BOYS AND GIRLS COME OUT TO PLAY… ONCE DOCTOR WHO HAS SAVED THE DAY!
ROM CDS AND BOOKS, TO ACTION figures and spatulas, there’s been a constant flow of Doctor Who products into the nation’s shops since the show’s earliest days. Some have enjoyed more of an afterlife than others. Over the following pages, SFX joins collector and merchandise expert Chris Hill (previously featured in issue 366) in a look back at some of the series’ most bizarre, unusual and plain Dalektable tie-ins. From a gadget capable of causing serious bodily injury to a figure-less action figure, there’s something for everyone in our toybox.
DALEK PLAYSUIT (1964)
If you found a Dalek Playsuit in your Christmas stocking, your parents can’t have been short of a few shillings. “At £8 15s 6d, it was incredibly expensive for the time,” says Hill.
Unfortunately, months after going on sale, manufacturer Scorpion Automotives’ production machinery was destroyed in a factory fire and, unable to recover from the loss, they went out of business.
Only a dozen Playsuits are known to exist today – and four of them have passed through Hill’s hands. Detaching the best parts from each, he’s crafted his own Frankenstein’s monster of a, well, monster. And it’s in frighteningly good condition. “I have it on display,” he says. “It’s on a frame in my Doctor Who room so it looks like someone’s wearing it!”
Those looking to live their best Dalek life will need a short stature as well as deep pockets. One of these bad boys – a Holy Grail for collectors – will set you back a staggering £4,000–£5,000. Double that if you can find the original TARDIS-style box.
FIRST DOCTOR JIGSAW (1965) The vast majority of Doctor Who merchandise released in the ’60s was Dalek-related, so Thomas Hope & Sankey Hudson’s jigsaw featuring the image of William Hartnell’s First Doctor was incredibly unusual.
Unfortunately, of the four jigsaws released by the company, this was the one to be withdrawn.
“It showed the Doctor and one of his companions – presumably supposed to be Susan, though there was no resemblance – inside the TARDIS, with the doors open and a Dalek outside ready to shoot,” Hill notes. “The BBC wanted the TARDIS to be considered a safe place, so they issued another to replace it, minus the illustration of Hartnell.”
Complete in its box, Hill predicts the now ultra-rare puzzle will fetch £400-500.
DOCTOR WHO AND THE DALEKS CUTTA-MASTIC (1965) Kids banished to their bedrooms in the mid-’60s may have tried a daring escape in the fashion of the Daleks in their very first television adventure – using the Cutta-mastic to sear a hole around the door.
The toy’s intended use? A battery-operated, red-hot wire enabled line-drawn Daleks printed on sheets of polystyrene to be cut out
