Lord of the Files

DOCTOR WHO

In the final episode of Nigel Kneale’s groundbreaking serial The Quatermass

BUILD A ROCKET BOYS!

Picture the scene: a too-close encounter with an alien organism

A Peculiar Effect on the BBC

In the early days of the Visual Effects Department, everything

TRADING STANDARDS

In the earliest days of Doctor Who the BBC’s Visual

MINIATURE Effects

The public has always enjoyed seeing highly detailed miniatures of

COSTUME DRAMAS

Joining the BBC’s Visual Effects Department in 1958, Peter Day

The GOLDEN AGE of CSO

In the hostile jungle of the planet Spiridon, the Doctor

The Ian Scoones Scrapbooks

The most flamboyant designerin the Visual Effects Department – and

The MONSTER CLUB

Before you could watch 45 minutes of Doctor Who Confidential

TINSEL, CLING FILM AND PLASTER DALEKS

Ian Gosling was already a BBC employee when, in early

Plastic Surgery

"I always refer to the BBC as ‘my company’,” says

PHYSICAL Effects

The most common physical effects are probably those connected to

LOGAN'S RUN

I had to go to Wales to blow up a

DOG DAYS

Tony Harding realised how famous K9 had become on a

AFTER EFFECTS

In the 1970s I was a big Doctor Who fan

Demolition Man

Visual effects assistants are some of Doctor Who’s unsung heroes,

SID EEFFECTS

After nearly half a century of operation, the BBC’s Visual

The Next Generation

In the mid-1990s it seemed Doctor Who’s television future lay

Trouble at Mill

Will Cohen’s childhood memories of Doctor Who are typical of

Picture Perfect

"It was incredibly exciting. We were making stuff for TV

MADE IN HEAVEN

Samantha Price remembers how she first heard about Heaven Sent

Axis All Areas

“Doctor Who is different every time. That’s the fun. You

ROLE MODELS

The things that got me into what I do now