The implication of the scribbled-out Gallifreyan text on the side is that it’s a well-used tape from the TARDIS. That, or the Doc carries around an injection moulding unit and some plastic granules wherever he goes…
I’ve just read it again, and you actually say “tape recorder”, not “video” (I was thinking about in in the shower and assumed that’s how my confusion arose and then typed he above without looking…idiot). Surely he built the tape recorder? That’s what all the valves and components were for? Surely the tape itself is the bigger mystery..?
That tape is shorter and fatter than a VHS. And VHS tapes have two half-circle transparent sections through which you can view the tape, whilst Betamax have one full-circle with a label…like that one.
Why would the Beeb spend all that money acquiring 50s props only to scrimp on one thing they have thousands of already? Do you really think that a set full of video technicians would let them use the wrong type of tape?
Statto said,
May 29, 2006 at 4:34 pm
Yes it was!!
The Pacifist said,
May 30, 2006 at 8:01 am
A slightly different issue of course is that if he claims to have invented the home video 30 years early, where did the tape recorder come from?
Statto said,
May 30, 2006 at 8:36 am
Surely…err…he invented it?
Scatman Dan said,
May 30, 2006 at 8:38 am
Presumabley he built that too!
Statto said,
May 30, 2006 at 8:53 am
Oh, I see, the video cassette…
The implication of the scribbled-out Gallifreyan text on the side is that it’s a well-used tape from the TARDIS. That, or the Doc carries around an injection moulding unit and some plastic granules wherever he goes…
Statto said,
May 30, 2006 at 12:59 pm
I’ve just read it again, and you actually say “tape recorder”, not “video” (I was thinking about in in the shower and assumed that’s how my confusion arose and then typed he above without looking…idiot). Surely he built the tape recorder? That’s what all the valves and components were for? Surely the tape itself is the bigger mystery..?
JTA said,
May 30, 2006 at 10:11 pm
Nah. The valves were to reverse the un-broadcasting thingy.
And I still think that it’s a VHS tape; betamaxes are shorter and fatter than that one…
Statto said,
May 30, 2006 at 11:06 pm
That tape is shorter and fatter than a VHS. And VHS tapes have two half-circle transparent sections through which you can view the tape, whilst Betamax have one full-circle with a label…like that one.
Why would the Beeb spend all that money acquiring 50s props only to scrimp on one thing they have thousands of already? Do you really think that a set full of video technicians would let them use the wrong type of tape?