STAGE FRIGHTFUL
In the same year as my convention, I'd gone for a special job interview with the production company who were making the upcoming DOCTOR WHO stage play, THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE.
They were clearly impressed with my models and photos that I showed them and they certainly had the opportunity to have and use my work and ability for accuracy and quality. However, their budget clearly wasn't what they claimed, or they wouldn't have ended up with the utter rubbish that was actually used! I eventually went along to rehearsals, just before opening night, in Wimbledon. As I walked backstage, during a break and peered into the half-light, I stood in shock at what I saw. Standing there were the most awful 'professionally made' versions of the TARDIS and CONSOLE, I'd ever seen! The props already looked like they'd been rescued from a waste-skip, after they'd been thrown out by the local primary school! The 'RADIO TIMES-style' DALEKS, were so terrible and so crudely constructed, that it seemed insulting to have JON PERTWEE, & Co, appear with them. I genuinely believed that these props were cheap dummy versions, meant just for use in rehearsals- not the actual finished thing! Having seen the visual excellence of the 1974 play, SEVEN KEYS TO DOOMSDAY, it was hard to think that these were being used in a professional theatre production. As it had been known that I'd gone along for the job, it seems that I had got a 'nod' in my direction, as I was subsequently told that the blue/silver colours of those stage DALEKS were based on my MISSION OF THE DALEKS versions. But whether this was compliment or insult, I'm still not sure! All I'll say is look at the EMPEROR DALEK that I made (from their description at my interview with them, I got the impression it was to be the TV21 GOLDEN EMPEROR.) and then compare it to the EMPEROR that they made and used.... It could have been a very different stage play! However, some other shows and promotions that did use my DALEK work included- VIRGIN BOOKS, to publicise their NEW ADVENTURES NOVELS (1990s), and a JOHNATHAN ROSS television show about alien sightings (which featured dancing 'creatures' around one of my DALEKS in its finale). There was also an advert shown on TV and in cinemas for chocolate biscuit, KITKAT (the silver DALEK), which featured a host of British celebrities, including KELLY BROOK. There were also many TV interviews and events that made use of my monsters and sets, throughout the 1980s & 90s. |
Jon Pertwee with Julian's TARDIS
Colin Baker at Julian's TARDIS console
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