Doctor Who Prop Hunt

I always like to give props a memorable nickname, like the ‘wide blue’ and ‘tall blue’ reel to reel computer units. So I’ve called these items Space Washboards as they remind me of an old fashioned washboard. So far I’ve found these item around the late seventies, early eighties. But if you know of them turning up anywhere else please let me know. DESTINY OF THE DALEKS, 1979 The earliest appearance I can find is in the ruins of the Dalek City on Skaro. These sets are so rammed full of junk I have to assume the washboards were just stock items. That would indicate earlier appearances but so far I don’t know where. WARRIORS GATE, 1981 This is the first of a couple of 1981 appearances. ORBIT, 1981 And here is the other. It’s really common for Doctor Who props from this time to turn up in Blakes 7. So here it is being carried by Villa. TERMINUS, 1983 And a whole bunch of them can be found in this Season 20 story.  That’s it for now. Back soon.

This time it’s a couple of props that have been on my radar for ages. I’d hoped to find more examples but this is as much as I have ever found. Following my recent appearance on A Hamster With A Blunt Penknife discussing Destiny of the Daleks I found I was back to looking for these props again. Anyway here is what I have for now, I shall of course provide updates if I find them in anything else. DESTINY OF THE DALEKS, 1979 Towards the middle of this screen grab you can see a hubcap catching the light. The Skaro sets in Destiny are full of junk, but for some reason it’s the hubcaps that always stick out to me. In fact there are a bunch of different hubcaps across the various sets.  POWERPLAY, 1980 Naturally for a Doctor Who story from the late 70’s these hubcaps also turn up in Blakes 7. Powerplay is an episode from series C. LUNA, 1983 It’s really hard to see in this blurry screen grab but a hubcap can just about by made out on the left hand side of the screen. As far as I know Lun...

Hey! This week I take a look at the Dalek’s slave labour from Destiny. This eclectic bunch are dressed in some familiar looking rags. They basically had whatever could be found in the stores. So let’s dive and see what we can spot. I’ll be highlighting the costumes that are being discussed in this ready brek style. This screen grab is from Destiny Part 4 and we can see a man in a blue and white futuristic suit. That suit comes from… PLANET OF EVIL, 1975 Destiny of the Daleks actually features two sets of slaves. The group on location was a different set of extras to those in the studio. Some of the costumes appear in both and the Morestran suit can be seen on the far left of this screen grab. It does seem to have lost its belt between the location and the studio.  FRONTIER IN SPACE, 1973 The Morestran suit isn’t the only familiar costume in the Destiny screen grab above. As you can see below the Draconian costume from Frontier (minus the belt and jewel) is also present.  And t...

Over the last couple of weeks premier Doctor Who podcast Radio Free Skaro has given this humble blog a few shout outs. Steven Schapansky of RFS has been discussing his passion for the spiral staircase I covered ages ago here and here . Well, I thought I’d look a look at another staircase, this time from the 1980s. It’s a staircase that featured a few times in 80’s Who and also turned up a lot in the final season of Blakes 7. I’m tentatively calling this post part 1 as I suspect there are more appearances out there that I have not yet found. MEGLOS, 1980 This is the earliest I have been able to find these stairs. They can be identified by their rather minimalist design with flat wedge shaped steps and straight unadorned supporting poles.  RESCUE, 1981 This episode of Blakes 7 is the premiere of Series D. In the episode Avon and Co establish a new base of operations on Xenon. This base appeared throughout the season and, of course, featured a familiar white staircase. HEADHUNTER, 1...

This week on Instagram I posted pictures with a ‘seating’ theme. One of them featured this designer chair  This is an Elda chair designed by Joe Columbo in the Sixties. I normally shy away from posting about ‘real world’ items that you could conceivably buy (if you happened to have a spare 10K). Partly because when you see it in multiple shows it’s unlikely to be the same prop. And partly because other people have covered this very well elsewhere. When it comes to chairs the absolute key source is Tim Dickinson’s sublime Pink For Your Actual Pterodactyl . I’m indebted to Tim for the information in this post. Other blogs Film and Furniture and catacombs.space1999.net also proved to be invaluable. THE WHEEL IN SPACE, 1968 Here’s that picture I mentioned at the top. It’s a really familar image of Zoe in a massive chair. But I’d never noticed how much that chair turns up elsewhere.  THE WHEEL IN SPACE, 1968 Here’s another image from Wheel so you can see the whole thing. DAY OF T...

This week I’m looking at some computer panels from the early eighties. Like my last post, it’s a group of props that share a common design but are all a little different. They are grey boxes that are divided into two or three sections. And each section features a seemly random arrangement of coloured lights and black knobs. Here is a typical example… They are found in several stories from 1981 to 1984 and, apart from one instance, they all feature a unique pattern of lights and knobs. WARRIORS GATE, 1981 A couple of examples of the two sectioned, smaller, panels. Plus a three sectioned unit peeking out from behind Romana. THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN, 1981 A rare example where the panel is not mounted on a wall. We get a clear look at how these boxes are put together. LOGOPOLIS, 1981 The last of three examples from Season 18. SAND, 1981 In the same year as season 18, we get a couple of appearances in Blake’s 7. First in Sand and then in… BLAKE, 1981 FOUR TO DOOMSDAY, 1982 The first of a couple...