Doctor Who Prop Hunt

One year ago this statue kick started my interest in looking for reoccurring props in Doctor Who. It had always been something of an interest and I had covered the topic on my Instagram many times. But when I initially found this prop at the very beginnings of Who it sparked a little  bit of an obsession. In the intervening 12 months I’ve uncovered this lady (and 5 of her Sisters) in a variety of places. Presented here is all of my research so far. This has been previously published on my Instagram, @doctor_who_60s_70s_80s but includes a couple of new finds. STEP AND SON, 1962-65 Before Doctor Who, our statue lived in the front room of the Steptoes. She’s in this spot for pretty much all of Step and Son’s initial run.  DON SMITH RADIO TIMES PROMOTIONAL PHOTO, 1963 BBC TELEVISION CENTRE Radio Times photographer Don Smith was tasked with taking the initial publicity stills of the regulars on the 20th September 1963. However at this point the sets for An Unearthly Child had yet t...

I’m back with more sitings of the spiral staircase from UNIT HQ. A couple of people reached out to me with suggestions of different Doctor Who stories where it can be seen. This prompted me to look back through Classic Who to see what else I’d missed. So presented here are six more Doctor Who stories that feature this ubiquitous set of stairs. THE DALEKS’ MASTER PLAN, 1965 The mighty Gav Rymill, of the amazing YouTube channel Dalek 63.88 , pointed out the stairs are in The Feast of Steven. They can be seen in the background of this promotional photograph of Jean Marsh at the very bottom of the frame. Gav and John at Dalek 63.88 really set the standard for Doctor Who research so I’m really grateful for Gav reaching out. If you are not watching their videos you really should be. THE TENTH PLANET, 1966 The next appearance was another suggestion. Tim Dickinson let me know the staircase can be found in the crew’s quarters in The Tenth Planet. In fact they get a whopping great close up when...

Season Eight opener, Terror of the Autons, features a nifty new laboratory for the Doctor. And lurking in the back is a rather interesting spiral staircase. Interesting because it seems to turn up in all manner of other shows.  TERROR OF THE AUTONS, 1971 STEPTOE AND SON, 1962 The earliest I have been able to find the stairs is from the original run of Steptoe and Son, from 1962-65. They can be regularly spotted in the Steptoe’s junkyard, just next to their front door. READY STEADY GO!, 1965 Scottish pop pixie Lulu starts her performance of ‘Shout’ on a familiar set of stairs in a 1965 edition of Associated-Redifussions music show Ready Steady Go! In truth, I’m not 100% certain this is the same staircase. The shape of the steps and the balusters is correct but this staircase feels longer and sturdier than the other examples I have found. Lulu is actually able to walk down half of it and not kill herself. So the jury is out on this one. ADAM ADAMANT LIVES!, 1966 ‘So clever…but oh so ...