Doctor Who Celebration - Louise Page

The Doctor Who Celebration certainly had an extensive guest list. Over the course of the weekend a good fifty plus cast and crew were on hand to meet, chat and sign autographs.

Someone I was keen to catch up with was Louise Page, who was at ExCeL on the first day of the convention.

I found her at the Wardrobe Workshop display, where along with two of her wardrobe assistants, they discussed and showed the techniques used in ageing costumes for filming.

On display was a full Tenth Doctor outfit, complete with suit and coat.

The tie was a screen-used St George by Duffer from the anniversary special, The Day Of The Doctor.

Louise is rightly proud of her work on the costume.

There was also another suit on show, which had been trashed for use in The End Of Time Part Two.

From talking to Louise’s assistants, it was damaged and distressed, but the brief was misinterpreted so it never got used on screen!

Given how rare the fabric was and how difficult making the jacket had been, it was a tragedy this happened.

I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get my photo with Louise before she had to go on stage to take part in one of the discussion panels taking place over the weekend.

She was with producer Phil Collinson and director James Hawes.

I recorded two brief sections where Louise was talking about going for the post of costume designer, and Phil talking about working with her once she was on board.

Bonhams auction - 18th December 2013

With December looming, it is time for another Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia sale!

The past few auctions have been Doctor Who lite when it comes to items, so there is no surprise that the first post-Anniversary is brimming with costumes and nick backs, dating back to 1968.

A large part of the sale is for Torchwood costumes. Since I don’t have a dedicate blog, I thought I’d post them here as they were at least concurrent with the Tenth Doctor era.

Like the 2010 auction, the catalogue is brand label rich with information. Shame these weren’t known back in 2006!

Bonhams sale 20772 (18th December 2013) Entertainment Memorabilia

As usual I have separated the items by Doctor era, and you can see the rest of the items here:

Lots 172 - 181
2nd Doctor (1966-1969)

Lots 170 - 171
3rd Doctor (1970-1974)

Lots 154 - 160
5th Doctor (1982-1984)

Here are just the lots relating to Torchwood

Lot 127
TORCHWOOD, SERIES 3: JOHN BARROWMAN AS CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS, A COLLECTION OF PART COSTUMES, comprising; Episode 1 - a navy double-cuff cotton shirt, a white t-shirt with label removed and a pair of navy wool pleat front trousers, accompanied by Episode 3 - a blue Gap t-shirt, grey jersey jogging bottoms, and brown Caterpillar walking shoes.

Estimate £350 - 550
Sold for £437

Lot 128
TORCHWOOD SERIES 1-3: A MODEL FLAYED CORPSE,of foam latex, metal and mixed materials, within plastic bag.

Estimate £250 - 350
Sold for £275

Lot 129
TORCHWOOD SERIES 1-3: A PAIR OF PROSTHETIC 'WEEVIL' MASKS, of foam latex, with BBC number attached to interior, 16 inches (41cm) high.

Estimate £300 - 500
Sold for £600

Radio Times - 50th anniversary issue covers

The 50th Anniversary week is almost here, and as expected the cover of the latest Radio Times features The Doctor - not just once, but TWLEVE times!

The sources of the images used are quite interesting, the majority of which are from the Radio Times own extensive archive of Doctor Who images. All are out-takes, so are being published for the first time.

The First and Second Doctors come from the 10th Anniversary Special published by the Radio Times in 1973. The Third Doctor comes from a photoshoot in 1970 for the launch of Jon Pertwee in the role.

The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors are pictured from the shoot for the 30th Anniversary special, which featured in the 1993 Children In Need.

This shows that they were all taken separately before being composited into the group on the cover.

The rest of the Doctors come from bespoke cover shoots done for the Radio Times in more recent years. For example the Ninth Doctor is from the gatefold cover which launched the new series in 2005; and the Tenth from The Next Doctor in 2008. The Eleventh and War Doctors are obviously newly taken.

