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The Bradley Box

Started by Kingpin, Nov 22, 2013, 04:37 pm

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lorisarvendu

Further to my contention in another thread, that the box on Barnes Common had a steeper pitched roof, I now find myself to be in error.

Barnes.jpg

It's obviously just the same box.

Senseidale

There are some interesting observations but is there a reason the box had no handles ?or did they just forget :D
Dale
"In 900 years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important"

Mark

Plus no one would know it was a Police Box, the signs are blank!

I instantly found this initial scene very moving, the task disk and longing look from "Hartnell" at the box spoke volumes.

In your defense Loris, I thought the roof looked more pointy on that initial scene, must have been my mind playing tricks.

galacticprobe

Nov 27, 2013, 06:13 am #18 Last Edit: Nov 27, 2013, 06:38 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: Mark on Nov 26, 2013, 08:08 am
I thought they missed the frame in the special as well?

I'm sure it was also missing there as well, but I was so caught up in the special that I didn't notice it while I watched it. I only noticed it after taking a look at these photos.

Quote from: Senseidale on Nov 26, 2013, 11:08 pm
There are some interesting observations but is there a reason the box had no handles ?or did they just forget :D

They didn't forget, Dale. They were actually being true to the original Brachacki/Hartnell TARDIS prop. That one didn't have any handles on it either. I think it did when they made that pilot episode, but when they "dirtied up" the prop for re-filming that first episode and then the series' run, they didn't put the handles back on. So for all of the Hartnell years the prop had no door handles. Even into the Troughton era there were still no door handles.

As late as the Hartnell story "The War Machines", when the TARDIS got new/re-worked front doors, she still had no door handles, but when the doors were re-worked the lock did move to the right door. (This causes some discontinuity in "War Machines" as in some scenes the lock is on the left door, and in some it's on the right; just as in some scenes the window frames are white, and in others they're blue. This is also when the original "blank" St. John logo disappeared, which also caused discontinuity because the miniatures used in some Troughton stories still had the logo on the door.)

The prop finally got door handles in the late Troughton era, starting with "The Invasion". Since then the door handles have been changing sizes, colors, and locations: large silver handles, smaller brass ones, blue-painted brass, etc.; positioned on the right side of the PTO door, on the left, no handle on the PTO door, the main door handle at times being on the center divide rather than on the door.

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

Rassilons Rod

Quote from: Mark on Nov 27, 2013, 01:19 am
Plus no one would know it was a Police Box, the signs are blank!


They're just unlit... Turn up the contrast on your monitor ;)
In the cities in the streets there's a tension you can feel,
The breaking strain is fast approaching, guns and riots.
Politicians gamble and lie to save their skins,
And the press get fed the scapegoats,
Public Enema Number One.

Senseidale

Hi Dino Thanks for the info don't feel to bad now when I looked at my box as I do every day  ;D I noted that I had forgotten to put the handle on the PTO. I only watched the show last night got a lot of catching up to do Dr Who TV wise.
Dale
"In 900 years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important"

tony farrell

Nov 27, 2013, 03:27 pm #21 Last Edit: Nov 27, 2013, 03:57 pm by Tony Farrell
Quote from: galacticprobe on Nov 27, 2013, 06:13 am

They didn't forget, Dale. They were actually being true to the original Brachacki/Hartnell TARDIS prop. That one didn't have any handles on it either. I think it did when they made that pilot episode, but when they "dirtied up" the prop for re-filming that first episode and then the series' run, they didn't put the handles back on. So for all of the Hartnell years the prop had no door handles. Even into the Troughton era there were still no door handles.


The prop finally got door handles in the late Troughton era, starting with "The Invasion". Since then the door handles have been changing sizes, colors, and locations: large silver handles, smaller brass ones, blue-painted brass, etc.; positioned on the right side of the PTO door, on the left, no handle on the PTO door, the main door handle at times being on the center divide rather than on the door.

Dino.

The original (framed) phone panel's last appearance was in "The Krotons" when - as Dino says - it sported a shiny chrome handle matching the one on the right-hand door. Both chrome handles were fitted when the Police Box prop was 'loaned' out for the production of the BBC's "Out of the Unknown" series. (Thanks to Kert Gantry for this information).
Both Chrome handles were removed when the original phone panel was destroyed at the start of recording "The Seeds of Death" (presumably a stage hand tried to move the prop by its handles.... an "Oops. Sorry guys" moment)! At the end of this story a new simplified phone panel was fitted to the box. This panel was fitted with a small finger pull whilst the right hand door got a blue-painted handle. This handle never appeared on the doors' central divide and remained in place on the right-hand door for the remainder of the original Police Box' use (as did the finger pull on the simpler phone panel).
$R9AXX1D.png

DoctorWho8

Barnes.jpg
Lightened it up.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

the doctor who2

Nov 27, 2013, 08:15 pm #23 Last Edit: Nov 27, 2013, 08:37 pm by the doctor who2
Here i can contribute a few more pictures that i took of the Bradley TARDIS at the ExCeL Centre;

01Untitled.jpg

02Untitled.jpg

05Untitled.jpg

And since i was part of the Construction Crew i was authorized to mount the scaffolding surrounding the box for some photos from above.
So a few from above;

03Untitled.jpg

04Untitled.jpg

06Untitled.jpg
"There's no point being GROWN UP if you can't be CHILDISH sometimes!"

The Fourth Doctor - Robot, S12 E01

Mark

I was going to question the roof based on the Barnes Common shot as it appears the corner posts to the rear are missing, but those great shots thanks to Doctor Who 2 ( who doesn't appear to be too far from me geographically ) show the answer in that the sloped section just sits on the top and must have been slid right back on the day of filming, lining up with the edge of the corner posts.

