PUT THEM IN THE IRON MAIDEN!

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The prop that featured as The Master’s ‘Iron Maiden’ TARDIS had a long and illustrious career on British TV and even appeared in a classic of British cinema. Here is a look at all of the occasions I have been able to spot this prop to date.


ADAM ADAMANT LIVES!, 1966

This is the earliest I have been able to find the Iron Maiden. The episode is called Death Has A Thousand Faces. To be totally honest the jury is out on this one. The face of the prop is a match but the AAL example has its doors open so you can’t see the Maiden’s errr…charms. There are also a couple of alternative versions of this prop that I’ll look at later which muddy the waters a bit. Still I’m pretty confident it’s the right one.

THE AVENGERS, 1967

From the season 5 episode Murdersville.

CARRY ON HENRY, 1971

Yes, our Maiden is a film star. In this scene there is a gag with the engaged sign from a toilet. It’s filmed in close up to appear attached to the Iron Maiden. However it can’t be seen in the medium shots like this one so I assume it was a separate prop and not part of the maiden.

BLACKADDER THE FIRST, 1983

The Iron Maiden appears in Edmund’s quarters throughout the first season of Blackadder.



THE KINGS DEMONS, 1983

And finally, it’s the Doctor Who we all know this prop from. I haven’t been able to find any later uses of the Iron Maiden but there are a couple of additional extra items to discuss. Firstly The Kings Demons features a second Iron Maiden. It’s very similar to The Master’s TARDIS but features a taller, plain, body. The band under the Maidens face is also plain unlike The Master’s version which features a series of grooves.

SECOND IRON MAIDEN IN 
THE KINGS DEMONS


JONATHAN CREEK, 2009

One of my Instagram followers alerted me to a possible sighting of the Iron Maiden in a much more recent production. It’s a bit tricky to tell from this dark screen shot but there appears to be a very familiar prop lurking in the back of a scene in Jonathan Creek. However while the head is a match the body is much wider. But a thought occurred to me, could this prop still be around. Doctor Who frequently used an outside company called The Trading Post to provide all manner of props. They are still going today and have a searchable catalogue of props on their website. With a little bit of searching I was able to find not only the wide bodied Jonathan Creek prop but also, amazingly, The Master’s TARDIS.

JONATHAN CREEK PROP
tradingposthire.co.uk

THE MASTERS TARDIS
tradingposthire.co.uk





 


 

 

















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