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WILLIAM HARTNELL
An Unearthly Child:
(pilot ep) As Barbara and Ian enter the class-room to offer Susan a lift home, Barbara's shoe gets stuck in the door, and she can be seen struggling for quite a while to free it. (pilot ep) When Ian and Barbara are driving in the car, a stagehand can be seen moving behind them. (pilot ep) Carole Ann Ford flubs a line when talking about "John Smith and the Commo Men". She says that they have gone from "2 to 19" when she corrects herself and says "19 to 2 on the charts." (pilot ep) After Ian and Barbara enter the TARDIS, you can see a shadow move along the TARDIS doors. (pilot ep) The TARDIS doors won't shut. (pilot ep) During a tracking shot of the TARDIS, the cameraman stumbles and a clatter is heard. (ep 1) you can hear the PA calling the shots on some sections if you listen carefully (one example is when the Doctor is operating the TARDIS console, shortly before Ian is "zapped".) (ep 2&3) The reprise at the start of episode 3 is different to the cliffhanger at the end of episode 2 - notice how the skulls in the cave are all in different positions... (ep 3?) There's some delightful running on the spot with scrolling background as the TARDIS crew are escaping through the forest! (ep ?) If you look carefully into the corners of the TARDIS, in one scene a stagehand can be seen between a gap in one of the corners (it's a pretty big gap too, about 10-20 centimetres).
(ep 2) While in the Dalek cell, William Hartnell refers to the anti-radiation drugs as "anti-radiation gloves"! (ep 2) There are some painfully obvious shots of Susan "running" through the forest by running-on-the-spot against a scrolling background. (ep 3?) In one shot of the interior of the Dalek city, a boom shadow is clearly visible. (ep 5?) When the Thals are jumping across the chasm, I think it's Ian who grabs onto the rock wall when he lands. His handhold breaks off with the rip of tearing styrofoam, and the white spot where it was is visible for the rest of the scene. (ep 5) In one of the scenes in the Dalek control room, one Dalek runs into the control console with an audible THUD. (ep 7) One of the Daleks rattles noisily as it trundles down a corridor. Obviously one of its castors wasn't balanced correctly...
(ep 1) You can see the studio floor in the "white void" outside the TARDIS door in early shots.
(ep 1) When the Voord falls through the hidden panel, you can see a woman standing behind the panel as the trick wall spins around. (ep 1) You can see the hands of stage assistants pushing the rotating wall sections around. (ep 1) Just after Susan's shoes have been dissolved in the acid pool, the Doctor says to Ian: "And if you'd had your shoes on, my boy, you could have lent her hers." (ep 6) One of the Voord comes into the control chamber, trips on the bottom edge of the door, and stumbles over to Yartek. (ep ?) Just after Barbara is taken inside the city, on the next shot you can see a stagehand dart behind Ian. (ep ?) When Susan falls into the pyramid, a stage hand can be seen venturing onscreen before they cut.
(ep 1) Just after the Doctor corrects Ian's pronunciation, he fluffs his lines and giggles. (ep 1) Ixta, who is supposed to be an Aztec warrior, sounds strangely Welsh. (ep 1) Just as the camera is moving in filming the sacrificial scene, there is a visible jump as the cameraman crashes into the altar...! (ep 2?) When the Doctor is in the garden place for the first time he fluffs his lines again, quite badly this time.
(ep ?) During the story, Captain Maitland has to cut out the lock of one of the spaceship doors using a drill, leaving several large white marks on the door. You can see these marks on those doors, even before the scene in which they were made! (ep ?) In one scene the action cuts from the underground caves back to the city, but the sound
effect of dripping water carries on until about halfway through the scene, when the grams operator finally wakes up and turns it off.
(ep 3) During the gunfight to rescue Susan and Barbara from the wagon taking them to be guillotined, one soldier is seen kneeling by a wheel (on the right of the screen) - then in the next frame, he's magically standing up! (ep 6) The Doctor fluffs his lines slightly when talking to the jailor.
(ep 3?) In one scene, when London is supposed to be abandoned, you can clearly see a truck driving calmly by in the background. (ep ?) In the attack on the Daleks ship there are a few obvious cardboard cut-outs in the background. (ep ?) At the attack on the Dalek saucer, a Dalek is pushed down the ramp, falls over and lies still. In the next shot the head of the Dalek is pointing in another direction.
