User:SOTO/Forum Archive/The Panopticon/@comment-4028641-20170726200656

I've created this forum to discuss the possibility of changing the header image at the top-right of the site. Currently the image is a picture of a bit of the TARDIS interior as it appeared in the David Tennant years. Frankly I think this image is bad, and I would like to see it be replaced.

First off, I think there's an awful stereotype of Doctor Who fans that we're all completely obsessed with the show as it existed from 2005 to 2009, and that we only watch it in case there's a cheeky mention of Jackie Tyler or an Ood cameo. Frankly most people who edit this site don't work like this. Using an image of the RTD-era TARDIS interior 7 years after it stopped being used regularly within the show just gives the wrong impression to our users.

Frankly the image shown is just butt-ugly. The console is half-in-shot, there's tons of distractions -- be it the weird rust effect, the pillar barely floating into shot at the exact moment where the fade takes place, or all the wires strewn about. Most of all, the Tennant TARDIS set is not meant to be printed in black-and-white while tinted blue. It just looks weird.

I spoke with some users in private, and we came to the conclusion that it would be hard to find a better image from the Capaldi TARDIS. We could find an equally good image, but as this image isn't good we decided against that. The set's designed to be heavily console-specific, as is the Tennant control room, and it's hard to make that style of image look great with any of the post-1996 TARDIS interiors. So instead, one user created a classic-series roundel design. Now this is a good call for many reasons. First off, it's a beloved design that has been in-use since An Unearthly Child. It gets brought back all the time, and it's very likely to be a recognizable image for the show -- much more likely than the octagon-rust-light from the RTD era. Second, it's been used regularly in the recent seasons of the show -- in fact the image itself is from Hell Bent. Third of all, it just looks good. The roundels are designed to be shown in a black-and-white design, as we have to have this be done, and it just fits the space much better.