Radio Times article

[handofomega]

Anyone read this?   I wonder what folks thoughts are about the way they ranked the console rooms.


http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-01-11/the-best-and-worst-doctor-who-tardis-designs-of-all-time

[Cardinal Hordriss]

I think other than the Paul McGann one I'd re-arrange most of them -

N.B. - This is just my opinion, not looking for a debate/argument lol.

10 - Hurt - Just a mess of styles that don't go together or fit that Doctor (whatever the production reasons for its use).
9 - Tennant - Didn't like the jumping on the organic tech bandwagon, brave direction RE console component and layout but a mess.
8 - Tom Baker (wooden) - A nice alternate style but very flat and lifeless.
7 - Pertwee - Great console, not sure about the bowl shaped roundels but it makes an interesting one off look.
6 - Matt Smith I - If the TARDIS was a magical Disney thing this would be great... but it's not so there.
5 - Davison 5 Doctor's - Highly profesional and very impressive but not very creative, too many keypads, fake controls are clearly fake.
4 - Matt Smith II (higher for Capaldi version) - Very impressive but somewhat sterile and lots of space unused - Capaldi version big improvement RE use of space and lighting.
3 - Tom Baker - A more timeless look than previous props bringing a modern edge to the classic design but too many fake controls and initial room layout too small.
2 - McGann - Wow, back with a bang in 1996. Rich with detail, superbly lit, fantastic use of the space, a big change but an artistically wonderful one.
1 - Hartnell - Ahead of its time though very retro looking back with it's big toggle switches and pale green colour but so original and unusual,

My personal favorite console is actually Tom Baker's regular one but I've tried to be objective.

[davidnagel]

N.B. - This is just my opinion, not looking for a debate/argument lol.

Isn't that what forums are all about?

I will admit I've adored all the console rooms in their various versions. Including the semi-official ones like the "Scream of the Shalka" console (covered elsewhere in the forum) plus we can't forget the various attempts made by fan filmers.

Though, the one console I am really struggling, even after all this time, to like is the Edward Thomas Matt Smith console.

[Cardinal Hordriss]

Sorry, I'm just tired, wonderful but long day lol.

I'm not sure I'm familiar with the Edward Thomas console, is there a thread hereabouts?

[davidnagel]

Sorry, I'm just tired, wonderful but long day lol.

I'm not sure I'm familiar with the Edward Thomas console, is there a thread hereabouts?

Its number 6 in your list. http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?board=102.0

Technically first Ed Thomas console because Ed wasn't the only one responsible for the creation of the first one (the one we call Eccleston/Tennant console) so I don't attribute full credit to him. Sorry Ed, if you're reading.

[Cardinal Hordriss]

Oh, sorry, I didn't know that's what it was called, I thought you were referring to a fan build.

[davidnagel]

No but I realise how that may have been the case from my post - apologies.

[Angelus Lupus]

My favourite is hard to pin down, but I wouldn't put the 11th Doctor's orange room at the top. There were bits that felt unfinished around the walls, and the under-space was under-used - considering it's most memorable plot development was facilitating looking up Amy's skirt! As a staging space, the layout allowed a lot of good camera angles, far more than the 9th/10th, which almost feels empty.
The secondary console could have worked, but it was just too brown and bland for low-res 70's TV, and why wasn't there a time-rotor?
A quick google to refresh my memory, and I find a lot to like about the Shalka console, steampunk like the 8th, big levers and gauges all over, rounded trim like the 9th... but the simple (for Flash animation) backdrop of a spiral stair up to..? And no round (or hexagonal) things? With the 9th doctors walls I think it would work.
The TV movie, I loved it at the time, epic and gothic, the first use of a raised platform for the console, and the first time the Time-rotor connected to the ceiling, which I like. The inner doors were gorgeous and the reading nook... Lots to like and a shame we never saw more. Minor update of a larger (widescreen/flatscreen) scanner monitor (or attached ones like the current console)?
And yes, I think we can all agree that Peter Brachacki's original design was a master work of futurism, perfect as both a high-tech control centre as well as a studio set.

