Doctor Who/BBC Special Effects Exhibition, Middlesbrough Town Hall 1973

B

Bob Fischer

Active member
Thought this might jog a few nice memories... last year, I ended up writing a feature for the official Doctor Who Magazine about the exhibition that came to Boro Town Hall in 1973. Tracked down lots of local kids who went and had fond (and traumatic) memories and hit the jackpot when I found a bloke called Bob Richardson who was the first paying punter on Day 1. He had photos, diary entries and even a home cassette recording of the the Look North report... with Mike Neville, Luke Casey and Jon Pertwee.

Anyway - it's all here. Loved doing it... it's a little bit of odd Teesside history, I think.

hauntedgeneration.co.uk

Doctor Who Exhibitions: Middlesbrough Town Hall

“The Daleks and Doctor Who have invaded Middlesbrough Town Hall. And they’ll be occupying the building, with ghosts and monsters to help them, for the next six months…”
hauntedgeneration.co.uk hauntedgeneration.co.uk
 
Remember it well, I was about ten and loved it because I knew I wanted to be involved in making stuff like Daleks and sea devils for a job when I grew up. Bit of a tortuous route but I kind of got there in the end!
 
I was working for the Dorman Museum in 73 and although my memory is hazy I recall a Dalek being stored in the design studio and being tempted to climb inside to 'surprise' one of the staff by shouting 'exterminate' as they walked past. Unforntunately I couldn't climb inside without fear of damaging it - it was very flimsy.
 
My art teacher took me. I remember coming away with a postcard that ended up in my art portfolio/scrapbook.

Never thought there would be a thread on about the exhibition on here.
 
I went to a Dr. Who exhibition at the town hall, but it can't have been that one, as I was 19 in 1973.
 
I don't recall another exhibition, which doesn't mean that there wasn't one of course. I was 23 in '73 so had long outgrown Dr. Who although I did watch the early series. I was more influenced by Quatermass and the Pit (yes, I know I should have been in bed) when I was an impressionable 8-year-old, and then of course along came 2001 in 1968 and that was my mind blown.
 
I remember going to that, I’ll have been 9 yr old.

Another thing I remember from that era (maybe slightly earlier) was queuing to see one of the original Apollo command modules, I’m sure it was on display somewhere in Middlesbrough. Does anybody remember where/when that was ?
 
pierrequiroule said:
I don't recall another exhibition, which doesn't mean that there wasn't one of course. I was 23 in '73 so had long outgrown Dr. Who although I did watch the early series. I was more influenced by Quatermass and the Pit (yes, I know I should have been in bed) when I was an impressionable 8-year-old, and then of course along came 2001 in 1968 and that was my mind blown.
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Maybe we went after going to the pub....... 🤣
 
:D Or maybe it was watched by a lot of older people then. Remember there were only 3 TV channels.

I've just read the wiki page of Quatermass and the Pit and there is a Dr Who link.

In a 2006 Guardian article Mark Gatiss wrote "What sci-fi piece of the past 50 years doesn't owe Kneale [writer] a huge debt? ... The 'ancient invasion' of Quatermass and the Pit cast a huge shadow ... its brilliant blending of superstition, witchcraft and ghosts into the story of a five-million-year-old Martian invasion is copper-bottomed genius."[37] Gatiss was a scriptwriter for Doctor Who, a programme that had been particularly strongly influenced by the Quatermass serials throughout its history.[38][39] Derrick Sherwin, the producer of Doctor Who in 1969, acknowledged Quatermass and the Pit's influence on the programme's move towards more realism and away from "wobbly jellies in outer space".[40] The 1971 and 1977 Doctor Who serials The Dæmons and Image of the Fendahl share many elements with Quatermass and the Pit: the unearthing of an extraterrestrial spaceship, an alien race that has interfered with human evolution and is the basis for legends of devils, demons and witchcraft, and an alien influence over human evolution.[41]
 
feedthebear said:
I remember going to that, I’ll have been 9 yr old.

Another thing I remember from that era (maybe slightly earlier) was queuing to see one of the original Apollo command modules, I’m sure it was on display somewhere in Middlesbrough. Does anybody remember where/when that was ?
Click to expand...
Probably hung up in the Cleveland Centre before the ship ;)
 
Bob Fischer said:
Thought this might jog a few nice memories... last year, I ended up writing a feature for the official Doctor Who Magazine about the exhibition that came to Boro Town Hall in 1973. Tracked down lots of local kids who went and had fond (and traumatic) memories and hit the jackpot when I found a bloke called Bob Richardson who was the first paying punter on Day 1. He had photos, diary entries and even a home cassette recording of the the Look North report... with Mike Neville, Luke Casey and Jon Pertwee.

Anyway - it's all here. Loved doing it... it's a little bit of odd Teesside history, I think.

hauntedgeneration.co.uk

Doctor Who Exhibitions: Middlesbrough Town Hall

“The Daleks and Doctor Who have invaded Middlesbrough Town Hall. And they’ll be occupying the building, with ghosts and monsters to help them, for the next six months…”
hauntedgeneration.co.uk hauntedgeneration.co.uk
Click to expand...
I have a vague memory of going to that, I was only 5 though, but I do remember the room it was held in was creepy and the Dalek there scared me to death. I think they also had one of those giant maggot things in a cage. :oops:
 
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