The Continuity GuideEagle Guide
by Martin Willey and Marcus Lindroos
The Continuity Guide
The access corridor between the command module and the passenger module was shortened in Year 2 by cutting out one section. Some Year 1 episodes also got it wrong. In Missing Link, when the command module is separated from the rest, Koenig's stretcher extends through the open door of pilot section into the corridor. In Dragon's Domain, when the separated command module docks with the Ultra Probe, the corridor section goes with it.
Cut-away views of the access corridors and passenger module, by Andrew Novinc. See 360° panoramas here
Renders of the access corridors by Andrew.
The access corridor was the location of Sandra's abduction in The Full Circle, but was otherwise little seen. We only see the starboard side, which contains a double shelf unit for storage. The unseen port side may be identical (Roberto Baldassari and Keith Young assume the spacecraft galley is located there).
The access corridor shelf unit resurfaces in All That Glisters, as part of the laboratory Eagle set.
The starboard side front end of the set is labelled "Damage Control" in Dragon's Domain. The illuminated shelf unit in the middle contains various emergency equipment (ropes, an axe etc.). The panels above and below may house critical subsystems, accessible to the crew in case emergency repairs have to be made.
The illuminated panels in the middle are usually labelled with a red number "6". They may simply provide access to maintainable subsystems (e.g. the landing rocket engines), or they possibly contain the galley and toilet facilities.
The ceiling height is usually the same as that of the passenger module. However, in Dragon's Domain the ceiling is located directly above the door.
The access corridor supposedly houses the retractable laser turret seen in Year 2 as well. We never see the aft access corridor (although the forward section is briefly glimpsed in The Testament Of Arkadia). However, the forward and aft sections look identical from the outside so we can logically assume they contain similar subsystems. The aft corridor probably serves as a cargo hold.
The dimensions of the access corridor studio set do not match those of the Eagle special effects model access corridor. In particular, the aft end double shelf storage area is much wider than the SFX model. It would seem the aft sliding door cannot be fully opened as the SFX model corridor is only ~1.5 metres across!
A better solution would be to put the aft end storage area inside the passenger pod, which clearly is wide enough to accommodate it. However, this creates another consistency problem as there are no doors in the middle of the access corridor studio set. The solution is to extend and retract the entire access corridor (see animation). In docked configuration, the access corridor normally extends 1.5 metres into the passenger pod (the end doors are actually pushed toward the front bulkhead of the passenger pod compartment). If the pod needs to be detached, the docking port retracts back into the access corridor while pulling the pod end door back in place.
Copyright Martin Willey. Thanks to Marcus Lindroos.