Here’s the full size version of the Tenth Doctor’s cover.
The combination of the Massimo Dutti tie and dark blue shirt correspond to The Next Doctor Christmas Special.

Finally, have you noticed that all 12 covers join together to form a long single image?

Planet Of The Dead bus - bits on eBay!

Usually I bring you items I have spotted on eBay that are at the least screen-used props or costumes.

But this month there is the most extraordinary item for sale on eBay - the bus from Planet Of The Dead.
Not as a buy-and-drive vehicle, but as a series of breakers yard bits and pieces, from number plates to wing mirrors.

Two of the buses were original in the listings for the Bonhams auction back in 2010, but were withdrawn before the sale.

Here is what the seller has to say about their background.

The BBC sourced a total of three buses to film this episode:-
RUA 461W - This bus was purchased a shipped to Dubai, upon arrival at Dubai it was accidently damaged by a crane, the bus was used for filming though. It is thought that this bus was scrapped upon completion of filming. It is almost certain that it never came back to the UK. All the external shots in the desert are of this bus

HJB 455W - This bus was used for filming the tunnel sequence at the start of the programme and the re-arrival at the end where the Dr and his passengers are welcomed home by UNIT

GGM 84W - This bus was purposefully damaged to mimic RUA 461W and then used at the BBC's Cardiff Upper Boat Studios for all the internal shot. A sceane in Dr Who Confidential clearly shows this bus with the roof removed being used for filming.

All the buses had the number plate W974 GHM for filming, but a continuitty error in the filming the flying sequence saw RUA 461W also used.

I purchased both HJB455W and the GGM84W off the BBC in January 2009. HJB 455W has been returned to running order and kept in Dr Who (NEON) livery! and GGM 84W has slowly been stripped for spares. I am now listing what I consider to be some of the more interesting parts of the bus, please see my other auctions as there are more parts for sale, and more to be listed in the next few days.

In the photographs is a copy of the V5 showing the BBC as the previous owner, and a picture of GGM84W and HJB455W (The complete bus) at Upper Boat of the cold and frosty morning when I collected them. This is a genuine sale.

Serendipity Of The Doctor

This weekend I attended the Tenth Doctor celebrations at the BFI, where they screen the season four finale, The Stolen Earth and Journey’s End.

I had a great time, but I do have a funny story that proves things sometimes work out for the best, even though they don’t look like it at the time.

Don’t ask me how, but I have managed to get myself on the guest list for the last few screenings in the BFI's Doctor Who At 50. After all the stress of missing a couple of the earlier screenings, it’s a relief to not worry about getting in. Or so I thought.

The guest tickets are only issued on the day, and can only be collected 30 minutes before the show starts.
So this time we arrived with around 20 minutes to spare - wandered up to the ticket desk - gave my name - and discovered someone else had already collected my tickets!
We’re not talking about giving them out in error - we are full-on name check and hand over. I was stunned. Who could have taken my seats?

Now, in all fairness to the BFI they were on the case straight away. Senior staff were called. Those in charge of the door were alerted and anyone trying to enter with L14 and L15 were going to be in SERIOUS trouble!
We were told to hang around near the entrance, so we could be on hand once it was resolved. It was so funny, as I could hear the staff muttering about L14 and L15. It was like an all-point border security alert!

With only 5 minutes to go it was decided we should be seated and if someone tried to take our seats we were to send them packing!

So finally in we were relived.

Then a friend I have only recently become reacquainted with waves at me, revealing HE has my tickets!
Ends up a couple of friends of his have seats next to us and he was keen to swap so they could all sit together. The seats he had were closer to the front, but he'd forgo those in favour of ours.

Not being an arsehole I agreed we’d change seats, having accepted his apology.

Anyway, lights down. Show starts, and I notice there are still some spare seats dotted around where we are sitting.

Skip forward to the second episode which followed a interval interview with Andy Pryor, the casting director for the series, and just as the lights go down and the episode starts two people slip into some spare seats just in front of us. It’s only David Tennant and Georgia Moffett!!!

