod]

that story has seen a few variants. when i first heard it, it was mr Pertwee himself who punched a large hole in it with a hammer.

[markofrani]

Are we possibly confusing the order of 'Ambassadors Of Death' and 'Inferno'?
'Ambassadors Of Death' was the console's FIRST appearance in colour, minus the central core of the time column.
'Inferno' was the LAST time the original console was seen. For this, the console was patched up with new controls, the radiation panel was replaced and the central core of the time column was back in position, albeit still broken.

[markofrani]

that story has seen a few variants. when i first heard it, it was mr Pertwee himself who punched a large hole in it with a hammer.

Not sure, but I think the story relates to the MK1A console and the crude patch repair on this panel.

[Rassilons Rod]

I think that wasn't necessarily a "repair", Tony. That was actually part of the story because the Doctor was storing something in there... Was it the housing for the Dematerialisation circuit? Not sure at the moment.

It was later used to house the weird gun like thing (time sensor?) that was in The Time Monster (the handle sat in the hole).



Edit: image removed because it didn't import properly.

[galacticprobe]

I think that wasn't necessarily a "repair", Tony. That was actually part of the story because the Doctor was storing something in there... Was it the housing for the Dematerialisation circuit?

That's exactly what it was, Marc. That was the "pull up and out" cylinder with an opening in the front where The Doctor would insert and remove the Demat Circuit as he tried to repair it. Once he received the new Demat Circuit at the end of "The Three Doctors", that opening was no longer needed, and the same hole was indeed used for the Time Tracker as seen in "The Time Monster".

That said, "The Time Monster" was the story that preceded "The Three Doctors", so my guess is that the "hole" was re-purposed for that story, as prior to "Time Monster" it was the plug-in port for the Demat Circuit; it was again in "Three Doctors", and after "Three Doctors" it was never used for the Demat Circuit again.

The next time the console was seen was in "Frontier In Space" (not seen at all in "Carnival of Monsters", which followed "Three Doctors"), but I can't find any images from "Frontier" that show the console, so I don't know what was done with that opening: whether it was just covered over with a cap of sorts (maybe the one from the Demat cylinder?) or if it was left as an open hole. (Sorry, but I don't have the "Frontier" DVD so I can't get any screen grabs. Some help there, anyone?)

Dino.

[fivefingeredstyre]

I think that wasn't necessarily a "repair", Tony. That was actually part of the story because the Doctor was storing something in there... Was it the housing for the Dematerialisation circuit? Not sure at the moment.

Im pretty sure that in one of the stories you see the Doctor slide it upwards and put the Dematerialisation circuit inside it...

[fivefingeredstyre]

I remember hearing a story about that panel - supposedly someone on the production team mentioned that it would be good for there to be a section of the console, where The Doctor could "make some repairs." The idea being that there might be an access panel that he could open up to access wires or something, which he could then fiddle with during dialogue scenes.

Upon hearing that a "place where the doctor could make repairs" was needed, one of the BBC prop men took a hammer to the console and smashed that whole face of it to bits.

Viola, one "damaged" area in need of repair.

End result, they had to slap a huge metal plate over the sudden, and unexpected hole.

I think that was one that Jon Pertwee used to peddle at conventions...

[galacticprobe]

Im pretty sure that in one of the stories you see the Doctor slide it upwards and put the Dematerialisation circuit inside it...

You're right about that, Styre. (Can I just call you Styre? It would save an awful lot of typing. ) The 3rd Doctor did just that with that specific part of the console in several stories, the last being "The Three Doctors".

I remember hearing a story about that panel...

Upon hearing that... one of the BBC prop men took a hammer to the console and smashed that whole face of it to bits.

End result, they had to slap a huge metal plate over the sudden, and unexpected hole.

I think that was one that Jon Pertwee used to peddle at conventions...

Several versions of this "story" circulated for a while. One was published in one of the Doctor Who Weeklies/Monthlies/Magazines (can't remember which title they were using at the time this was mentioned in the article). One version has it as stated above - the whole panel being smashed - and another has just a large hole knocked in the panel. However, both versions have that panel as the one being covered with the large "metal" plate as seen in "Inferno" and subsequent stories.

And I know this next one isn't the best of photos, but it was the best I could find and it does show that the panel which will eventually get that "hole" in it (which in a photo posted above by markofrani has the grey cylinder, highlighted in white, that lifts out for the Demat Circuit to plug into) already existed in "Inferno", so wasn't a newly-built panel (the arrow pointing to the spot where the hole will eventually be):


Dino.

[tony farrell]

Ah, sorry Dino, I have to disagree with you here.

The panel you point to is on the original console i.e., before the 1970/71 refit. The hole for the de-materialisation circuit appeared in the Mark1A console which had a slighter larger diameter hexagonal table. The fittings from the panel in this photo were re-used for the refurbishment, but, what Celation's photo of Ben and Polly standing behind the console's missing ventilation grille has shown to be the block board 'base' of the original console panel had long since gone by the time the hole for the de-mat circuit appeared.

Tony 

[gerald lovell]

The story variation I heard was that following a refurbishment of the console for "The Claws of Axos", of which Jon Pertwee was well pleased, when it was discussed that they needed a part of it to fiddle inside, an over-eager propman promptly took a hammer and bashed a dirty great hole in the console.  Mr. Pertwee was so angry, he punched the propman and a major rumpus followed and was only resolved when Barry Letts got Pertwee to apologise.  I'm sure I heard Barry Letts tell this story himself at a convention.

[galacticprobe]

Ah, sorry Dino, I have to disagree with you here.

The panel you point to is on the original console i.e., before the 1970/71 refit. The hole for the de-materialisation circuit appeared in the Mark1A console which had a slighter larger diameter hexagonal table. The fittings from the panel in this photo were re-used for the refurbishment

Tony, you may be right, however it strikes me odd that - though the fittings from the panel you mention (my second photo) were reused - they were placed in the exact same positions on this new panel.

I have heard this version of "the hole story":

...when it was discussed that they needed a part of it to fiddle inside, an over-eager propman promptly took a hammer and bashed a dirty great hole in the console.

Now, while I didn't hear the bit about Jon Pertwee punching the propman, what I did hear in this same rendition was that a large metal plate had to be fitted to cover the "great dirty hole" in that panel. So, while we may disagree on which panel was the victim of the propman's hammer, from the description given in the above account - which I know was in one of the DWM issues - I have to stick to the panel with the large grey "plate" on it as the panel which was bashed.

I may be wrong, but with just about everyone who was involved with that era having passed on, until we can find someone still living who has first-hand information on that - like the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop - we may never know.

Dino.