Yeah the first photo we saw of the previous Console Room was much brighter than how it appeared on screen. I imagine this one will look a bit different on screen as well.
I guess as the show-runner he has to be loyal to his employers and try and explain away why the new control room was made for about £3.50.
I'm looking at the pic, and I"m thinking: Factory setting. This is what the/a TARDIS's control room probably looks like when they're in professional service to the Time Lords. We know from previews that the Doctor is going through a "fuck you" period in the aftermath of losing Amy and Rory, the TARDIS exterior looks beat up, and the new console room doesn't display any of his personal touches. This is it: He's going through the motions, doesn't care about anything, anyone, and he's burying his personality.
Well the "not caring about anyone" only lasts for one episode, so I doubt that had much to do with it. I think it's more that he's feeling reflective about his past now, and wants to get back to the basics. The previous Console Room was really the outlier of the bunch, being so much more fanciful than anything else he's had, and reflecting the fairytale character Amy saw him as. This is him simply returning more to the standard style.
Wow that looks bad. It doesn't look that bad on screen. Are we getting this new console on Christmas do we know?
A thought occurs. When I went through the Doctor Who Experience at Cardiff, in the "experience" bit you go into the TARDIS control room and there is an 11/Amy Console there. I just assumed it was a replica and the original was still in service, but quite possibly it WAS the original and this new one was already built and being used for season 7b.
I used photoshops ability to virtually change the lighting of a picture. I tried my best to simulate what it might look like when lighted properly for filming. Here is the result, comments and suggestions please :-)
It had character, it was a bit alien, it looked cozy and homey and photographed really well in spite of the odd angles and varied surfaces. This new set honestly looks like something from a fanfilm.
There's speculation at Gallifrey Base that the new console room set is designed to be taken down and stored for when it's not needed, much like the original console room sets were, which would explain why it's not as elaborate since it needs to be easily dismantled and easily reassembled on a regular basis.
I'm picturing a BBC exec turning purple in a meeting and screaming "You WELDED it in place? And you spent how much?" I'm desperately hoping that those lit roundels have the purpose of projecting a holo screen round the control room to see out. One of my favourite parts of old Who was that they'd look out the "window" before stepping out.
It isn't about how "elaborate" (or not) it is. The new one is simply under-designed. You can have a minimal design that isn't boring, even one that has to be able to come apart.
I don't think it's designed to come apart for storage - however, it may be designed to have wall segments come off for more dynamic shooting, as it would on a Star Trek set. The previous two sets were not designed to have such "wild" walls. Mark
In the American movie, there was one scene where the Doctor showed Grace the outcome of the current timeline with a hologram that replaced the ceiling dome and walls. I hope you're right, because that was a cool feature. A Console Room equivalent to the Bridge?! Oh, man, you just gave me goosebumps. I'd happily put up with the things I don't like about this new set to get something like that!
What? Since when is a Star Trek bridge particularly dynamic? I've quite liked the camera work in the TARDIS the last couple seasons. It was far more 'Dynamic' than anything I can recall seeing on a Trek bridge.
I think people are overreacting a bit, considering we're only getting a limited view of the upper level here. Once we get a wider view of the whole room, with the lower level and the ceiling above, I expect it'll look quite a bit more grand than this.
When was the last time you watched the Doctor walk around the Console Room? Now watch, for example, Star Trek's "The Doomsday Machine" in which the camera at one point or another, is pointed at every single wall on the Bridge. Any of the hero Bridge sets in Star Trek existed as fully-realized and enclosed spaces, even if -- in any given scene -- only a portion of that set was in place and functioning. The same cannot be said for the Console Rooms, which at best existed as little more than half of the rooms they represented. As a result, the director is limited by the angles he can shoot.