By the time the episode was done Georgina had disappeared, leaving David on his own, but was soon joined by Catherine Tate.

It takes a few minutes to get set up for the main panel discussion, during which a few fans were asking David for autographs.

I had only brought none thing with me with a view to getting a signature - a screen-used fake bank note from The Runaway Bride bearing David's face.

All I had to do was lean forward a bit, not even standing from my seat, and it asked David if he’d sign for me. He happily took the note and my pen, signed and passed it back. Catherine was happy to sign too!

So you see, sometimes things DO work out for the best, and there’s no point being an arse and refusing to be a little flexible with friends - even if they have annoyed you a bit.

FURTHER original 10th Doctor items on eBay!

There’s not been many original Tenth Doctor items on eBay recently, but here was one I did come across.

Silence In The Library
library book

SOLD FOR £102

Doctor Who book prop from David Tennant's 2008 series Silence In The Library / Forest Of The Dead.

In 2008 I was lucky enough to go on the BBC's Children In Need tours of the Doctor Who studios in Cardiff, touring the sets and meeting the stars. When sadly the time came to leave, attendees were given a souvenir left over from the then latest season's recording of Silence In The Library / Forest Of The Dead by Steven Moffat.

It was this book from the set - it's a 'dummy' book, a dressed binder cover with no internal pages as these were made to fly out from the Library's book shelves during the episode, as seen on screen and explained in the accompanying Doctor Who Confidential. The cover has the prop Library index number and Library logo on the binder's spine.

Personally I have never seen such a prominent new series prop come up for sale before, so it would make a great, recognisable and rare collector's item in the programme's 50th anniversary year - happy bidding!

Since listing, I've had a number of good questions asked about this item and so thought it would be helpful to add these points here:

1. I would be happy to provide an accompanying letter with this item confirming how it came to me and what I know of its origins
2. Departing attendees at the studios were told in good faith that they could have one of what were described as these screen-used props - no additional documentary evidence came with it. Viewing the story itself, dozens of these fly from the Library shelves, so watching it you can say "this is one of those" but you can't say "this is that one!"
3. It seems appropriate and just for a charity donation to be made from this auction too, so this is something I shall be doing!

MORE original 10th Doctor items on eBay!

We’re a couple of months into 2013 and some original Tenth Doctor items have started to appear on eBay.
A lot of props (rather than costumes) have been cropping up, many of which are not necessarily identified as screen-used. They are sometimes spares copies or it isn’t possible to specifically spot it in the episode.

I’ve therefore grouped some of them by episode and show them here more for reference than as individual items.

Here’s what I’ve found.

TARDIS console
Rotor locking mechanism

SOLD FOR £185

Here we have a pair of clear perspex locking mechanisms used for locking and suspending the tardis rotor throughout the first season of the new series starring Christopher Eccleston and the first episodes of David Tennant.

During filming of season two the console lighting bulbs were change and the heat from these new bulbs warped the perspex of the rotor resulting in a new one having to be made the old rotor went back to the company who made it from whom these two mechanisms were aquired., as you can see one of them has a slight bend in it again this is from the light bulbs.

An extremely rare opportunity to aquire a part of the Tardis console that was used in every Eccleston story and early Tennant.

IMPOSSIBLE PLANET props

Door Sign

SOLD FOR £450

Here we have a lovley screen used and matched door sign from the David Tennant story "Impossible Planet", this sign can clearly be seen when the Doctor and rose walk through the door.

As can be seen in the attached screen grab all the marks match up perfectly confirming this was the one used on screen. most of these signs were destroyed after filming making this a rare find.

BLINK props

Wallpaper from old house

Screen used wallpaper directly from the house used to film the best story of the modern Dr Who series which is now being redeveloped. This piece is 8 inches by 5 inches and has been intentionley weathered by the Dr who prop dept but also it has signs of decay from where it was attached to the wall of a damp empty house.The actual piece will differ slightly than the picture.