TARDIS console (The Snowmen)

TARDIS console
Type:	TARDIS control console
Used by:	Eleventh Doctor, Twelfth Doctor
First appearance:	The Snowmen

Main TARDIS consoles on TV

The TARDIS control room used by the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors had a sleek, technologically-unified TARDIS control console. Unlike other consoles, this one notably had two more additional control panels surrounding it.

Associated control rooms

This console was part of the TARDIS control room used by the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors. (TV: Deep Breath ^[+]Loading...["Deep Breath (TV story)"], The Day of the Doctor ^[+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"], et al.)

Panel 4 of this console was part of the Remembered TARDIS. (TV: Earthshock ^[+]Loading...["Earthshock (TotT TV story)"])

Missy's TARDIS control room used the same console with a different time rotor. (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"])

The same console panels and controls appeared in a dying TARDIS encountered by the Twelfth Doctor. (COMIC: Playing House ^[+]Loading...["Playing House (comic story)"])

Central console layout

The console's panels are listed here in clockwise order, starting with the panel facing the TARDIS doors in the placement first seen in the episode The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"].

Cross-section of the console's interior technology. (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"])

The console in this room was at the centre of the main deck and had a very sophisticated and technological appearance. The base of the console was a supported glass cylinder which was lit in a very bright green light. The six control panels formed a hexagonal console, with each panel containing different types of controls.(TV: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS)

The rotor itself contained six green rods which lit up most of the room, and was again raised to the ceiling. The rods and light at the console base were changed to orange by the Twelfth Doctor. (TV: Deep Breath) Above the rotor was a series of three spinning roundels with Gallifreyan symbols embellished on various panels, which moved in opposing directions when the TARDIS was in flight. Just like the previous console, there was a continued system below the control deck, which continued with the lit rods with six metallic protrusions for support, ending with six hinged compartments on the floor that the Doctor had different functions for. (TV: The Bells of Saint John, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, The Time of the Doctor).

Also beneath the deck, again similar to the previous console, was another system of wires for TARDIS functionality. Among these systems was a secondary link to the TARDIS telepathic circuits; the Doctor used this feature on Clara to retrieve details regarding Trenzalore. (TV: The Name of the Doctor)

These panels could be individually separated from the console structure. (TV: The Day of the Doctor, Kill the Moon, Under the Lake)

Monitors

Unlike previous consoles, it had two screens, which moved on a rail around the time rotor. The Eleventh Doctor once had a special mounting for his Cyber-head, 'Handles', connected to this rail. (TV: The Time of the Doctor)

Panel 1

The panel facing the TARDIS doors was composed of several controls.

A button in the middle was for navigational control and a lever on the right side was for control room lighting. (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"])

Panel 2

The next panel clockwise had a large oval screen which was the secondary display/environment monitor. (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"])

Panel 3

The next panel clockwise was the telepathic circuits. (TV: Listen)

Panel 4

The panel furthest from the doors was the one with the major of controls for flying the TARDIS.

On its right side was the main dematerialisation lever. (TV: The Day of the Doctor, Kill the Moon ^[+]Loading...["Kill the Moon (TV story)"], PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"])

Its left side had a large rotary lever which could be used to keep the TARDIS grounded, countering the dematerialisation lever. (TV: Kill the Moon ^[+]Loading...["Kill the Moon (TV story)"]) The Twelfth Doctor once called it a hand-brake. (TV: Under the Lake ^[+]Loading...["Under the Lake (TV story)"]) A TARDIS Instruction Manual labelled it as the primary exterior door control. (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"])

The first switch of the middle row was the space-time co-ordinate input. (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"])

The fourth switch of the top row was the friction contrafibulator. (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"])

Panel 5

The next panel clockwise had more variety of controls.

Its right circle was the space-time telegraph. (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"])

The left circle was the sonic screwdriver charging dock, (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"]) which fulfilled the same function as a fabrication dispenser when it created the Twelfth Doctor's second sonic screwdriver. (TV: Hell Bent ^[+]Loading...["Hell Bent (TV story)"])

Panel 6

The next panel clockwise had many wheels and gears. (TV: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS) A socket in the upper left corner was the basic mode key. (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"])

Additional control panels

The console had two "additional control panels" (PROSE: TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual ^[+]Loading...["TARDIS Type 40 Instruction Manual (reference book)"]) which curved on the other side of the platform on which a pilot would use this console. (TV: The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"])

Several of the controls on these panels (TV: Hide ^[+]Loading...["Hide (TV story)"], et al.) also appeared on the the TARDIS console used by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors. (TV: The Star Beast ^[+]Loading...["The Star Beast (TV story)"])

History

During his period of grieving the losses of Amy and Rory, the Eleventh Doctor became a recluse; landing his TARDIS on a cloud in Victorian England, and changed the desktop to suit his mood. (TV: The Snowmen)

This console was destroyed when the Thirteenth Doctor pressed a button after her regeneration from the Twelfth Doctor; the time rotor was engulfed in flames and shattered as the console panel she was holding onto gave way, causing the Doctor to fall from the ship. (TV: Twice Upon a Time)

Regular usage

• When the Eleventh Doctor first showed Clara Oswin Oswald the inside of his TARDIS, he manipulated a variety of controls on panels 4 and 5 as he talked to her. (TV: The Snowmen ^[+]Loading...["The Snowmen (TV story)"])
• When the Doctor and Clara were arguing, the Doctor pulled the dematerialisation lever to leave Coal Hill School but Clara immediately pulled the hand-brake to stop him, keeping the TARDIS at the school. (TV: Kill the Moon ^[+]Loading...["Kill the Moon (TV story)"])
• When the TARDIS wanted to leave the Drum, the Doctor used the hand-brake on panel 4 to keep it grounded. (TV: Under the Lake ^[+]Loading...["Under the Lake (TV story)"])

Behind the scenes

• In the real world, this console is commonly known as the "Toyota console". (TEDW 2)
• Richard Hardy designed this console's panels. His intention with the gear-heavy panel was that it was where the Doctor "turns handles to decide on his timeline". (REF: Impossible Worlds)
• Despite having seemingly sci-fi buttons such as "retro time fwd", "retro time bwd", and "show earth pos", Panel 5's keyboard is composed of keys taken from a 1992 National Grid control panel.
• A Minecraft version of this console appears in an episode of The Fan Show in a Minecraft-based desktop theme uploaded to the databanks of the Doctor's TARDIS by the YouTuber Ben as a surprise for Christel Dee. This console had the same telepathic circuits on panel 3, as well as an etheric beam locator on panel 2, the shield oscillator on panel 1, the food machine on one of the additional control panels, temporal Glowstone stabilisers on panel 6, and the Netherrack Thermocouplings as the red buttons at the end of one of the additional control panels. (WC: Doctor Who Minecraft ^[+]Loading...["Doctor Who Minecraft (webcast)"])