[galacticprobe]

My ranking, and this is just my personal preference:

11 - The Cushing (1st film) console room; The Cushing films were given honorable mention in the article so I thought I'd mention those here. This one was just a tangle of wires and for the most part looked like a rat's nest. (Yeah, I know they only went with ten consoles, but how could you mention one Cushing interior without the other?)

10 - The Cushing (2nd film) console room; this was the one given honorable mention in the article, and while not canonical (as was the 1st film), nor having a console proper, this 2nd film did have several cabinets with levers, knobbies, and dials, that could have been in a Professor Chronotis' TARDIS. (Side note: I do like the films.)

9 - Tie: "The Five Doctors" console and "Scream Of The Shalka" console (since that was mentioned here I thought I'd add it to my list); "Five Doctors", just too busy with buttons and switches; most of those white rectangular-black-framed "buttons" were actually aircraft indicator buttons, and were of the same kind used on the original Enterprise bridge for the first two pilot episodes (nice link in there), but on the whole way too busy with stuff. The "Shalka" console, too crazy with dials! It looked more like a submarine control room with all of the gauges they've got. I did like the flat desktop like the one on the 8th Doctor's console, but the rest of this console just had way too many gauges on it, and the panels had way too steep of an angle, like they were almost part of the central column's base rather than part of the console.

8 - The 11th Doctor's 2nd/12th Doctor's (Pickwoad) console; a lot like the "Five Doctors" console with all of the buttons and switches, but has more of a flare with the clockwork panel and some levers and twisty knobbies like the Brachacki. The upgrades made for the 12th Doctor did improve things: amber lights making it look less sterile and a little warmer. The whirligig is an interesting touch, especially since it's an actual mechanical triple rotating device, and not a CGI thing, so that earns it extra points.

7 - That particular Tom Baker (Mid Sharp refit?); pretty flat, especially during the 'Key To Time' series. (It got better as it evolved during the Davison era, but just as it was at its peak, they got rid of it.)

6 - The "Time Monster" console; not so much because of the walls, but the console had that huge gaping hole in it for that Time Tracker (which could have been done so much better). The column is a work of light and colored perspex art, though. If it still had the compartment for the Demat Circuit in it rather than the gaping hole where that compartment used to be, then this one would have been higher on the list.

5 - The "Junk" console; like the Season 14 Wooden (Newbery) console, this one is small and compact. Another, like the War Doctor's (see next) that had very little screen time, but at least it got a place of honor at the DWE where we could see the details that went into it. Parts of it were a little bland, but it did have some elements of past consoles (like the monitor that was almost identical to the "Five Doctors" console), and since this episode ("The Doctor's Wife") was mentioned in the article, I thought I would include this console in the list.

4 - The War Doctor's console; yes, this was a reworking of the travelling 9th Doctor console from the promo days, but on the whole I think they did a decent job making it look like the old girl had been through decades or longer of war, and was tired. I don't agree with their (Radio Times') statement that it wasn't even its own console, because it was. They didn't redress the 9th Doctor console for filming it, they took a disused touring promo console and made it into its own. The white glowy panels were sort of warm white, so a bit bland there, but some of the controls were taken from the concept art of the pre-production of the 9th Doctor console - things that were left off of the 9th doctor's, like the microscope, the large throw lever on the glowy panel, possibly more. It's a shame this one didn't get more screen time, and shot from more angles so we could get a better look at the rework and details that went into it.

3 - The Ed Thomas (11th Doctor's 1st) console; It took a while for this one to grow on me, but I liked the walls, I liked some of the controls (love "The Wibbly Lever" and that Atom Accelerator/'Red Dwarf X' "Groin Exploder"!), and the cavernous look of the coral (some walls with spikes (stalactites) on them went well with the orangey-amber lighting and copper walls; also liked those hex flower pot roundels as well as the open roundels. I loved the green light glow that came from under the console panels, and the (Series 5) green and blue LEDs that were under those Gallifreyan Symbol-etched perspex panels. In Series 6 the blue LEDs turned to amber. (Notice the pattern; I love glowy things!)

