Bonhams FLASHBACK: 24th May 2006 Rock and Roll and Film Memorabilia

It was EXACTLY ten years ago today - during David Tennant‘s first season as The Doctor - there was a sale of Entertainment Memorabilia at Bonhams.

Some 59 Doctor Who lots were on offer (though these inflated by the sale of some 25 artworks from a 1985 book Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z, nearly all of which went unsold.

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

Lots 257, 263, 273-274, 291, 300, 303
1st Doctor (1963-1966)

Lots 274, 277-278, 280, 290, 299, 303-304
2nd Doctor (1966-1969)

Lots 252, 254, 264-266, 268, 274-275, 277-278, 280, 294-295, 297, 300, 307
3rd Doctor (1970-1974)

Lot 251, 256, 258, 260, 263, 267, 269-270, 274, 276, 279, 283, 285-288, 292, 308
5th Doctor (1982-1984)

Lots 251-252, 254, 256, 258, 263-264, 267, 271-272, 274, 281-284, 289, 293
6th Doctor(1984-1986)

Lots 251, 256, 259, 261, 283, 301
7th Doctor (1987-1989)

Lots 258, 281, 302
9th Doctor (2005)

Here are just the lots relating to the Fourth Doctor era

Bonhams Sale 13576
(24th May 2006)
Rock and Roll and Film Memorabilia

Lot 250
Half Scale Dalek
Perfect Replica in half scale of the arch nemesis of Dr. Who.
Estimate £ 400 - 500
Unsold

Lot 251
'Dr. Who': a Tardis roundel,
fibreglass, with traces of black and grey paint, indicating use in the Tardis of both The Doctor and The Master, believed to be the last surviving example from the original Tardis, 55cm (21½in) diameter
Sold for £300

Lot 262
Dr. Who 1975
Camera Script "The Sontaran Experiment"
One of the early Tom Baker episodes, a Camera script for rehearsal, lighting and camera angles by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, originally called "The Destructors" this script covers both episodes 1 and 2.
Estimate: £200 - 250
Unsold

Lot 263
A Collection of Twenty Dr. Who Scripts
including The Curse of the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks, Planet of Giants and Paradise Towers
Sold for £ 66

Lot 266
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Artwork by Lesley Standring from 'Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z' (1985), Mummy, Morbius and Mutant, black and white image. 15in x 22in.
Estimate: £180 - 200
Unsold

Lot 274
Blueprint Longleat exhibition
A plan blueprint from the BBC Dr. Who Exhibition at Longleat.
Estimate: £100 - 120
Unsold

Lot 277
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Artwork by Lesley Standring from 'Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z' (1985),
"Jamie, Jo Grant and Jagaroth", black and white image. 15in x 22in.
Estimate: £200 - 250
Unsold

Lot 285A
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Artwork by Lesley Standring from 'Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z' (1985),
"Giant Robot, Servo Robot and White Robot", black and white image. 15in x 22in.
Estimate: £180 - 200
Unsold

Lot 287
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Art by Lesley Standring for Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z. Nyssa and Nucleus of the Storm. Black and White on Art Board. 15 x 22 inches
Estimate: £150 - 180
Unsold

Lot 288
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Artwork by Lesley Standring from 'Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z' (1985), "K9 and Kamelion", black and white image. 15in x 22in
Estimate: £200 - 250
Unsold

Lot 296
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Artwork by Lesley Standring from 'Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z' (1985), "Voc Robot, Sutekh and Mr. Sin", colour image. 15in x 22in
Estimate: £180 - 200
Unsold

Lot 297
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Art by Lesley Standring for Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z. Leela and Linx. Black and White on Art Board. 15 x 22 inches
Estimate: £180 - 200
Unsold

Lot 298
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Art by Lesley Standring for Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z. Romana. Black and White on art board. 15 x 22 inches
Estimate: £180 - 200
Unsold

Lot 300
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Art by Lesley Standring for Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z. Sarah-Jane, Steven, Susan and Sarah Kingdom. Colour on art board. 15 x 22 inches
Estimate: £200 - 250
Unsold

Lot 303
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Artwork by Lesley Standring from 'Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z' (1985), "Davros and Daleks", colour image. 15in x 22in.
Estimate: £250 - 300
Unsold

Lot 304
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Art by Lesley Standring for Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z. Patrick Troughton the second Doctor. Colour on art board. 15 x 22 inches
Estimate: £200 - 250
Unsold

Lot 305
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Art by Lesley Standring for Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z. The fourth Doctor Tom Baker. Colour on art board. 15 x 22 inches
Estimate: £200 - 250
Unsold

Lot 306
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Art by Lesley Standring for Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z. Vanir, Vogon and Vega Nexos. Colour on Art Board. 15 x 22 inches
Estimate: £200 - 220
Unsold

Lot 307
Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z
Original Art by Lesley Standring for Doctor Who Illustrated A-Z. Sontarans. Black and White on Art Board. 15 x 22 inches
Estimate: £180 - 200
Unsold

Barking Signing - 16th April 2016

This weekend was the latest Barking Celebrity Signing event run by Tenth Planet Events.