(ep 1) While saying "Everyone on board was invited to a grand sort of meeting" to Barbara, Vicki stumbles on the word "invited". (ep 1) And while saying "Why doesn't he kill you?", Maureen O'Brien starts to say "did" instead of "doesn't" before correcting herself. (ep 1) Eagle-eyed viewers will catch a glimpse of Maureen O'Brien's underwear as she bends over to get the flare gun out of the cupboard. (ep 2) When Sandy (Vicki's "pet") is seen in its cave just before Barbara kills it, a stagehand is
visible moving around behind it to the left.
(ep 2) Hartnell has one of his forgetful spells when he haltingly spits out the following after the attempt on his life: "You know I am so constantly outwitting the opposition... I tend to forget the delights and satisfaction... of the arts... of the gentle art of fisticuffs". (ep 2) Later on, same scene, Hartnell again: "My dear, it was a vasecte-... an accepted thing in this age to hire an assassin, prefunbly [consults cue card]... prebbably someone dumb, and then he couldn't denounce you". Poor Maureen O'Brien looks as if she feels his pain through the fumbling. (ep 2) Nero asks the Doctor to play upon the Imperial Lyre. Hartnell: "That, your Excellency, would be an impossibizi..bility". (ep 2) William Hartnell stutters amusingly (again) while saying "disastrous". (ep 2) Nero's lyre-playing is embarrassingly fake - the notes "plucked" by the actor differ greatly from the music being played. (ep 2) Hartnell's memory strikes again the first time the Doctor meets Tavius; there's an embarrassing pause as Hartnell forgets what to say, and then remembers just as Tavius is going on to the next line of the script. (ep 3) Nero says to the empress in their first scene together: "Naturally I apee.. appreciate the feelings of my fellow artists". (ep 3) A boom mike makes an appearance while Tigilinus is chasing Nero around, trying to put his olive garland on. (ep 4) The gladiatorial fight scene which begins this episode contains one of the few instances
of mooning in the show's history. After Ian's friend has killed one of Nero's guards, Nero kicks the body off the stage and down into the arena. The guard's very short skirt then flies up and gives the world a good long glimpse of shapely buttock.
(ep 1) Hartnell loses his lines and ruins an entire scene. After Ian's line, "How do we open the doors? We have no power?", the pain begins. The Doctor is supposed to explain the presence and purpose of an item he is holding, but he can't get his lines out. In fact, he appears to have forgotten the entire purpose of the scene. Ian has to look three times at the small object -- during the eternity of horrible and irrelevant improvisation -- before Hartnell spits out inexplicably: "This is not merely a decorative object". He then goes on to finish the scene as if it had all made perfect sense: a real trooper. (ep 1) Outside the TARDIS, in the same scene where Ian's pen vanishes, a boom mike shadow makes a brief but unmistakeable appearance on the front of Ian's coat. Look for it as he follows the Doctor off the set, a split second before he whirls around to see if he is being followed.
(ep 1) In the scene where Barbara goes in to see if Vicki has awakened from her aspirin-induced nap, she sits down in front of a very reflective wall (you can see her reflection at the end of the scene, when she gets up abruptly and leaves the room). The blooper comes soon after she first sits down, however: you can see a spotlight being moved in to shine on her, but it also reflects into the camera. In the next shot of Barbara it has been moved. (ep 1) At the episode's climax, Hartnell returns to find the TARDIS missing, and has the line, "My TARDIS". It was dubbed over for some reason, and incredibly badly. His lips move almost a full second before any sound is heard. (ep 2) In the scene immediately after the Menoptera destroy Barbara's gold bracelet, the Doctor and Ian walk onto the set. Some mountain ranges ring the background, but when Hartnell walks on, he casts his shadow on them -- making it all too obvious that they are four inches high and right next to him! (ep 2) In the scene right after Vicki leaves the TARDIS and encounters the Zarbi, the Doctor and Ian are still being taken somewhere by their own group of ant creatures. They enter the set from directly in front of the camera, walking away from it with their backs to the lens. Look for another great shadow on Ian's coat just as they move away: the camera and the cameraman's head! (ep 3) When Ian is running away from the Zarbi, there is a scene where two bloopers happen in rapid succession. First, a Menoptera flies down to land behind him and follow him; the rope on which he was lowered shows brightly against the black background. A half-second later, the "Larvae gun" (that short little Zarbi-owned monster that looks like it was constructed out of spare parts for a car-wash) is dragged onto the scene; the rope used to pull it can be seen on the floor. (ep 3) a Zarbi is scuttling about, and runs straight into the camera with a loud CLUNK. The camera shakes for a second or two after