Doctor Who Prop Hunt

Last time I posted all about these small box panels that featured seemingly endless patterns of lights and knobs . Well, this panel design was also often incorporated into larger props. Here are all of the larger versions that I’ve found. Like the individual panels, there is a lot of variation in the layout of the lights, switches etc but they are all made up of the same basic elements. THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN, 1981 FOUR TO DOOMSDAY, 1982 In this case it’s the small cabinet to left of Bigon. EARTHSHOCK, 1982 WARRIORS OF THE DEEP, 1984 THE TWIN DILEMMA, 1984 ATTACK OF THE CYBERMEN, 1985

This is not the post I had planned at all! I’ve been working on something else for a while. In fact I’m a bit late with that as the research has taken longer than normal. But in the meantime something popped up and I just had to share it. Friday evenings on our house are filled with the BBC4 repeats of Top of the Pops. One of the episodes this week, from May 1984, featured something that made me point at my telly like Leonardo DiCarprio. It was this trio of consoles. But what Doctor Who stories feature these props and why were they on Top of the Pops? First let’s look at their Doctor Who appearances. The unit with the circular screen can be seen in The Twin Dilemma. Designer Valerie Warrender made sure to give it a suitably glittery finish. THE TWIN DILEMMA, 1984 Here is a closer look at the console screen.  The consoles next appearance is the very next story, Attack of the Cybermen. This story features several variations on the same prop. Some featuring the circular screen and oth...