Doctor Who Prop Hunt

Following last weeks return to the lair of BOSS there was one more prop on this set I wanted to look at. I’ve previously looked at a wide bodied blue computer console, but this time it’s this grey one that I’m looking at.   THE GREEN DEATH, 1973 You can see the grey computer console in the middle of this picture. There is a second one tucked in on the right, hidden from this view. The BOSS set is so full of stuff this prop is actually the tenth object, with total of fourteen props, that I have looked at and there is still more stuff to identify. THE THREE DOCTORS, 1972 The year before The Green Death one of the grey computers was seen in UNIT’s top secret HQ. THE HAND OF FEAR, 1976 By the late 70’s the whirly tape computer had started to look a little passé. For The Hand of Fear Designer Christine Ruscoe took a number of the grey computer units and placed another panel where the tapes would go. THE PIRATE PLANET, 1978 But a couple of years later and the tapes were back. THE DOOMBO...

The inner sanctum of BOSS is a set that is choc full of sci-fi nick nacks. I’ve looked at quite a bit of it already, especially the stuff from UFO and the Flossie computer. But as I trawl the image galleries I occasionally run into some of the small stuff. So here’s a roundup of a few bits from this set. THE GREEN DEATH, 1973 The first thing to look at is this small wall mounted panel featuring a triangle of three circular knobs.  THE MUTANTS, 1972 This panel had appeared the previous year onboard Skybase.  Next up are two larger panels in the ‘seating area’ (for want of a better term). These feature four square dials across the top with one underneath creating a right angle. In the image above the bottom dial is on the right… … and in this view you can see the second panel has the below dial on the left.  DAY OF THE DALEKS, 1972 In this pic from Day of the Daleks you can see both panels (left and right). However, this photo is a bit of a mystery for me. Judging by the ...

This weeks props are cupboards that adorned many a set during the Pertwee era, made a bit of a comeback in the Davison era, and have even appeared in Nu Who. Often paired with a row of circular oven like knobs as seen below, these cupboards made for a quick and easy set dressing for everything from spaceships to submarines. Here are all of the Doctor Who appearances I have been able to find. As always, if you know of any others please do get in touch.  THE AMBASSADORS OF DEATH, 1970 The earliest example I have found is from Pertwee’s first season. The cupboards, along with the circles, can be seen behind the seats in Recovery 7. Keep in mind their orientation here. For this story the circular controls are above the cupboards. But, as we will see in other examples, there was a lot of variety in how these were displayed. THE SEA DEVILS, 1972 This story features the cupboards on two sets. First, in the above picture, in Trenchards office (complete with telephones) and second…. …. on b...

So, with this post we are still hanging around in the computer room of Global Chemicals. I previously looked at those props that had been inherited from Gerry Anderson’s early Seventies live action drama UFO . Now, I’m looking at a prop that was already a familiar item from the beginning of the Pertwee era. In the images below are three grey rectangular panels attached to the walls of The Green Death set. I’ve numbered them 1, 2, and 3 so you can see what I’m talking about. Here they are side by side for direct comparsion. The basic layout of the switches and lights are consistent across all three panels. The only really clear difference between them is the colour of the darker third of the panel, on the right hand side. Also panel 2 seems to have only one small white square in that darker section compared to two in the others. However I’m too not worried about Panel 2 as it’s only Panels 1 and 3 that I have found in other stories. I’ve included it here for completeness sake. As mentio...

Following my recent post about Gerry Anderson’s UFO I wanted to take a look at a typical Doctor Who story of the mid-Seventies to see just how much material came from that show. So here is an examination of just two sets from The Green Death highlighting everything I have found. The sets are the Global Chemicals Computer Room, home of BOSS, and the smaller Pumping Room. Here are some views of these sets. I have numbered each of the UFO props I have found.  THE GREEN DEATH, 1973 (Images 1-5: Computer Room, Image 6: Pumping Room) Below I have presented more information about these props. The cut out image on the left is from The Green Death and the image on the right is from UFO. Hopefully using these images and the Green Death pictures above you can see how they match. NUMBER 1 - THE UFO MOONBASE DESK In the middle of Global Chemicals Computer Room is probably the most obvious prop from UFO. This large circular desk is featured throughout UFO’s run as the centrepiece of their Moonba...

It’s been a bit of a break but I’m back to look at some more recycled Classic Doctor Who props. This post actually started life as something else but has turned into a line of enquiry that might keep me busy for a while.  Before Xmas I posted an update confirming I’d found one of the Unearthly Statues in an episode of The Goodies. The Goodies is a show I watch for fun so it wasn’t long before I’d found another one! That got me thinking that I have probably missed lots of Doctor Who props hiding in this 1970s BBC comedy. So the original idea of this post was to check as many episodes of the Cricklewood three as I could to see what I could find.  THE TIME MONSTER, 1972 / CUNNING STUNTS, 1975 A couple of quick ones to start. As I said I have found another of the statues from An Unearthly Child, The Time Monster and a whole bunch of other stories. You can read all about them here . This now makes 14 different shows or episodes that feature these statues. Cunning Stunts was an epi...