Consoling Thoughts

I love this scene. And it gets lots of mileage from “well, he left the brakes on again”…

But why would the TARDIS need brakes to begin with?

It’s certainly not to keep it in place when it lands (like brakes on a car would).

The TARDIS has fallen off a hillside before. Or off a cliff.

It materialized on it’s side in Ice Warriors.

And even Idris used “the noise” to convince the Doctor she was the TARDIS in human form.

So, it’s just a good one-liner.

And Doctor Who has way to many to mention here.

But they can cut the tension.

And River Song was good for that, especially as she was taught by someone unnamed (But not the Doctor) to fly the TARDIS better than him. And taking the mickey out of him for it is just fun.

His pride and joy.

The TARDIS as has been mentioned before is an amazing “magic box” of wonders. It is the hopes and dreams of all the fans.

But as we approach the 50th Anniversary one thing also has to be said about the TARDIS: Even though it has changed radically over the years and different regenerations of it’s own the central concept of the console room has remained the same for 50 years.

Like the theme, which is recognizable 50 years later, The console room is the heart of it all. The jumping off point for the adventure most of the time. Occasionally, the center or an important part of it,but always the jumping off point.

It is recognizable from William Hartnell to Matt Smith.

The Console itself while getting more elaborate is still largely a hexagonal console with the up-and-down Time Rotor in the middle. And there is a Monitor Screen somewhere to be able to look put from the Console room.

Hat Stands and other bits and bobs come and go but these elements stay.

While some shows might go for a radical change and make it “edgy” and unrecognizable, the current TARDIS Console Room is essentially just an upgraded version of the original.

There is continuity there. There is security. There is safety there.

So no matter how weird and wonderful the adventure is, the Console Room is there. It’s stable. It’s familiar.

Hence when The First Doctor and Susan walk into The Fifth Doctors TARDIS it may be strange but it’s recognizable.

When The Fifth Doctor enters the The Tenth Doctors TARDIS he immediately know most of how it works and makes a crack about the “desktop theme”.

But it’s still a hexagonal console and a Time Rotor and a Monitor screen. The rest is just dressing.

Except for the Rundles. They are still there, even now but they have mutated into blue lights around the perimeter.

And besides the police box what is the most likely thing to be built with pride by the fans, the Console!

I have two TARDIS Play sets in my house. The Tenth’s “coral” theme and the Eleventh multi-leveled “kaleidoscope” of colors (as I call it).

Admittedly, the BBC never really made play sets that an American could have gotten a hold of very easily before, there was a play set of the 80’s era Console that came out in 1987 but getting it back in the day was not happening.

There was even a “design a console” contest in the UK.

And it was still hexagonal with a time rotor, even from the mind of an 11 year old.

So as things change, some things, some very good things, don’t.

Why mess with a great idea.

And Doctor Who has many of them. They have history, and few shows have this much history.

They have continuity, even across 50 years.

And that’s worth celebrating.