HEXAGON ADDENDUM ADDENDUM

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It’s part 4 of a 2 part series all about the vac formed wall design from The Mutants! I thought I was done with this prop but I was tipped off to a couple of appearances I hadn’t previously found. So this post is just to wrap those new items before I move onto something else. 

THE LEGEND OF ROBIN HOOD, 1975

An unexpected period piece. The hexagon wall design is actually found on the ceiling this time. This show actually helps me to fill in the blanks a little. Originally I had not been able to find anything between The Mutants and The Stones of Blood. But, along with The Deadly Assassin which I covered last time, we can see that this prop was in use during the mid seventies after all.
RED DWARF, 1988-99

The hexagons appear a few times during the shows original run. In particular in the enlarged Starbug set of series VII. You can see it at the top of this screen grab.

So with these two appearances I have now found 10 Classic Doctor Who stories and 10 additional programmes that have made use of The Mutants wall design. I’ve updated my chart to include all of these appearances. But I have no doubt this is not the last I’ve seen of this prop. If you do know of something I’ve missed please get in touch.


Before I say goodbye to the hexagons there is just one last point to make. Over on Bluesky @beeblepete let me know that the design used in The Mutants is actually very close to the design used by NASA in its Skylab space station. Astronauts aboard the Skylab had special cleats on their shoes which would connect with the hexagons enabling them to stand on any surface. Skylab was being build during 1972, the year that The Mutants was broadcast. And although it wasn’t launched until the following year, its manufacture had been publicised. The design is so close it’s clear Jeremy Bear, the designer of The Mutants, had been inspired by Skylab. BeeblePete was able to visit the Johnson Space Center in Houston and see a full size cut away of Skylab. You can take a look at his blog on the visit here.  I’d like to thank Pete and everyone who submitted information on this prop for their help.








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