that... (and wouldn't you if you had just been run into by a Zarbi? ;-) (ep 4) At the episode's climax, the Menoptera spearhead flies in to do battle with the Zarbi. And there's not a single one of them without a hugely visible rope dangling them from the ceiling.. (ep 5) Near the episode's beginning, Vicki and the Doctor emerge on the surface of the planet with their captive Zarbi. Watch the scene background, which is supposed to indicate a desert stretching off into the distance. Instead it becomes the display screen for a shadow free-for-all. The next scene, where the three walk on from the rear of the stage, is the same. Again it happens (this time very noticeably) when the Doctor and Vicki return to the Animus' headquarters. (ep 6) Just as the episode begins, the Animus dome descends to speak with the Doctor. "You attempted escape?", it asks. Says Hartnell: "We have been on a slight ... exploitation." Lines, lines, lines. It appears very possible that he misread his cue card because of the hazy plastic shield through which he was looking at the time. (ep 6) At the end of that first scene, the Doctor and Vicki are led off, ostensibly to "the centre"; Hartnell is groaning and clutching his face. The camera cuts to Barbara, who is supposed to be on the other side of the planet -- yet we still hear Hartnell groaning pretty loudly! Obviously he didn't realize that his scene was over, and that the camera was long off him. Poor Jacqueline Hill just has to ignore him, and keep a straight face while saying, "The Doctor will have reached the control section by now". (ep 6) The string from which the Animus itself is suspended is clearly visible in almost every scene. (ep 6?) Watch the mountains closely, and in some scenes you can see the wooden supports holding them up.. (ep 6) Just after the Animus is destroyed, a group of Zarbi proceeds to dig out water from the planet surface, and some Menoptera come over to join them. The weight of all the actors makes the wooden stage creak fearfully for a good long while. This is far from the dusty planet surface the designers were trying to create. (ep 6) Next come the Optera, hopping around grunting, "Light is good" like a trio of Beavis 'n' Butthead insects. They make a point of hopping over to the backdrop, showing with their shadows that it's completely fake. (ep 6) When the TARDIS finally takes off (thank God!), we see a side view of it. One of the window panels is broken and is leaning inward ridiculously. (ep 6) To wrap up the technical glory that is this adventure, the final scene has every costume
designed for Vortis gathered together in one group, in order to parade around and blatantly destroy, once and for all, the credibility of the backdrop. Finally comes the biggest blooper of all: the credits indicate that one "Howard King" was hired to do the lighting for the show, obviously one of the biggest mistakes in Doctor Who history. "Light is good", the Optera are finally convinced. Wrong, sweeties..
(ep 1) In one scene, the Doctor bends over to examine some footprints on the ground, and you can
see his shadow being cast onto the "landscape" behind, plainly showing that it's just a painted backdrop
after all... [Well, what did you expect? ;-) ]
(ep 1) As the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki are watching the Space/Time Visualizer, Ian is seen singing along to the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride". Coming from Earth in 1963, Ian has never heard this song before - yet he knows the words... (ep 1) Note that when Barbara goes back to the TARDIS to turn off the Visualizer, she walks on to the set where the Visualizer is from the wrong direction! She's supposed to enter from the door on the left (where they all left when the Doctor announced "We're about to materialize!"), but she just walks on from nowhere... Not only that, but she yells from where she walked on to the Doctor to come quickly, which is followed by him entering from the same nowhere that she did! (ep 1) When Vicki leaves in a huff, she leaves a screwdriver on the Space/Time Visualizer. It promptly falls off with a loud clatter that William Hartnell reacts to by groaning... (ep 2) Look at the back of the Aridian's heads, as you can almost always see the actor's hair sticking out from under the mask. (ep 2) When the Doc and co. are on Aridius, in the background you can see the sand dunes stretching off into the far distance, but when they walked across the screen they cast shadows on the dunes - rather giving away the fact that they were just cardboard cut-outs! (ep 2) When the Doctor, and Barbara are being held by the Aridians, Vicki comes to find them. When she is rushing to meet them, she knocks an Aridian over. Keep your eye on him. After a few seconds, he gets up, looks confused for a second and then looks at someone behind the camera. He then "sneaks" off the set... (ep 2) Why is it that the Daleks could get in close enough to get a very good picture of the Marie Celeste, but still were x minutes away? And how can you have a 10 minute lead in the Space/Time continuum?? (ep 2&4) The Doctor