Bonhams FLASHBACK: 24th January 1992 The BBC Costume Dept sale

Exactly 24 years ago TODAY there was an unusual auction at Bonhams to sell off a vast amount of ex-BBC costume department items.

Due to the volume of items on offer, the sale was held at the BBC Costume Warehouse, which at the time was on the Royal London Industrial Estate in North Acton.

Most of the sale was non-descript items, broken down into sections such as PERIOD COSTUMES - GREEK/ROMAN, MEDIAEVAL, TUDOR, ELIZABETHAN, STUART, GEORGIAN and REGENCY, VICTORIAN and EDWARDIAN etc.

It then moved on to SPORTSWEAR and MISCELLANEOUS before CHILDRENS and LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT. There was even a section for FANCY DRESS and ARMOUR, CHAINMAIL ETC.

Then things got more interesting with NARNIA prior to the big draw the sale - the SCIENCE FICTION section.

This was broken down into DR WHO, BLAKE’S 7, THE FLIP SIDE OF DOMINICK HYDE, STAR COPS, and OTHER SCIENCE FICTION COSTUMES.

The sale closed with a section of late additions, which included an extra Doctor Who lot.

I recently picked up a copy of the sales catalogue on aBay - such as it is. Back in 1992 this consisted of a pocket folder with a stapled loose sheet listing of the items for sale. There are no photographs or illustrations, and the descriptions are scant to say the least.

I have transcribed all the Doctor Who items.

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

Lots 281 - 282
3rd Doctor (1970-1974)

Lot 289 - 301
5th Doctor (1982-1984)

Lots 302 - 310
6th Doctor (1984-1986)

Lots 311 - 313
7th Doctor (1987-1989)

Here are just the lots relating to the Fourth Doctor era

Bonhams Sale 25395
(24th January 1992)
BBC Television Costume Sale

Click the link above to download a copy of the full catalogue

Lot 283 Masque of Mandragora, 1976, Tom Baker as Dr Who. 
Gold Hieronymus mask (1)
Sold for £200

Lot 284 Pirate Planet, 1978, Tom Baker as Dr Who. 
Green uniform suit worn by Andrew Robertson as Mr Fibuli (1)
Sold for £110


Lot 285 Nightmare of Eden, 1978, Tom Baker as Dr Who. 
Passenger liner space suits, silver plastic with hoods (2)
Sold for £60

Lot 286 Horns of Nimon, 1979, Tom Baker as Dr Who. 
Skonnon Guard uniform full length gown in wine green and black and Graham Crowden’s costume as Soldeed, full length gown in gold, brown, green and black (2)
Sold for £180

Lot 287 Creature From The Pit, 1979, Tom Baker as Dr Who. 
Chloran Guard masks plus a spare (7)
Sold for £160

Lot 288 Warriors’ Gate, 1981, Tom Baker as Dr Who. 
Gundan helmets, one silver and one black (2)
Sold for £180

Lot 372 Dr Who: Masque of Mandragora, 1976, Tom Baker as Dr Who.
Gold Hieronymous mask (1)
Sold for £100