2 - Tie: Season 14 Wooden (Newbery) and 8th Doctor consoles; the Newbery, compact, warm feeling, more of an emergency control console than a primary; extra points for the stained glass roundels. This was intended to have a central column that rose up from the center, but the budget fell short, however the hole was cut in the top of the console, which is why they had to cover it with that round "plate": the 8th Doctor's, like the Newbery on steroids; just love the wooden look they have, and the 8th Doctor's had knobbies and levers and blinky lights on it.

1 - Tie: Original Brachacki (Hartnell's 1st Doctor) and 9th Doctor; love the abundance of levers, switches, and knobbies, not to mention the blinky lights on the Brachacki, and she was "The original, you might say." Then there's the 9th Doctor console, with those nice glowy panels and interesting crystalline controls (the "points" and bubble globes on the panels), and all of those other odd thingies that we still haven't completely IDed yet. Lights, levers, glowy panels - how can one decide between the two?

So that's my ranking of them (subject to change, depending on what the next console might look like).

Dino.

[Cardinal Hordriss]

Quick note, the time rotor was actually one of the things about the regular console room that they specifically wanted to get rid of when they made the wooden console room for Baker, something to do with it making console room scenes tricky to shoot. Also the hole in the Pertwee console was where the dematerialization circuit housing was, not a hole they made for the tracker, still ugly though. Anywho, hope that fills in a couple of gaps for you

[galacticprobe]

Quick note, the time rotor was actually one of the things about the regular console room that they specifically wanted to get rid of when they made the wooden console room for Baker, something to do with it making console room scenes tricky to shoot.

Interesting. It's always been said that a "column" was supposed to rise out of an iris-type opening in the top of the wooden console when the TARDIS was in flight, and then retract with the iris closing when she landed, but the budget or something (the mechanics?) took that out of the design. (Tony's research on this console and console room set should shed light on what is perpetuated rumor, and what is fact.)

Also the hole in the Pertwee console was where the dematerialization circuit housing was, not a hole they made for the tracker, still ugly though. Anywho, hope that fills in a couple of gaps for you

Yes. I'm aware of this, and did mention that above, though I didn't dwell more on it:

6 - The "Time Monster" console; ...the console had that huge gaping hole in it for that Time Tracker ... If it still had the compartment for the Demat Circuit in it rather than the gaping hole where that compartment used to be, then this one would have been higher on the list.

Dino.

[tony farrell]

Specific to the Wooden Console and whether it was ever intended to have an iris with a column which rose and fell, the answer is quite definitely 'no'. Whilst it was indeed suggested, the idea of an iris & moving column was rejected by Barry Newbery because he had been given a specific brief from Producer Philip Hinchcliffe that this should not be the case.

Proof of this statement - from an interview which Barry Newbery gave in the summer of 1976 - will be forthcoming as part of my Newbery Tardis article.  

T

[davidnagel]

Also the hole in the Pertwee console was where the dematerialization circuit housing was, not a hole they made for the tracker, still ugly though. Anywho, hope that fills in a couple of gaps for you

I seem to recall reading that someone said that Pertwee grew quite attached to the console and did adjustments himself, and created this hole - by accident.

[superrichi1a]

Erm... I may have missed something... but did you miss out the Tennant console room in your list Dino?

Tennant's will always be by far my favourite, but I'm also very partial to McGann's and Hartnell's. I love the first 2 because of how grand they are, and how much fun the Tennant was to play with, whilst Hartnell's of course is the classic.

[The14thDr]

Erm... I may have missed something... but did you miss out the Tennant console room in your list Dino?

Nope, the Tennant console came joint first in Dino's list (along with the Original Brachacki console)


On the subject of those two consoles; imagine the original Brachacki, but with those coral "ribs" from the 9th/10th Doctor console.... now that would be cool; the perfect mix of organic technology and straight-up, retro sci-fi.