Original 7th Doctor item on eBay - June 2014

It’s funny sometimes what turns up on eBay.
This month an item from the 2010 Bonhams Doctor Who auction is up for sale.

It sold for £180 back in 2010, and resold here for £565.55.

Time And The Rani
The Time Brain

SOLD FOR £565.55

Here is the sale of one of my original props that I purchased at the Bonham's Doctor Who auction in 2010.

This is the Time Brain from the 7th Doctor story Time and the Rani. This was Sylvester McCoy's first story and also starred Kate O'Mara way back in 1987.

This large brain was the centre piece of the story. It is a moulded fibreglass piece that has various pipes and veins on it. The brain was then painted with latex. Under the latex there were several plastic bags placed that were connected to pipes.

The pipes were connected to an air supply (probably a small compressor or similar) which would be used to inflate the bags to give the illusion of the brain pulsating. Inside the brain there are four spot lights and provision for a fluorescent tube although this is missing. The spots work and are wired to a standard 3 pin UK plug (240v)

Over the years and with the heat from the spot lights the latex has largely perished, the plastic bags are still in place, but only in pieces. The main air hoses are still there but I haven't traced them to see if they are still connected to each other.


Some of the veins are also missing. Overall this is in good condition considering it is a 27 year old original screen used prop. Bearing in mind the nature of props, the fact that it would have spent most of its life under lights in the various exhibitions and the general ability of the BBC to care for their props it is a wonder this has survived at all!!

This is the extract from Bonham's catalogue. I will endeavour to upload a scan of the original catalogue page tomorrow (a copy of the page will be included in the auction) -



Time and the Rani, September 1987
The Time Brain,
of moulded and painted fibreglass, with applied latex veins, having internal wiring, length approximately 50 inches (127cm)

Tetraps on eBay!

This week on eBay I spotted part of an original Tetrap costume from Time And The Rani.

The torso with part legs and arms was original sold at the 2010 Bonhams Auction, but is sadly missing a head.

Well, it just so happens a Tetrap head is also for sale - though this is a replica which may or may not have been displayed at exhibitions.

Time And The Rani
Tetrap Body

UNSOLD

Lot 89 at the Bonhams 2010 Doctor Who Auction Time and the Rani, September 1987 An original Tetrap costume.

The Tetraps were the bat-pig-bear hired heavies working for the villainous Rani as she terrorised the planet of Lakertya. 

This costume is in excellent condition considering it is over 27 years old. It look like it is fresh from the set of Sylvester McCoy's debut story. 

There are very few signs of degrading. The actual base of the costume is a one piece fabric body suit decorated in goat's fur.

The wings too are in very good condition. They are made of real leather, ribbed with a skeletal piping.

The chest and stomach are made from foam latex. After much research I have discovered that this costume was for many years exhibited at the MOMI Doctor Who exhibition at London's South Bank, hence the superb quality. Good luck and thanks for bidding.

Original Heamovore costume on eBay

The Curse Of Fenric
Original Heamovore Costume

SOLD FOR £550

Hi you are bidding on an original costume used in The Curse Of Fenric.


It consists of a tunic and trousers and black boots, originally sold at Longleat some years ago.

Gallifrey One 2014 - Kandyman THE REVEAL!

Thought you might like to see this.

My friend Kevin Coppa, who I made the Ultimate Tennant Suit for, has always been a fan of the Kandyman - don’t ask me why.
For several years now he’s wanted to build his own costume to wear at Gallifrey One and this was gonna be the year he did it.

Sadly though a variety of bad luck and ill health he had to put his plans on hold, meaning he would miss yet another chance to surprise everyone with his planned Kandyman costume.

Well, the liquorice boot was on the other foot, as a number of his close friends, myself included, colluded to build him his Kandyman suit as surprise - only revealing it to him on the day before Gallifrey One kicked off.

I provided the measurements used to make his suit, which were passed to Malaki Keller, who is an absolute GENIUS with sheet foam. He was the brains behind the build.

The reveal was made under the guise of a rehearsal for one of Bob Mitsch’s sketches and I kept Kevin out of the way until the were set and ready. I walked through with him, and videoed his reaction.

I leave you to watch his stunned face when he realises
(1) they have built the Kandyman;
(2) they want HIM to wear it; and
(3) it is for him to KEEP.

Original 7th Doctor item on eBay - February 2014

I found this item for sale on eBay.

Curse of Fenric Haemovore Skin with display card

Here is a great chance to own a piece of an original screen used costume.

This piece of skin comes from an original Haemovore costume sold at the famous Bonhams auction of February 2010. This piece of skin was carefully removed from the rest of the costume after it became loose. Complete with a display card its a must for all Dr. Who fans. I had planned to get this framed, but I do not have the time. When framed it would look stunning.

