UNEARTHLY STATUES
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 to be built. Instead Smith constructed his own make shift sets in Television Centre. Interviewed in 2013 he said ‘we had bits of furniture in the waiting room, and it was just a matter of dragging anything in’. However he must have had a bit of an idea what would be included in the actual set because…..
The statue does appear on the set of An Unearthly Child, half hidden by the stairs. It’s interesting that both Steptoe and Doctor Who were being made in Lime Grove Studios so this could be the exact same one. I don’t know if it would have been dragged to Television Centre for the Don Smith pic but, as we will see, there is more than one of these statues. In any case we don’t really see the statue on screen in the broadcast episode. But…
THE PILOT, 1963
It can be seen on screen in The Pilot, peaking out of the shadows.
THE KEYS OF MARINUS, 1964
For the Marinus episode The Velvet Web, designer Ray Cusick grabbed hold of every stock statue he could get his hands on. Morphoton was actually constructed over two sets, one luxurious and one run down. This was done to help make a complex filming schedule slightly easier with some shots achieved with Hartnell, Ford and Russell on one set while Hill delivers lines, off screen, from the other. Cusick was able to find six of the same statue of the arm raised lady, three for each set. In order to emphasis their dilapidated state both sets of statues were covered in drapes with one set’s drapes reduced to rags. You can see two of them in the orange tubes on the left of this picture and you can see how the drapes hang off the arm.
THE CHASE, 1965
Journey Into Terror, episode four of The Chase, sees all six statues back in action. They have been dirtied up and their eyes painted brightly to fit the house of horrors theme.
THE TIME MEDDLER, 1965
One of the statues has been cleaned up and appears in The Meddling Monk’s collection.
THE WAR MACHINES, 1966
This one is hard to see but as I recently saw The War Machines on the big screen at Riverside Studios I can confirm they are definitely there. Three of the statutes can be found in the Inferno nightclub. They have been painted a dark colour and it looks like the bright eyes from The Chase have been kept. You can just about see one to the very left of this screen grab.
ADAM ADAMANT LIVES!, 1966
From the same episode as The Master’s Iron Maiden TARDIS and again a House of Horrors.
MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS, 1970
A blink and you’ll miss it appearance in the episode The Spanish Inquisition.
I, CLAUDIS, 1976
From episode 8, Zeus, by Jove!
THE GOODIES, 1977
Several of our ladies put in a showing at the trendsetters ball in the episode Punky Business. And yes, that is Tim Brooke- Taylor with a pumpkin on her head.
PARADISE TOWERS, 1987
Twenty Five years after the earliest I can find them and two of the statues are still going strong. They can be found brightening up Paradise Towers in the great pool in the sky.
And here’s the complete timeline. For now at least. If you have seen this statue anywhere please do let me know.
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