appears to leave his coat on Aridius, though he somehow has it back by the time they reach Mechanus... (ep 3) Watch out for the motionless and rather knackered-looking Daleks standing on either side of the ramp into the Dalek ship. These are actually 2 ex-movie Daleks which were returned to the BBC to be used in the show, but there wasn't enough time to replace the movie style large base and jam-jar dome lights... So these bits were simply removed in the hope no-one would notice. [This info comes from the instruction sheet for the Sevans Models Dalek kit.] (ep 3) Just after the Doc & Co. escape from Aridius (when Barbara says that he wasn't bursting with enthusiasm), a boom shadow moves across the Time Rotor (or whatever you call that gadget thingy). (ep 3) Just after the previous blooper, Ian, Barbara and Vicki all gather around the Doctor. Vicki puts her hands deep in her pockets and starts to wiggle her legs, move her hands (in the pockets) and shake her hips. Judging by the desperate (but hilarious) facial expressions (a silly embarrassed grin with a wide urgent look in her eyes), she had a need to visit the Ladies room... (ep 3) This may or may not be a blooper: in one of the scenes in the TARDIS, Vicki starts pointing out that "Doctor! The rotor is slowing down!". To which he responds, "No, but I'm not ready!". The blooper is (I think) that Vicki seems to be pointing at those two strobe light circular thingies on the console, when the rotor (at least I thought it was) is in the central column. If the rotor is those two strobe thingies, then the blooper is the fact that from that point in the story on, whenever you see the TARDIS console (when the TARDIS is in flight), you never see those strobe things active. Someone either forgot to turn on the strobe things, or Vicki doesn't know where to point... (ep 4) Before the TARDIS materializes in the Haunted House, you hear the Dalek Time Machine materialization sound for no reason whatsoever. Then you hear and see the TARDIS materialize. (ep 4) As the TARDIS materializes in the haunted house, note the shadow of the person on the TARDIS door who quickly runs away when it has fully materialized. (ep 4) The Doctor and Ian enter Frankenstein's lab in the haunted house. They see the Monster lying unanimated on a table. Behind the table is a large ventilation screen. Behind this screen is an empty Dalek - note that at this point in the story, the Daleks weren't supposed to have arrived yet. A later scene in this same room shows that Dalek in action, "exterminating" the Monster. (ep 4) Listen for when William Hartnell says: "I say, I think we'd better go and check where Vicki and Barbara is!". It's shortly after he and Ian enter the haunted house. (ep 4) When the Doctor and Ian escape from Frankenstein's monster and the monster lies down on its couch again, we hear Vicki's next line "What's that in aid of?" a few seconds before she actually says it in the next scene. (Apparently, Maureen O'Brien jumped her cue and said the line before the camera was actually on her.) (ep 4) Immediately after the previous blooper, Barbara's next line, the quote about "Ask not for whom the bell tolls..." seems to suggest that we should have just heard a spooky-sounding bell go off about then... So where did it vanish to? (ep 4) There's a clearly visible boom mike and operator standing in the shadows as Ian and the Doctor come down the stairs of the haunted house for the last time. (ep 4) Frankenstein's Monster is credited as just "Frankenstein". OK, so it's a small nitpick - So sue me. ;-) (ep 4) When the Daleks establish that the Doctor & Co. are approaching the planet Mechanus, we see a rectangular screen in their time machine with a series of three-digit numbers underneath the main monitor, supposedly part of the machine. But when a Dalek moves in front of the screen, the numbers are (partially) superimposed on the Dalek! (ep 4&5) Don't forget the terribly convincing scenes of the Doctor and the Robot Doctor... I mean, they showed close-ups of the other actor who was supposed to look like William Hartnell, though he didn't look very much like him at all... (ep 5?) There's also a shot of the jungle on Mechanus where you can see a Dalek in the background before they're supposed to have arrived.... (ep 5) Watch the scene where Vicki finds the TARDIS for the first time (on Mechanus). Afterwards, you can see a boom in the background. And if you keep looking at the background you can see the operator's hand pick something up off the ground... (ep 5) When Ian and the Doctor are carrying Vicki back to the cave, in the background is the Dalek ship, right outside the cave (instead of half-way across the jungle) - and they don't even notice it! (ep 5) When the Daleks are massing to attack our heroes, they pass by the entrance to their cave and continue half-way across the jungle to the entrance again! (ep 5) In one scene in the jungle on Mechanus, a BBC camera cruises through the background - you can see a large white '3' painted on its side... (ep 6) When Ian and Barbara are starting to climb down from the Mechanoid city