Barking Signing - 16th April 2016

As seems typical these days, one or two guests have been postponed to later events, or have cancelled at the last minute, leaving barely five celebrities to meet.

Luckily though, two aspects of the line-up I really wanted to meet were in attendance, so it was still well worth the trip across London to see them.

I’m of that age that went through my formative years during the Hinchcliffe era of Doctor Who, so adventures like Genesis Of The Daleks, Robots Of Death, The Talons Of Weng-Chiang and of course The Brain Of Morbius are etched on my own brain!

So it was jaw dropping to hear that Cynthia Grenville, who played Maren, the high priestess of The Sisterhood Of Karn was coming, along with one of her hand-maidens, Ohica, played by Gillian Brown. Not only this, a photo-opportunity with them both was on offer - something I would make the effort to get on this occasion.

This did mean getting to Barking a bit early than I usually do, battling against weekend engineering works to do so. That said I planned my route well and was there ahead of schedule to get my photo.

I couldn't resist taking along my Tom Baker coat and scarf to make the photo that extra bit special. Both actresses remarked on my coat, which was super-flattering.

Once I had my photo, it was time to gather some autographs for my book.

CYNTHIA GRENVILLE is known for Secrets and Poldark, as well as playing Maren, leader of The Sisterhood Of Karn in The Brain of Morbius.

On stage she appeared in Fiddler on the Roof at Her Majesty's Theatre with Topol.

Cynthia was a delight to meet, sharp as a button and while signing asked if I wanted hr to write her character name after her signature, so she knew her stuff.

GILLIAN BROWN played Ohica in The Brain of Morris. Since then she has been seen in Grange Hill as the librarian; The Mayor of Casterbridge as Lucetta's Maid. Parts followed in Angels,  Z Cars, Owen, M.D., and  Colditz.


I remarked to Gillian that her episodes were amongst my absolute favourites from my youth, to which she commented that the sets wobbled and it was all a bit rushed.

I reassured her it was so well written and acted that it out-shone any of the short-comings to make it a classic.

CY TOWN was a Dalek Operator who worked on every Dalek story produced from Frontier in Space to Remembrance of the Daleks.

He also appeared in Miss Marple: Nemesis, Reilly: Ace of Spies, The Meaning of Life, Blakes 7, Z Cars, The Brothers, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Upstairs Downstairs, Dad's Army, Moonbase 3, Doomwatch and Steptoe and Son.

Cy is notable for being the only surviving Dalek operator from the original run of Doctor Who. John Scott Martin, who appeared from the very first to very last Dalek appearance (as the Special Weapons Dalek) died in 2009. Robert Jewell, Kevin Manser, Gerald Taylor and Peter Murphy have all since passed on.

He signed my book to share a page with Dalek voice-overs Nicholas Briggs, Brian Miller and David Graham.

DANIEL HOFFMAN-GILL played Bors in the Series 9 prequel The Doctor's Meditation and the episode The Magician's Apprentice.

Daniel Hoffmann-Gill is also known for My Last Five Girlfriends, Kill Keith and Galavant.
On stage he performed in a number of productions for the Nottingham Playhouse, including Heaven of Davids, The Ashes, Of Mice and Men and Jack & The Beanstalk.

Daniel is a real gentle giant, and such an enthusiastic guy to talk to. He’s a big Star Wars fan it appears, and he instantly clocked my Finn jacket I was wearing.

ANNETTE ANDRE
is well known for playing  Marty Hopkirk's widow Jeannie in the ITC series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Prior to that she made regular appearances in other genre series The Avengers, The Saint, Adam Adamant Lives!, The Troubleshooters, The Baron and The Prisoner, as well as The Persuaders!, The New Avengers and Return of the Saint. In the 1980s, she appeared in the soap opera Crossroads as well as returning to Australia to play Camilla Wells in Prisoner (retitled Prisoner: Cell Block H in the US and UK).

As Anette isn’t a Doctor Who celebrity, I got her to sign my copy of The Prisoner Companion.


This was a book I took with me to all the interviews I conducted while making my documentaries about The Prisoner back in the 1990s.
It has well over 100 signatures from cast and crew, many of whom have since passed on.

Once everyone had their photoshoots and autographs, it was then time for a Q & A session with the guests.

