The console rooms are, without a doubt, the most important sets in Doctor Who. Due to the limitations of the show's budget, they have functioned as the representations of the entire ship for 50 years(with minor exceptions).
The original was initially conceived by production designer Peter Brachacki in about 15 minutes(yes, it's true!) after dissatisfied series producer Verity Lambert called him up on ignoring his duties on the series. He never worked on the series again and whether or not he was proud of his job remains unknown, but we can always thank him and Lambert for the genius that touched them on those early days and led to the design we have today.
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EXTRA 1: The Fourth Doctor's "secondary console room".
This console room stays off the main list, as it's technically not the same room as the others. Used throughout Season 14, it was introduced as the "secondary console room", since at the time, radical reinventions of the console room weren't common yet and so they had to make the different style make sense.
It looks impressive, I'll give it that, but it's let down by some poor choices. First of all, there is no time rotor. Now, I'm not strictly against that sort of change, but what the time rotor represented was the flight of the ship. The thrusting gave a sense of life and safety that this room doesn't compensate for.
Another thing that really makes me grind my teeth are the controls, which are just rows of multicolored buttons with no labels. The buttons look identical and each row has its own color. It might make sense to a Time Lord, but just looks daft and childish over here.
One thing I'd also like to nitpick is that the stained glass on some of the roundels is a charming idea, but there's not enough of them to make any sort of impact. I wish they had the glass on more roundels and in other walls as well.
NOTE: This console room is the first to have a huge viewscreen instead of the scanner.
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EXTRA 2: The 90s console room, to potentially have been used by the Seventh Doctor.
This model was designed to replace its deteriorated predecessor and might have debuted in Season 27. That is, if they somehow found the money to actually build this sort of thing. I mean, look at it.
I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, it gets the futuristic really well. The hanging console is quite innovative and the surroundings have a very nice, Star Trek-y look about them.
On the other hand, the roundels look absolutely terrible, the worst I've ever seen(I know they were painted on and its only just a model, but the way many of them are cut off is just bad). And I'm not really sure why exactly the console needs to hang from the ceiling beyond the cool factor.
Still, I don't think I would have minded this version at all.
NOTES: The model was used, along with a greenscreened Sylvester McCoy in a 90s TV special of some sort.
If this console had been actually built, it would've been the first with the time rotor connected to the ceiling.
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11: The Third Doctor's console room (Seasons 8-9).
It looks incredibly lazy. This console room received a number of random alterations, owing to the fact that it wasn't a regular feature on the show(the Third Doctor was exiled to Earth) and so every time they used it, it looked a little different. The picture I have above is of its first trip off-world in Colony In Space. Consider: this is the first time the viewers have seen the TARDIS go off-world in one and a half years! The Third Doctor and Jo's first trip to an alien planet!
And this is what we get? A half-baked room with a bland console in the corner and the painted roundels they used in the black-and-white days? WTH, Terrance and Barry?
From what I can tell, this could actually be the remnants of the 60s console room, with a new console and awfully set up walls and doors. Still, it looks nothing like it used to so it counts as a separate article.
NOTES: Um... that silver thing in front? What is it supposed to be? Also, this is the first console room to hold the scanner in one of the roundels(as seen in The Claws Of Axos).
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10. The Third Doctor's console room (The Time Monster).
When the production crew finally realised that the 60s stuff was a goner(or that the set they had built was absolute crap), they tried to swish things up a bit.
It's not too bad, I guess. Apart from the roundels, there's absolutely nothing to make it stand out.
The roundels... erm... well, they look different in a good way, but at the same time, I really wouldn't fancy time travelling in a room made of bowls.
NOTES: This console room has a scanner in both the roundel and the usual TV screen. A very strange choice(possible precursor to the Eleventh Doctor's giant round screen and the console-attached scanner??)
A variation of this console room was used in the same story for the Master's TARDIS.
NOTES: This console room has a scanner in both the roundel and the usual TV screen. A very strange choice(possible precursor to the Eleventh Doctor's giant round screen and the console-attached scanner??)
A variation of this console room was used in the same story for the Master's TARDIS.
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9. The Third and Fourth Doctor's console room(Seasons 10-11, 13).
"I see you've been doing the TARDIS up a bit, hmm. I don't like it!"
NOTE: The TARDIS interior didn't make an appereance in Season 12 and returned later with a more spunky looking console.
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8. The Second, Fourth and Fifth Doctors' console room(Seasons 15-20, The Two Doctors).
After the show left UNIT behind, it needed a regular console room again and this does the job splendidly. It cleverly adapts some of the design choices of the secondary console room(the pillars and viewscreen) and introduces the glowing roundels, which add a lot of atmosphere and energy to the set.
The only unfortunate element was the corner cutting off the roundels, but that problem was soon dealt with.
After the show left UNIT behind, it needed a regular console room again and this does the job splendidly. It cleverly adapts some of the design choices of the secondary console room(the pillars and viewscreen) and introduces the glowing roundels, which add a lot of atmosphere and energy to the set.
The only unfortunate element was the corner cutting off the roundels, but that problem was soon dealt with.
NOTE: This console made a re-appereance in Season 22's The Two Doctors, in which it was revealed to have been used by the Second Doctor during his service to the Celestial Intervention Agency between seasons 6 and 7.
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7. The War Doctor's console room (The Day Of The Doctor).
This room, like the War Doctor's costume, is clearly meant to reflect the "in-between" status of this incarnation. For me, it's a mixed bag. It's certainly stunning, and the 2005 console looks beautiful lit in white. On the other hand, the organic, rocky pillars just look naff and out of place, giving the room an awkward, ill-fitting feel.