Sorry RasillonsRod, I meant to say unlit but blank came out of my fingers instead!

ionsith

Apologies for adding to a 2 year old thread, but I have to say that I was really disappointed when I saw this box at the Cardiff Exhibition. I was expecting it to be a faithful replica of the Hartnell box... but missing PTO frame, no drip sills and the panels on the side are far too square. Why on earth didn't they ask TARDIS Builders to sort it out for them?? I think this is the point where the esteemed and clever people on this forum can say with confidence that they know more about Doctor Who prop history than the BBC!

galacticprobe

Aug 21, 2016, 05:55 am #26 Last Edit: Aug 21, 2016, 06:07 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: ionsith on Aug 20, 2016, 03:11 pm
Apologies for adding to a 2 year old thread,...

No apologies needed, ionsith. People break "dormant" threads out of hibernation all the time.

Quote from: ionsith on Aug 20, 2016, 03:11 pm
...but I have to say that I was really disappointed when I saw this box at the Cardiff Exhibition.

To quote the Face of Boe: "You are not alone". I think many of us felt that way when we saw it on screen. You'll no doubt notice that, with the inaccuracies that you pointed out, they also got the St. John Ambulance logo on the door wrong. The Hartnell Box had a logo with no words or animals on it, and no cross at the bottom: only the arrowheads in the black center disc.

Quote from: ionsith on Aug 20, 2016, 03:11 pm
I think this is the point where the esteemed and clever people on this forum can say with confidence that they know more about Doctor Who prop history than the BBC!

It probably didn't help that AAiSaT was written by Moffat minion Mark Gatiss - the same writer that brought us the abominable "Sleep No More" episode that was so bad the opening credits weren't used, and the fact that Moffat, by that time, was more into his precious 'Sherlock' (which Gatiss pushed him into co-creating with him) and was just approving anything 'Who'-related that came across his desk, no matter how horrible it was because he just wasn't reviewing it (such as anything from Gatiss... like "Sleep No More"). I've also heard from a reliable source that Moffat was also "empire building": rejecting any suggestions that weren't his or Gatiss' because he was doing what he wanted to do with 'Doctor Who', regardless of what others were suggesting, or saying what the fan mail was asking for.

I'm sure if Moffat had cared about 'Doctor Who' the way he did when writing during the Russell T. Davies days, or shortly after he took over as showrunner (Series 5-6), then things might have turned out a little better with the Hartnell TARDIS replica (and more accuracy on the console as well). But those are just my thoughts on it (and the thoughts of many fans in my area I've spoken with).

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

ionsith

Hi Dino. To me it just seemed sloppy. When one is trying to recreate a particular period in history, wouldn't one examine available resources? Photos? DVDs? I was equally disappointed by the Character Creations 'Classic' TARDISes. If they intended it to be the TARDIS as seen in 'X', then darn well make sure it looks like that TARDIS. Maybe I'm too picky, and a lot of people wouldn't have noticed. If the AAiSaT had been a low budget fan made special then I could forgive them getting things wrong, but it was made by the BBC and they have ALL the resources to hand to get things right. The TARDIS had drip sills on at least two sets of windows right up until 1976 for goodness sake.

   I don't want to come down hard on Steve Moffat because I really really do respect his talent as a writer, all the way back to 'Press Gang'. Doctor Who has to have the capacity to try things and to experiment with the format. It arguably has the most flexible format of any TV show in history. But the more recent Christmas specials have been underwhelming, and 'Sleep No More' was confusing... I still have no idea how the creatures were formed by the stuff I rub out of my eyes every morning! I mean, why? Why would that be remotely scary? I had high hopes for Mark Gatiss' stories, but I think he hit his peak with 'The Unquiet Dead'. I haven't really connected with any of the others he has written at all. Casting his mate, Reece Shearsmith, as Pat Troughton was a huge mis-step in AAiSaT; I don't think they even considered anyone else though.

  As for Empire building, I suppose the show runner has to do what they want to do with the series and put their stamp on it with confidence, (JN-T did the same in the 80's) but given what a global beast Doctor Who now is, that has to be a huge pressure.

  I take it from what you have said that you believe Moffat and Gatiss would rather be working on Sherlock?

fivefingeredstyre

Aug 21, 2016, 05:14 pm #28 Last Edit: Aug 21, 2016, 05:17 pm by fivefingeredstyre
I've seen the Bradley box quite a few times over the last few years, both at the ExCel 50th bash and several times since at the Experience, and its grown on me a little...

However for the money I imagine it cost them to build it, I don't know why they just didn't get hold of one of the latest This Planet Earth Brachaki replica's. They look near perfect...

asefwerfer_zpscx7plpn4.jpg

I've always thought the Bradley Box looked like ti was made out of matchwood.

Here's a few other pictures (excuse the quality, some were taken without a flash... And apologies up front for the one with me in it...  :-[)

front_zpsibnmil6z.jpg

RH%20side%202016_zps7vautloh.jpg

The condition of the Bradley box is a little alarming though. I don't know what's going on with the window frames, they appear to be getting blackened in as each year passes...

Here's the Left hand side (as you look at the doors) in 2015

LH%20side%202015_zpshrmwqpxa.jpg

And here it was a couple of months ago...

LH%20side%202016_zpsux94rhyn.jpg

I thought the idea was to preserve these things?

ionsith

It's a beautiful job on the Brachaki box, absolutely spot on! I think the Bradley box's posts are too thin and the doors are too wide, giving the indentations an almost square look. Where on Earth did they get the dims from for it?!