The line-up for the Q&A was quite short, being only five guest, but on the up-side it gave more time for each to talk and recount their times working on Doctor Who (or the shows they are known for).

The interviews, conducted by Robert Dick, were kicked off by Anette Andre who discussed her time on Randall And Hopkirk (deceased).



She recalled the difficulties of not only doing the appearing and disappearing effects during filming, but playing scenes were she cannot ‘see’ one of her co-stars, but the other could. Scenes would have to often be shot twice over to represent who could see what at which points during the action!

She went on to talk at length about working on The Saint with Roger Moore.
She found the director hard to work with, but once Roger had a quiet word with him she found her time on the show a joy.

Finally she discussed working with Patrick McGoohan on The Prisoner, which by total contrast was horrendous to work with.

Patrick could be difficult with leading ladies, to say the least and Anette found it hard to play scenes where the actor opposite her would not look her in the eye.

Cy looked back on his time on Doctor Who with a great deal of fondness. He had played small parts before settling to becoming a Dalek regularly from 1973 until towards the end of the series in 1988.

He did tell me (during the autograph session) that he used to drive an old been up car. During Resurrection Of The Daleks he parked in the BBC car park, not far from Peter Davison’s BMW. Between their cars a stage-hand was parking and hit Cy’s car. Peter noticed and said, “At least it wasn’t mine he hit!”. Charming!!!

Sunday puzzler - Fourth Doctor DVD sleeve

This DVD set came out November last year as a HMV exclusive.
It’s nothing super special - just three classic Fourth Doctor adventures bundled up in a card box.

It includes his first outings Robot, plus two early classics, Genesis of the Daleks and Pyramid of Mars.

The box art is nicely done, and sits well with the other two similar sets for the Third and Fifth Doctors.


But I have a little quiz question for you - and I’ll give you the full answer this time next week.

What’s wrong - or should I say, has been put right about the portrait shot of Tom Baker?

Post your answers in the comments below, and come back this time next week for the reveal - and how I helped!

Doctor Who: An Introduction to the Fourth Doctor (hmv Exclusive)

A Day With A TV Producer

While I was in Los Angeles for Gallifrey One, I came across a book for sale in the dealers room. It’s not one I have seen before, though I’m sure some of my readers may have, or even own a copy themselves.

It’s called A Day With A TV Producer, and follows John Nathan Turner during the production of The Leisure Hive in 1980.

Reading between the lines its part of a series, written for young people to read about job choices as they grow up. Other books in the series are days with a Nurse, Footballer, Dancer, Airline Pilot, Policeman, Farmer, Vet and Racing Driver!

The book is written in a simplistic way, so is quite a patronising and shallow read. It does, however, show a lot of behind the scenes activity you don’t normally get to see, such as meetings with various production staff.

There’s a great selection of photos from the Brighton beach shoot at the opening of episode one.

This includes a photo of the publicity stills seen for the episode being shot!

A stand out for me are a couple of pages showing John Nathan Turner meeting with costume designer June Hudson.

In one of the shots you can see some of June’s costume designs being discussed.

There is also a rare photo of June Hudson on-set, adjusting a costume before a take.

Download a PDF of the book here:

A Day With A TV Producer

The Fourth Doctor - as played by THE WAR DOCTOR!

Ever wondered what might have been?

What if The War Doctor had been an earlier incarnation?

What if he said that immortal speech in Genesis Of The Daleks?

Well at Gallifrey One this year, as part of his stage talk on the Sunday, legendary actor Sir John Hurt did just that!

He also read a much overlooked speech from The Ark In Space.

See more of Sir John Hurt reading classic Doctor speeches as The War Doctor here

The Third Doctor
as played by THE WAR DOCTOR!

The Twelfth Doctor
as played by THE WAR DOCTOR!

UPDATE

To my surprise, The Radio Times’ website has picked up on my videos and shared them online!

Watch John Hurt re-read some of
Doctor Who's most iconic speeches
as The War Doctor

Bonhams FLASHBACK: - 31st March 1994 Entertainment Sale

I’m getting quite into tracking down past Bonhams Entertainment auctions where Doctor Who items were sold.

It started with the 1991 Doctor Who auction, where dozens of costumes and props were up for grabs. I’ve since traced later sales where many times from the 1991 auction were resold, and some of these still pop up today from time to time.

A couple of weeks ago I found a Bonhams catalogue from 1994, containing 22 lots of Who-related items on sale.

Frustratingly due to the cost of producing print publications in the days, there are no photographs to illustrate the items on offer (every image would have had to be taken on film and processed, compared to the instant and cheap nature of digital photography today).