roof. Barbara slips and falls head-first off the roof. Ian saves her... by grabbing her pants. Right at the belt-line. They slide several inches before the cameras cut away. And people wonder why Ian and Barbara probably got married after the series. ;-) (ep 6) As the Doctor and Ian come back down from the roof of the city, Steven walks over to talk to them. The camera "dramatically" follows Steven around the set until a certain point where the camera suddenly jerks, we hear a soft "thunk" and then a "oooh!" from the cameraman! Stubbed his toe, methinks. ;-) (ep 6) There's a moment when the Doctor and co. have been first captured by the Mechanoids that the camera is jostled very obviously. (ep 6) When the door to Steven's "cell" drops, it bounces a few times before it closes for good. (ep 6) The rope that is supposed to be lowering everyone down almost a quarter of a mile is quite slack! (ep ?) In one scene where the Daleks are entering their time machine, you can see one lifting itself up get over the lip at the entrance! (ep ?) There's a scene where a Dalek is moving along on some sand, and you can see that it leaves footprints in the sand after it! (ep ?) In one scene in the Dalek craft, you can see someone running across the bottom right hand corner of the screen - quickly, but noticeably. Then there's the entire interior design of the Dalek spacecraft, the bad dubs on the Robot Doctor,
Barbara suddenly running over to that crumbling wall on Aridius just so that the Mire Beast can grab
her, the visible wires on the bats, the misplaced sound effects, William Hartnell's ubiquitous messing up
of his lines, the Visualiser that has names of Sol planets written on it although it's supposed to be able
to tune anywhere, the bad accents in the Empire State Building, I could go on forever......
(ep 1) Hartnell says: "But I'm not a mountain goat and I prefer walking to any day..." and then adds "...and I hate climbing!" (ep 2&3) The reprise to episode 3 is completely different to the cliffhanger in episode 2: Steven
does different things to the door, and the sheepskin rug on the bed changes completely.
(ep ?) In the only surviving clip from this story, Peter Purves cocks up his line!
The message left on the tape recorder found in the first episode of "Masterplan" is different from the
one left by Marc Cory in "Mission". (Editor's Note: I decided to make an exception to my "no flubs
bridging stories" rule and include this one because it's all the same story, really.)
(ep 4) Hartnell's little solo speech was unintentionally truncated, as Hartnell apparently forgot his lines! (ep 4) At one point, the Doctor calls Chesterton "Checkerton"!
(ep 1) The Doctor notices Dodo's daft costume and asks her: "Have you been fruiting about in my wardrobe?" (or something that sounds very like 'fruiting'...) (ep 1&2) At the end of episode one, Zentos says: "Take them to custody and later they will be
made to suffer for the crime that they have committed." However, in the reprise in episode two this
becomes "...they will be made to answer for the crime..."
(ep 1) Taking it for granted that this entire episode is one huge blooper, let's move on. Given that the combatants at the O.K. Corral actually spoke with neither British nor Australian accents, we can forgive the actors portraying them - with only a disapprovingly raised eyebrow. However, their struggle to create an American accent sometimes impedes their ability to remember lines. For instance, one of the good old boys in the saloon comes out with: "Now let's get this straight. You mean you don't know where Holliday ... y-you never met Holliday either?" All that's left out is "g'day mate". (ep 3) After Dodo holds a gun on Doc Holliday, he flubs his line: "For the first time in my life, I have just been taken -- beaten ... to the draw". Taken out and beaten would be better. (ep 3) The Doctor enters the jail to tell Wyatt Earp that Steven (calling himself Steven Regret) has ridden off to find Dodo and Doc Holliday, but seems to have some trouble recalling the gender of his companion. Earp: "You mean Regret has gone after Holliday alone?" Hartnell: "No, no, my dear marshal, no, she's gone with a young man by the name of Ringo." (ep 3) A bulb blows at the end of this episode.
(ep 4) The Doctor is examining the back of one of the War Machines. When he's finished, he stands up - and bangs his head quite hard on the overhanging part at the top of the machine! [Must have hurt... But he carried on regardless.] (ep ?) As the Doctor is examing the War Machine, he passes his cloak down to Ben over its gun
arm, knocking the metal spokes out of the gun, and making a very audible clang! when it hits the floor!
And as if this isn't funny enough, Ben then stoops down, picks up the offending bit of metal, and
balances it back on the gun before slinking off very sheepishly! (And all this occurs in the centre of the
screen in full camera view...)
(ep 1) The credits at the end of this episode spell Kit Pedlar's name as KITT. (ep 3) And a similar thing happens in this episode, where the credits mis-spell Gerry Davis's name as DAVIES. |