It does win points for staying true to the original concept of the 2005 room, though(which was that the Doctor gradually rebuilt the room over the years as parts broke down).
7. The War Doctor's console room (The Day Of The Doctor).
This room, like the War Doctor's costume, is clearly meant to reflect the "in-between" status of this incarnation. For me, it's a mixed bag. It's certainly stunning, and the 2005 console looks beautiful lit in white. On the other hand, the organic, rocky pillars just look naff and out of place, giving the room an awkward, ill-fitting feel.
It does win points for staying true to the original concept of the 2005 room, though(which was that the Doctor gradually rebuilt the room over the years as parts broke down).
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Nostalgia. This console room is more familiar to me than any other. It combines bizarre architecture and lighting(especially in the early episodes where the green glow around the console was much more prevalent) with basic 20th century-esque controls and wiring to create a truly impenetrable, realistic alien ship. It is sturdy, impressive and feels like home.
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2. The Seventh and Eighth Doctor's console room (The TV Movie).
A frightening amount of candles and clocks aside, who wouldn't want to travel in this TARDIS? A steampunk console that's just begging to be toyed with inside a comfortable, yet refined Victorian mansion. It's easily the most fantastical interpretation of the console room, but that just makes it more lovable.
NOTES: This is the first official TARDIS console room with a time rotor that connects to the ceiling.
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1. The First and Second Doctor's TARDIS (Seasons 1-6).
The original and the best. This TARDIS wasn't quite infinite inside(those beds!), but it was a practical and curious thing with secrets, minor breaksdowns and an archaic touch, much like the First Doctor himself. Not to mention that its intricate design made every exploration of the TARDIS(of which there was more than you might expect) a joy.
Under the Second Doctor's hands, the TARDIS almost reflectively shrank(due to a combination of a poor budget a and lack of care), doing away with all of the superfluous artwork and scientific equipment that his predecessor acquired and leaving it a shoddy, often smoking mess that only served as the means of getting him to his next adventure. However, in its final story(The War Games), it was seen one last time in its full glory as the Doctor directly encountered his past for the first time in his travels.
NOTES: Though the room itself was not seen beyond the black-and-white era, the console itself was removed from the TARDIS by the Third Doctor in Season 7 and experimented upon to rediscover the secret of time travel that the Time Lords had taken from him.
A variation of this room was used in The Time Meddler as the Monk's TARDIS, and in Hell Bent as another Type 40 in storage.
6. The Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors' console room (Seasons 20-26).
Basically the final of many upgrades on the late 70s console room, this one introduced a fancy, colorful console with beeping buttons, a steady rotor and a tiny screen for early computer graphics. The room itself is a little too sterile to be homely, but I do appreciate it as a a fantastic culmination after many years of refining the look.
NOTES: A darker variation of this console room was used for the Master's TARDIS in The Trial Of A Time Lord.
This is the first console to have a scanner attached to it(or in this case, it's part of the console itself).
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5. The Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor's console room (Series 7-present).
It took me a very long time to warm up to this console room. Initially it was too dark and cold, then I disliked the orange lighting in the rotor because it clashed with the white lights around the ceiling.
But it has grown on me over time, especially after the addition of the glowing roundels, which gave the room a much-needed touch of eccentricity along with all the knick-knacks on the upper floor(sadly almost never used).
It's a slightly psychedelic, but also very practical console room, which suits the Twelfth Doctor really well and added a lot to the Eleventh Doctor's character development in his final year.
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4. The Eleventh Doctor's console room (Series 5-7).
I just find this to be a very charming design for the TARDIS, and I'm always happy with it. It looks very comfortable and fun to travel in and I'm always wondering where those stairs lead off to. Speaking of that, this is the only new series console room that doesn't feel like it's the only room in the TARDIS. The lighting is extremely well coordinated and pleasing to the eye, and there's something interesing everywhere you look. For the Eleventh Doctor and his fairytale era of Doctor Who, this is the perfect design, exuding wonder and adventure.
Alright, one criticism: I really don't care for the bubbly TARDIS rotor.
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3. The Ninth and Tenth Doctors' console room (Series 1-4, The Doctor's Wife, The Day Of The Doctor).
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2. The Seventh and Eighth Doctor's console room (The TV Movie).
A frightening amount of candles and clocks aside, who wouldn't want to travel in this TARDIS? A steampunk console that's just begging to be toyed with inside a comfortable, yet refined Victorian mansion. It's easily the most fantastical interpretation of the console room, but that just makes it more lovable.
NOTES: This is the first official TARDIS console room with a time rotor that connects to the ceiling.
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1. The First and Second Doctor's TARDIS (Seasons 1-6).
The original and the best. This TARDIS wasn't quite infinite inside(those beds!), but it was a practical and curious thing with secrets, minor breaksdowns and an archaic touch, much like the First Doctor himself. Not to mention that its intricate design made every exploration of the TARDIS(of which there was more than you might expect) a joy.
Under the Second Doctor's hands, the TARDIS almost reflectively shrank(due to a combination of a poor budget a and lack of care), doing away with all of the superfluous artwork and scientific equipment that his predecessor acquired and leaving it a shoddy, often smoking mess that only served as the means of getting him to his next adventure. However, in its final story(The War Games), it was seen one last time in its full glory as the Doctor directly encountered his past for the first time in his travels.
NOTES: Though the room itself was not seen beyond the black-and-white era, the console itself was removed from the TARDIS by the Third Doctor in Season 7 and experimented upon to rediscover the secret of time travel that the Time Lords had taken from him.
A variation of this room was used in The Time Meddler as the Monk's TARDIS, and in Hell Bent as another Type 40 in storage.
yes this is goodie good good :)
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