Doctor Who Prop Hunt

At Christmas the esteemed YouTube channel Dalek 63.88 released a video about the sets of Classic Who’s infamous holiday special - Feast of Steven. One of the things covered in the video was the spiral staircase I first looked at here . In the background of this picture of Jean Marsh you can just about make it out on the left. THE DALEKS MASTER PLAN, 1965 The spiral staircase has been in the air a bit lately. Between the Dalek 63.88 video and discussion on the Radio Free Skaro podcast it seems to be a topic of some interest. Steven Schapansky of RFS had hinted that I hadn’t found all of the Who appearances of this prop. That prompted me to take another look, and indeed I have found a couple I’d missed.  FURY FROM THE DEEP, 1968 On the veranda at the Harris’ gaff. THE MIND OF EVIL, 1971 A blink and you’ll miss it appearance in this establishing shot of the interior of Stangmoor Prison. The staircase is right on the edge of this set and as a result doesn’t often appear on screen. TH...

This week we dive into the dressing up box and look at just some of the reused classic Who costumes. Each of the outfits or accessories here appeared in two stories. Which begs the question - Who wore it better? MARCO POLO, 1964 Starting with a well known one. This outfit worn by Marco Polo (Mark Eden) was also worn by…. THE CELESTIAL TOYMAKER, 1966 … The Toymaker (Michael Gough). MARCO POLO, 1964 And sticking with Marco Polo, the blue tunic Mark Eden sports here later appeared in… THE CRUSADE, 1965 ….The Crusade, where it is worn by Richard the Lionheart (Julian Glover) THE DALEKS’ MASTER PLAN, 1965 Next up is the clash of the medallion men! From DMP it’s Zephon (Julian Sherrier). THE WAR GAMES, 1969 And from The War Games it’s the War Chief (Edward Brayshaw) PLANET OF THE DALEKS, 1973 On to the seventies and these marvellous sickly yellow space suits worn by the Thals.  THE ANDROID INVASION, 1975 And here we have Guy Crayford (Milton Johns) with one of those suits. THE ROBOTS OF ...

Hey! This one is a prop I’ve been putting off looking at since I started this blog.The dome topped ‘computer’ thingy is one of the more well known objects of sixties Doctor Who. I imagine that there are many fans that know far more about it than I do. Now this has often been the case with props I have looked at, but this was one I wanted to get right if I could. I have heard it said that there are actually two different domed computers, but I haven’t been able to separate out the examples I have seen. If you know anything about this one please let me know but in the meantime here are the appearances I am aware of. CURSE OF THE FLY, 1965 The earliest appearance I’m aware of is actually not from Doctor Who. The Curse of the Fly was a British made sequel to the classic sci-fi horror flick, The Fly. Filmed at Shepperton, it features a few familiar Doctor Who props. THE SPACE MUSEUM, 1965 The Curse of the Fly had a UK release in the May of 1965. At basically the same time the domed computer...

This week’s prolific props are these rather alien looking stools from The Sensorites. These multipurpose items were a mainstay of the Hartnell years, popping up in a number of stories. However their popularity with designers seems not to have extended beyond the Sixties, as exotic visions of the future gave way to the more utilitarian design of the Seventies.  THE SENSORITES, 1964 It’s the story I most associate with these stools and it’s the earliest appearance I can find. The Sensorites features two different sizes of stool. We will see both versions pressed into action in future stories. THE SPACE MUSEUM, 1965 1965 seems to have been the banner year for these beauties with the bulk of their appearances coming from this year. The Space Museum was up first, broadcast between April and May 1965. A number of the taller props where used as displays for Museum exhibits. GALAXY 4, 1965 September and October 1965 sees the shorter props on the set of Galaxy 4 in the Drahvin ship. They se...

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...