Doctor Who in Kent
by Thom Morris
tmorris@thekmgroup.co.uk
Tonight sees the end of Doctor
Who until Christmas – but on Monday, a Doctor Who story filmed in
Northfleet will be released on DVD.
Jon Pertwee played the Time Lord
in 1970 when the production of The Ambassadors of Death
materialised at Lafarge Cement in February 1970.
At the time it was run by Blue
Circle Industries. The quarry closed in 2008 and is now running as
Crossrail, transferring millions of tonnes of excavated material
from London to Northfleet.
One of the tunnels on the site
was used as the entrance of the Space Control centre and can be
seen on film as the Doctor drives his faithful car Bessie to the
entrance.
His investigations uncover the
fact that astronauts have been replaced with radiation-dependent
aliens who had swapped places with them in space and are now on
Earth.
It is not the only location in
Gravesend and Dartford used in the cult BBC series.
The cliffs around Bluewater,
then Western Quarry, were utilised as an alien planet in the 1972
adventure The Mutants, while John’s Hole Quarry in Stone was used
in 1964 for the Dalek Invasion of Earth.
The area featured as a Dalek
mine – their intention was to place a guidance device in the
Earth’s core so it could be driven around through space.
Across the county, Dover Castle,
Kingsnorth Industrial Estate at Hoo, Leeds Castle, Dungeness and
Botany Bay near Margate all featured in the 1960s and
1970s.
Even the Doctors themselves have
close Kent links: First Doctor William Hartnell spent his last
years in Marden; second Doctor Patrick Troughton joined a repertory
company in Tonbridge once out of the army; Jon Pertwee schooled in
Westgate in Thanet; Tom Baker lives in Tunbridge Wells; and former
companion Tegan, played by Janet Fielding, lives in
Ramsgate.
Last weeeknd, Gravesend twins
Daniel and David Beck appeared in the new series of Doctor Who
playing evil hospital porters.
The pair, who live in Thelma
Close, were barely recognisable with strangely deformed mouths and
villainous intent as the Doctor took on an attack from sinister
black cubes.
The 28-year-olds were seen
kidnapping Rory’s dad, played by Fast Show and Harry Potter
funnyman Mark Williams.
Former Thamesview School pupil
Daniel, who trained with David at the Miskin Theatre in Dartford,
said: "Doctor Who has got such a cult status so when we received
the call, you can imagine how ecstatic we both were. We’d love to
do it again."
The Ambassadors of Death is
released on Monday.
Do you remember the
filming? Let us know by leaving a comment or emailing
gravesendmessenger@thekmgroup.co.uk
28/09/12
- Click here for more Gravesend news...
- Click here for more news from across the county...