These sales also pre-date the internet, so finding the realised prices is near impossible.

Less care seems to have been taken in preparing the text in the catalogue.

There are a number of spelling errors and possible mis-titling of episodes, but since some of these are for pre-production scripts (and therefore possibly correct at the time) I have replicated the text here exactly as it appeared in the 1994 catalogue.

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

Lots 350-353, 357, 367-369
3rd Doctor (1970-1974)

Lot 349-354, 358, 362-364, 367-368
5th Doctor (1982-1984)

Lots 355-356, 358, 365, 367-368
6th Doctor (1984-1986)

Lots 357 - 358, 367-368
7th Doctor (1987-1989)

Here are just the lots relating to the Fourth Doctor era

Please note there are a number of spelling and title errors in the catalogue, which I have repeated here for accuracy as some may refer to early drafts of scripts

Lot 348 DR. WHO The Leisure Hive 1980 (Tom Baker)
A pair of yellow shoes and gloves belonging to the Argolin. (4)
Estimate £40 - 60

Lot 358 DR. WHO
A TARDIS Sign and casing of metal, wood and fibreglass used during the John Nathan Tumer era of Dr. Who (1978-1989), together with the back cloth belonging to the TARDIS door.
Estimate £400 - 600
Note: The vendor informs me he acquired this lot at a Dr. Who auction in Saxmundham.

Lot 359 DR. WHO
Various floor plans and designs for 'The Pirate Planet'. 'Timescoop'. and 'Morbius', series 1976-78. Estimate £30 - 50

Lot 360 DR. WHO
Various lighting plans, model shots and studio plans for 'City of Death', 'Nightmare of Evil', 'Shada', and others series 1979-80.
Estimate £30 - 50

Lot 361 DR. WHO
A small quantity of recording orders, floor plans, studio set scripts, duty sheets and design sheets for various episodes of 'The Leisure Hive', 'The Wasting', 'Warrior's Gate' and 'The Keeper of Traken'.
Estimate £30 - 50

Lot 366 DR. WHO
A script for Episode 3 'The Gamble with Time’ by David Agnew, belonging to Count Scarliani (Julian Glover), with pencil annotations.
Estimate £30 - 50
Note: This episode was transmitted as 'City of Death'.

Lot 367 DR. WHO THE AUCTION, CATALOGUE
Sale of selected costumes from the wardrobe, on 11th May 1991. 41 page catalogue with black and white illustrations, colour cover, together with a list of prices realised. (2)
Estimate £10 - 20

Lot 368 DR. WHO MEMORABILIA
An extensive collection of Dr Who and related science fiction memorabilia, including jigsaw puzzles, badges, Cassette tapes, models, newsletters, annuals, toys, posters, magazines, approximately thirty paperback books, a mug, a china moneybox and three albums comprising of numerous official BBC colour photographs. (a lot)
Estimate £200 - 300 

Bonhams FLASHBACK: - 24th August 1992 Entertainment Sale

Last week I showed you the content of a Bonhams sale from January 1992. In it a large number of ex-BBC Costume Dept outfits from Doctor Who were sold off.

Since then I have found another catalogue from 1992, this time from August.

Interestingly a number of the extensive Doctor Who items sound very much like those sold back in January, though with much higher estimates this time around.

More recently I think we have seen some of these lots continuing to be sold on. It’s fascinating to trace the items back through the various auction catalogues, following the prices they sell for.

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

Lots 645-646, 647-648, 650-652, 655-656, 659
1st Doctor (1963-1966)

Lots 648, 654-655, 657-659
2nd Doctor (1966-1969)

Lots 648-649, 655, 660-661
3rd Doctor (1970-1974)

Lot 648, 653, 655-681
5th Doctor (1982-1984)

Lots 648-649, 682-689
6th Doctor (1984-1986)

Lots 648, 690-695
7th Doctor (1987-1989)

Here are just the lots relating to the Fourth Doctor era

Lot 648 Dr. Who—The Auction, Catalogue from 11th May 1991, sale of selected costumes from the Wardrobe, 42 page catalogue with black and white illustrations, colour cover, together with a sheet of prices. (2)
Estimate £10-20

Lot 662 ‘Masque of Mandragora’, 1976 (Tom Baker) A grey accolyte’s mask.
Estimate £80-120

Lot 663 ‘Masque of Mandragora’, 1976 (Tom Baker) A burnished gold colour Mask of Demnos, worn by Hieronymous (Norman Jones).
Estimate £200-300




Lot 664 ‘Nightmare of Eden’, 1979 (Tom Baker) Two passenger liner overalls, in grey plastic.
Estimate £30-50

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