The skin is 100% guaranteed original.

Ken Trew RIP

Today the television news was full of the sad death of Roger Lloyd Pack, who played John Lumic in Rise of the Cybermen.

But today also saw the sad passing of costume designer Ken Trew, who was pivotal in the creation of The Seventh Doctor’s look.

Ken was credited on 26 episodes, dating from the early 1970s with Jon Pertwee in Terror of the Autons; and the Fifth Doctor story Snakedance.

Later he worked on the Colin Baker story The Mysterious Planet; before taking on the designing of the Seventh Doctor’s costume in his debut story, Time and the Rani.

He returned to design costumes for further McCoy adventurers, Remembrance of the Daleks, Ghost Light, The Curse of Fenric and Survival.

By working on Terror of the Autons AND Survival, he held the unusual honour of designing the first and last appearances of The Master in the classic series.

Ken appeared on a number of DVD releases talking about his work on the series, sharing his time with us.

As well as Doctor Who, Ken worked on a variety of television series, including The Onedin Line, Bergerac, A Very Peculiar Practice (starring Peter Davison) and Doomwatch.

He will be greatly missed.

Battle Of The Heamovores

As you know, I keep my eyes open for you on eBay and bring you the bits and pieces of screen worn costumes that come up for sale from time to time.

A real trend lately has been the selling of discarded pieces of the prosthetic masks made for the series, particularly the Silurians from Warriors Of The Deep and the Heamovores from Curse Of Fenric.

It would appear that there are a couple of sellers plying their wears on eBay. Here is what one of them is currently offering.

The Curse Of Fenric
Haemovore skin

SOLD FOR £58

Dr Who Original Screen Used Prop from the story 'The Curse of Fenric' This is a great piece.

Dr Who props have become scare due to the new interest. This is from my own collection. There are hardly any of these around. Grab a piece of History before it is too late.

I did have a Certificate of Aunthenticity but I cant find it- I will add it in if I find it. Amazing piece.

Original 7th Doctor item on eBay - November 2013

I haven’t spotted many original Seventh Doctor items on eBay recently, but this one did catch my eye.

Silver Nemesis
Cyberman gun

UNSOLD FOR £5,500

Here we have what is quite literally a once in a lifetime opportunity, to own a genuine piece of Doctor Who history. This is an original, screen used, Cyberman gun from the 1988 25th anniversary story 'Silver Nemesis'. Never before has a gun like this been up for public sale, even at Bonhams! The gun is 1 of 8 that were originally made for the story, and is 1 of only 2 or 3 COMPLETE guns that remain today.

The gun is in magnificent condition for a prop that is 25 years old, no cracks or breaks or anything of the sort. The gun has been stored in an air-tight, ultra-violet resistant, custom made display case, which is also included in this listing. The gun has the obvious golden colour to it, which as I'm sure everyone knows, occurred when the original chrome props were sprayed with lacquer to make them shine on camera.

This gun was originally owned by a prop collector named Chris Balcombe, who I'm sure some of you are familiar with. The gun was then acquired by arguably the biggest Doctor Who props dealer in the world, and owner of www.doctorwhoprops.com and www.thepropgallery.com, Jamie Smyth. I obtained the gun directly from Jamie, only a few years ago. There are plenty of photos circulating of this prop being held by Mike Tucker, the chap who originally made the 8 guns for the BBC back in the 80's, when he inspected this gun and passed it as original.

The Happiness Patrol
Drone Mask

SOLD FOR £181.76

Original as seen and used on screen Doctor Who prop from the Sylvester McCoy story "The Happiness Patrol" 1988 Drone Mask.

Your chance to own a piece of television history in the Doctor's 50th year, the perfect Christmas present for the Whovian in your life or for yourself.

Stored in a smoke free home.

Purchased by myself from a one day Doctor Who convention in a hotel close to Heathrow London in 1996 the auctioneer was Richard Franklin who played Captain Mike Yates of UNIT.

Name inside of mask Paul Holmes. Easily mounted on the wall for display.

I paid cash for the item and there were no receipts or catalogues.
Happy to supply letter of authenticity.

I am starting the auction at 99p with no buy it now, so you may grab a bargain.
I have already had some interest in this item but I do not intend to finish the auction early or to do a deal outside ebay so please do not ask.

Doctor Who Celebration - costume exhibition

This weekend’s Doctor Who Celebration has been a feast for the eyes for fans.

As well as catering for those who have come to Who through the relaunch series, there has been a good nod to the history of the show with a wide variety of guests and an extensive exhibition of costumes culled from Cardiff’s Doctor Who Experience.

