The Brachaki Police Box Prop (The War Machines to Seeds of Doom)

[tony farrell]

I wonder if the back doors were fitted with dual way hinges.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

That's a very good point Bill - perhaps when the rear doors were rehung, they were fitted with what are sometimes called ranch (door) hinges. (I've now got The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon echoing inside my head!  ) 

By the way, how do you select multiple quotes so that you can reply to several people at once? I can't seem to do that, so thanks also to Dino for the link and photos of the fresnel lense!

Tony

[Rassilons Rod]

Hit quote and copy the result - multiple times :-)

[tony farrell]

That pair of black and whites from Planet of Spiders are great!

We have Jonathan/Markofrani to thank for those two pictures!

[galacticprobe]

By the way, how do you select multiple quotes so that you can reply to several people at once? I can't seem to do that...

Hit quote and copy the result - multiple times :-)

You can also scroll down when typing in your reply to post of the person you want to reply to. Then click the "Insert Quote" link, which is just under the time stamp in the upper right-hand corner of that post. Then do the same when you're ready to reply to the next person.

To take one person's long post and reply to it in chunks, you can use a carriage return (a.k.a. the Return or Enter key) to break their post into new paragraphs, and at the end of the first "break", manually type in [/quote] to end that section. Start typing your reply, and when you're ready for the next part of their post, highlight the "quote" part (where it starts out with [ quote author=...], and copy-n-paste it just before that next part of their reply. (And repeat process as needed, breaking their "quote" into chunks by manually putting [/quote] after each section.)

so thanks also to Dino for the link and photos of the fresnel lense!

No problem, Tony! Anything to make life easier for - well - anyone I can!

Dino.

[DoctorWho8]

And to add more info to this research, the opening moments of the TARDIS landing at the beginning of the rediscovered The Enemy of the World.



Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

[Volpone]

Now that's very interesting.  Seeing the "PO" behind Troughton's head, the sign boxes are quite clearly functional.  Given that they never lit them up (as far as I know) during the entire original run of the series and the blank sign boxes in the stills from the pilot, I always figured they just stuck lettering onto timber instead of installing actual glass (perspex) signs that could be backlit.   Clearly I was wrong.  Again.   

[tony farrell]

Haha, you are right and you're not! 
In the 1966 refit, the Police Boxes' side sign boxes were re-built so that they were slightly less wide but deeper. The original signage was retained in the side sign boxes so that the 'P' from Police and the 'X' from Box are now virtually touching the ends of the visible sign 'panel/opening' (white lettering on a blue/black background).
The front and rear sign-boxes were retained but were fitted with new graphic panels (dark lettering on a blue/white background).
Tony

[evil bob]

This pictures are awesome, but it's kind of depressing to see how sh*tty the original props were.

[hb88banzai]

Actually, I think the Brachaki prop was really quite well built. I mean it survived for what, 13 years as the sole TARDIS prop, and for more than half of that period it was when they were making over 40 half hour episodes a year. That's down right amazing!

Getting thrown around by production crews every day for that many years and it couldn't help but take a lot of damage. Add in all the repairs, rebuilding, repainting and other touch ups on top of the intentional "aging" and yes, it does look a bit decrepit and cobbled together. I prefer to think of it as character.

[galacticprobe]

Well, in several episodes of the Pertwee era featuring Roger Delgado as the Master, and later in the Davison era with Anthony Ainley's Master, the Master did refer to the Doctor's TARDIS as "decrepit". So, I think the battered look conveys that aspect, as well as the original intent that the Doctor's TARDIS was malfunctioning and in the shop for repairs when he "borrowed" her.

Dino.

[Sofia Fox]

I saw in the article that the ankh lock was fitted in 'The Android Invasion', but on another reference topic, they found it was fitted as early as the start of Pertwee's final season. I'm not sure which point it was fitted.

[galacticprobe]

The "ankh" or Spade key was first seen in detail in Pertwee's final serial, "The Planet Of The Spiders". (It actually looks more like a spade than an ankh if you examine the shape of both objects.) Pertwee may have started using that key in his last season's first story, "The Time Warrior", but it wasn't shown in close-up until he gave it to Sarah Jane in "Spiders".

The slot for it may have been there since the key was first introduced. The silver surround seen in "Android Invasion" may not have always been there. (I'd have to re-read that article again to refresh my memory on that.) But what you may be thinking of is that silver surround. That may have been added in "Android Invasion" to make the "lock" stand out more; this serial is the first time we get to see the spade key inserted into the slot in close-up detail so they may have put that surround there so the "lock" didn't look like just a blank slot cut into the door.

I know Tony will correct me if I'm wrong.

Dino.

[fivefingeredstyre]

Funnily enough I noticed yesterday that Pertwee can be seen miming opening the TARDIS door with the spade key in the last episode of the Time Warrior (the lock still appears to be a standard Yale/Era lock).

I may be wrong but the key being seen in the lock is big plot point in the Andriod Invasion, so it may well have been that they continued miming the unlocking of the door up until then...

[tony farrell]

Funnily enough Steve, that was exactly the point I was going to make!

My history of the alterations carried out on the Tardis was exactly that - the history of the prop itself (though, more properly, it was always classed as a piece of scenery).

Whilst I agree that the actual Ankh key was introduced in Pertwee's final season, the question of its physical use is a different one. So, we need to look whether the Ankh key was ever physically inserted into an actual slot in the Tardis door i.e., was the slot made before the fitting of the silver/aluminium keyhole in "The Android Invasion"?

On the later Newbery prop - even in 625 line definition - the slot can clearly be seen. However a quick look (emphasis on the word quick) at Jon Pertwee's final season doesn't reveal the presence of a slot at all.

This is a close-up of a HD photo the Tardis doors from Planet of the Spiders:



The yellow circle shows where the slot for the Ankh key should be. To my eye, there doesn't seem to be any evidence of its existence at this stage in the Tardis' history. I don't have the DVD for Tom Baker's first story (Robot), so I can't check this. However, for the remainder of Baker's first season and into his second, the Tardis either isn't used or appears only in the background or is viewed from the side (i.e., Ark in Space, Terror of the Zygons, Pyramids of Mars). In Planet of Evil we get a close-up shot of the Tardis but Prentis Hancock and Tom Baker are stood in front of the doors so, we can't see the lock at all (unless I've missed something).

Which brings us to The Android Invasion where (we all agree) we have proof that the Ankh lock has been fitted - as Steve says - as a definite plot requirement.

I'm happy to be corrected but, at the moment, The Android Invasion does indeed appear to be the first time that the actual hole/slot for the Ankh key has been made.

T

[markofrani]

There does appear to be a slot in 'Planet Of The Spiders', as well as 'Robot'....





Tom inserting the key?