TV Props

[ajv]

I was rewatching a Classic Doctor Who story and remembered that I was going to point out the use of a prop to Apollo mission fans.

[I noticed this years ago and it's possible that I've posted it before on this forum or a previous one - sorry if it's a repeat.]

In the story "The Pirate Planet", the Doctor enters a control room - and what do we see as one of the control panels he walks past?

https://www.ad-lunam.com/vlcsnap-1978-10-07.png


You can only see the left-hand side of the panel in this particular screen shot, but I think you can see this looks very similar to the Apollo Command Module main display console:

https://airandspace.si.edu/sites/default/files/images/5131h.jpg


It's so similar that I wonder whether they reused a prop that was meant to match the real-life Apollo spacecraft - perhaps in their coverage of the real missions or a space drama show.

[Obviousman]

Great pickup! I can't be sure if I ever saw that episode (I stopped watching after Tom Baker) but I never noticed.

It's possible it was left over from the Apollo 11 coverage, as you suggest:

The London studio set consisted of a long, angled desk, large models of the moon and the Earth, and a large picture of a rocket against a dark, “cosmic”- type background. On the front of the desk was a digital clock which counted down the time to lift-off etc. Film animations and models of various parts of the spacecraft helped explain certain stages of the journey.

[Dalhousie]

Great pickup! I can't be sure if I ever saw that episode (I stopped watching after Tom Baker) but I never noticed.

The Pirate Planet was Tom Baker episode 

[Obviousman]

Great pickup! I can't be sure if I ever saw that episode (I stopped watching after Tom Baker) but I never noticed.

The Pirate Planet was Tom Baker episode 

LOL! Yes, I did see that it was him but that was the era when I wasn't watching as much; I don't remember seeing that ep... actually I don't think I ever saw his 'regeneration'.