3. The Secondary Control Room
The Secondary Console room is a vision in mahogany and the best touch by far is the small number of stained glass roundels dotted around the walls. The whole room oozes quality and sophistication and though a radical departure from the established design, all the previously established elements are there. Gone is the battleship grey yet we have the hexagonal console, the roundels and scanner. The layout too is completely different, but Ill allow that. Its a clever design and something I think the new series owes credit to. Things like the multilayered platform and railings. The only downside is that the whole thing is rather static. The console has no column, which is actually quite a big deal. There is nothing to suggest the ship is in flight or functioning, which is rather disappointing. Even if there was just a little one or even some flashing lights it might be a bit more entertaining to watch. We never got to see any more of the TARDIS like this, in fact as we see in its first appearance, behind the interior door was just the normal décor. This control room was only seen a handful of times in Tom Bakers third season. After that, some say the wood warped in storage, others say it was deliberately damaged because the incoming producer hated it. Either way, the following year, the previously listed and awful Fourth Doctor control room came in. A huge step backwards, but just as well because otherwise K9 would have never got down the steps.