01
TARDIS ROUNDEL
Recreating one of the defining features of the 1983 Console Room.
ARCHIVE RECORD: ORIGIN
THE BACK STORY
How do you bring a lost piece of television history back to life?
What began as an idea became two years of research, measurements, prototypes, experiments, wrong turns, problem-solving and an extraordinary amount of craftsmanship.
This is a glimpse behind the doors of The Console Room: the people who built it, the challenges they faced, and the journey from an empty space to a TARDIS that visitors could finally step inside.
01
THE BEGINNING
IT STARTED WITH AN IDEA
This was never simply about building a prop.
The ambition was to recreate an iconic piece of television history: the TARDIS Console Room introduced for Doctor Who's twentieth anniversary story, The Five Doctors, in 1983.
But recreating something that no longer exists is rather different from copying something standing in front of you.
It meant researching photographs, studying surviving footage, comparing dimensions, examining colours that changed under studio lighting and working out how pieces originally made for television could be recreated as something real, physical and permanent.
And somewhere along the way, the ambition grew. The aim was no longer simply to recreate a room. It was to make it live again.
02
BEHIND THE SCENES
THE CONSOLE ROOM: REGENERATED
Very early in the project, we realised that the journey itself was worth recording.
The Console Room: Regenerated became a series of mini-films following the build behind the scenes: from painstaking research and intricate measurements to sourcing materials, experimenting with techniques and crafting individual details.
But the films were never intended to be only about pieces of wood, plastic, electronics and paint. The real story was also about the people behind them: collaboration, creativity, craftsmanship and the slightly ridiculous determination required to turn an idea like this into reality.
FEATURE 01
THE CONSOLE ROOM: REGENERATED
The story of an ambitious project to recreate an iconic piece of Doctor Who history and bring the 1983 Console Room back to life.
FEATURE 02
EARLY TEASER CONCEPT TRAILER
An early concept trailer created while The Console Room was still taking shape and the finished experience existed largely in our imagination.
02
CREATING THE STUDIO
Before the TARDIS could exist, we first needed somewhere to build it.
03
MEASURING THE RANI'S TARDIS
Getting close to surviving TARDIS architecture to understand the original dimensions and construction.
04
STRIP FITTING THE WALLS
Bringing the distinctive wall structure of the Console Room together.
05
STUDIO BUILD UPDATE
Brendan gives an update as the studio build continues to take shape.
06
MEET DARRYL
Darryl introduces himself and gives us a look inside his electronics cave.
07
BUILDING THE ROUNDEL WALLS
Simon begins putting together the distinctive roundel wall sections.
08
BUILDING THE TIME ROTOR
Darryl starts assembling the central column that would become the heart of the time rotor.
03
TWO YEARS OF MAKING
BUILDING THE IMPOSSIBLE
Eventually, all of the research had to become something real.
Walls, lighting, doors, electronics, the Police Box, the time rotor and the console itself all had to move from drawings, measurements and ideas into physical objects.
These films capture some of the moments when the project began to stop looking like a collection of individual parts and started becoming The Console Room.
BUILD FILM 01
THE STUDIO IS FINISHED
Christmas Day 2025, and for the first time the studio itself was complete. The empty shell that had existed only to house an idea was finally ready to become a TARDIS.
With the room finished, attention could turn to what would actually live inside it, including the details, objects and unmistakably 1980s touches that would eventually become part of the game.
BUILD FILM 02
LIGHTING THE HEART OF THE TARDIS
Darryl talks through the challenge of creating the lighting system for the time rotor, one of the most recognisable features of the entire room.
Inside the central column is an intricate piece of engineering that most visitors will never see, but it is this hidden work that gives the finished rotor its movement, glow and sense of life.
BUILD FILM 03
ONE LAST POLICE BOX
Simon introduces the Police Box that would live alongside The Console Room, the final one he made while working at This Planet Earth.
It became much more than an exterior prop. It would eventually become the threshold between the game and the room itself: the moment visitors stop imagining the TARDIS and actually step inside it.
BUILD FILM 04
THE CONSOLE EMERGES
After months of quiet work, problem-solving, learning and construction, Simon and the students from Moulton College revealed what they had been creating.
For the first time, the shape that had existed in photographs, drawings and memories was suddenly standing there in three dimensions, and the project took a huge leap towards becoming real.
FROM THE WORKSHOP
More moments from the build as the electronics, walls, console and time rotor gradually came together.
05
THE BUILD SO FAR
A look at the progress being made as the different parts of the project begin to come together.
06
BUILDING THE TIME ROTOR
A time-lapse look at Darryl assembling the complex structure inside the central column.
07
LIGHTING THE WALLS
Darryl reveals the electronics behind the illuminated roundels and remote console controls, while Simon updates us on the main TARDIS doors.
08
THE PANELS TAKE SHAPE
Simon returns with another build update as the individual console panels begin to look increasingly like the finished machine.