They had a near complete set of Doctor’s costumes on show (missing was the Eighth and War Doctors) arranged in a circle around Bessie.

The Seventh Doctor costume on show was not the one from The Experience. In fact it is actually from the tv Movie when Sylvester returned to the role to hand over to Paul McGann.

Other Seventh Doctor item on display include a Tetrap from Time And The Rani, the debut McCoy adventure; and a cat person from Survival, what turned out to be the final classic series adventure.

There was also the stylish grey two-piece costume Ace wore in The Curse Of Fenric.

If you want to see the costumes for the other Doctors at the exhibition, click the links below

Third Doctor             Fourth Doctor

Fifth Doctor                Sixth Doctor

Tenth Doctor          Eleventh Doctor

Doctor Who Celebration - Sue Moore and Steve Mansfield

There was a LOT to see at the Doctor Who Celebration, and it was quite hard to get round to see everything.
The costume display was an obvious draw for me, and it was worth dropping back form time to time and catch up with some of the designers and costume makers who were on hand and happy to chat.

During the 1980s period of the show Sue Moore and Steve Mansfield became the new John Freidlander when they created some amazing monster.

They brought along a great display of their work, including The Destroyer from Battlefield, and a collection of Heamovores from The Curse Of Fenric.


I had a great chat with them, talking about their work on Doctor Who as well as Terrahawks.
Sue and Steve were signing autographs too, and I got them to sign my book.

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.

Bonhams sale 20772 (18th December 2013) Entertainment Memorabilia

Lot 151
DOCTOR WHO: SILVER NEMESIS - A PART CYBERMAN COSTUME, the silver painted body suit, with moulded and painted chest pieces, tubing to arms and legs, gloves having attached laser gun, on stand




Estimate £1,000 - 1,500
Sold for £2,437

Lot 152
DOCTOR WHO: BELIEVED FROM REMEMBERANCE OF THE DALEKS - A DESTROYED DALEK, the skirt of wood, fibreglass, foam, metal and plastic, the base painted black and overpainted with red highlights, the foam explosion detail containing wire and metal poles, height approximately 48 inches (122cm)
FOOTNOTES
This was originally sold in these rooms as lot 140, 23rd June 2010, when it was described as having been made for exhibition purposes. Since purchased, further research by the vendor indicates this was actually the Dalek destroyed in the Totter's Lane junkyard by Ace's Nitro-9 explosives, then loaded onto Ratcliffe's lorry and later seen in his office. It is constructed from fibreglass with bolt-on hemispheres consistent with all the 'jelly mould' Imperial Daleks made for the story.

Examination of the destroyed Dalek shows marks to the hemispheres and elswhere that closely match that used in the production. Some of the hemispheres are now fixed in a slightly different way from how they appear on screen due to becoming loose and being tightened back into a different position over the years.

According to information from the vendor, after the production the top was redressed and repainted for exhibition use and further distressed with new foam detailing as well as new paint, with lights mounted underneath for exhibition purposes. Certain other details match it to the prop that appears in the office, most notably the box iron on the top. The prop appeared in several exhibitions over the years, most notably at Llangollen and the recently-closed Blackpool exhibition.

Estimate £4,500 - 5,000
Unsold

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 Seventh Doctor’s cover.

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

Original 7th Doctor item on eBay - August 2013

The trade in Tetrap and Haemavoure body parts continue with the latest offering on eBay...

Time And The Rani
framed Tetrap piece

SOLD FOR £130

This is an original screen used Tetrap costume piece framed. (from the Time And The Rani 1987) the costume was purchased in a Bonhams auction on the 24th Febuary 2010.
It comes with COA
Width is 14 inch
Length is 20 inch
I have had it valued at £160 to £170 and have started the auction at the lowest price but I am open to reasonable offers.

The Curse Of Fenric
framed Haemavoure piece

SOLD FOR £65

This is an original screen used piece of framed costume from the Haemavoure creature off of The Curse of Fenric.
It comes with COA.
Width is 9 inch
Length is 11 inch
I have had it valued at £75 and have started the auction at this price but I am open to reasonable offers.

The Happiness Patrol
Killjoy sticker

SOLD FOR £98.01

This is an original prop from the classic Doctor Who series The Happiness Patrol.

It is a sticker which the undercover agents use to identify Killjoys – usually just after they’ve murdered them! One is seen very clearly at the very start of Part One and they appear a number of times after that.

Although supplied with its original backing, this sticker ceased to be sticky a long time ago – it has never been stuck to anything but apparently sticker glue doesn’t last 25 years.

I obtained this item directly from the Production Office not long after the show was broadcast and it has been in my possession ever since.