09
PRECISION, PATIENCE & DETAIL
Simon talks through the painstaking work behind the console panels, where tiny differences and careful measurements make all the difference.
10
THE FIRST PROPER LOOK
Simon gives us a first substantial look at the new console — and suddenly the finished room no longer feels very far away.
11
INSIDE THE CONSOLE
Electronics begin to meet structure as two vital areas take shape: the systems that will bring the console to life and the lower console assembly itself.
04
THE TEAM
NO TARDIS IS BUILT ALONE
The Console Room may have begun as one person's slightly improbable idea, but it only became real because other people believed in it too.
Skilled craftspeople, makers, friends and supporters brought their own knowledge, patience and ingenuity to the project. Their fingerprints are everywhere, even when you cannot see them.
CRAFTSMANSHIP
SIMON NASH
Simon's craftsmanship sits at the heart of the project, from the Police Box to the painstaking construction of the console itself. Panel by panel, the centrepiece moved from drawings and dimensions into the machine visitors can now stand around and operate.
ELECTRONICS & ENGINEERING
DARRYL HARRISON
Darryl helped make the TARDIS live. Electronics, lighting, 3D-printed components, controls and specially created CRT-style monitor surrounds transformed static pieces into something that flashes, glows, responds and feels alive.
THE TEAM
GRAHAM BAWDEN
Part of the small team of people whose time, support and commitment helped turn an ambitious idea into a finished experience.
THE TEAM
JOSH SMITH
Part of the team behind the project, contributing to the enormous collective effort required to bring The Console Room from an idea into reality.
And they were not alone. The project grew through the skills, generosity and enthusiasm of many people who contributed props, components, knowledge, time and support throughout the build.
AND THEN THE DEADLINE BECAME VERY REAL
13.07.2026
TWO YEARS OF WORK.
ONE DAY TO OPEN THE DOORS.
By June 2026, everything was happening at once.
The TARDIS walls were being painted. The console had arrived. The time rotor was proving temperamental. Buttons were being sprayed, stencilled and glued. Props were arriving. The interactive game was being recorded and edited.
July was already sold out.
There was no longer a theoretical finishing date. On 13 July, people were coming.
For two years, The Console Room had been a project. On 13 July 2026, it became somewhere people could visit.
Friends, supporters and guests gathered in South Kyme as Sophie Aldred — Ace in Doctor Who — officially opened The Console Room.
It was the moment all of those drawings, measurements, pieces of timber, failed experiments, flashing lights, late nights and seemingly endless buttons had been leading towards.
And perhaps the strangest part was watching other people walk through the doors for the first time. The room no longer belonged only to the people who had built it. Visitors could finally stand at the console, touch the controls and experience the recreation for themselves.
LAUNCH DAY GALLERY
A few moments from the day The Console Room finally opened its doors.
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INCOMING TRANSMISSION
THEN SOMETHING RATHER UNEXPECTED HAPPENED...
The story escaped from South Kyme.
Within days of opening, The Console Room was making headlines far beyond Lincolnshire.
BBC News covered the story, alongside national newspapers including The Sun, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Mail and The Independent. Regional and online coverage followed too, with Lincolnshire World, SWNS, AOL, the Manchester Evening News and others picking up the story.
What had begun as a slightly improbable idea, followed by two years of building in South Kyme, was suddenly being seen by people across the country.
And in some ways it brought the project full circle: something inspired by television had somehow found its way back onto television again.
BEFORE THE DOORS OPENED
OUR FIRST BBC VISIT
Before the launch-day headlines arrived, BBC Northampton came to see what was being created. This early report captured The Console Room while the project was still very much a work in progress.
IN THE NEWS
Select a story to read the original coverage.
BBC NEWS
DOCTOR WHO FAN BUILDS 1983 TARDIS IN BACK GARDEN
READ THE STORY →
LINCOLNSHIRE WORLD
THE CONSOLE ROOM OPENS ITS DOORS
READ THE STORY →
SWNS
THE £30,000 FULL-SIZE TARDIS
READ THE STORY →
DAILY MAIL
WHO NEEDS A SHED?
READ THE STORY →
AOL
DOCTOR WHO FAN BUILDS 1983 TARDIS IN BACK GARDEN
READ THE STORY →
MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS
I SPENT £30,000 BUILDING A TARDIS
READ THE STORY →
YOUR LOCAL LINCS
STEP INSIDE THE CONSOLE ROOM
WATCH THE VIDEO →
THE STORY CONTINUES
AND THAT'S ONLY PART OF THE STORY...
What you've seen here are moments from the journey. The full story is rather bigger.
Creating The Console Room tells the story behind the research, discoveries, mistakes, challenges, people and extraordinary amount of work that went into bringing a lost piece of television history back to life.
If you want to know what really happened behind the scenes, that's where you'll find it.
DISCOVER THE BOOK