Time & Riverside III: Doctor Who: The Moonbase + Q&A Review

As a part of the 60th anniversary year of Doctor Who Riverside Studios presented a screening on the 12th August 2023 of the two existing instalments (episodes 2 and 4) of classic Patrick Troughton story The Moonbase and brought some special guests for the occasion. Riverside Studios in West London between 1964 and 1968 was an integral part of the production of Doctor Who. Episodes filmed in Riverside Studio 1 spanned from the William Hartnell era story Dalek Invasion of Earth to the Patrick Troughton story The Wheel in Space.

The event started with an introduction to the day by Steven Pickford, TV and radio producer who before he could utter more than two words was plunged into darkness as someone enthusiastically dimmed the lights and started to play episode 2. With much hilarity, there was an eventual stop to the episode which starts with a fevered Jamie McCrimmon protesting he wouldn’t be going with the ” Phantom Piper” or the Cyberman. Steven Pickford eventually continued and explained as part of the screening were in attendance some special guests; Margot Hayhoe (Assistant Floor Manager), Dudley Darby (Tracker and Cameraman), Derek Chafer and Martin Cort (Monsters including Cybermen supporting artists) and not last and least the inimitable Frazer Hines (who played companion Jamie McCrimmon.

Margot Hayhoe (Assistant Floor Manager) and Dudley Darby (Tracker) Interview

Interviewer Robert Dick introduced Margot Hayhoe, assistant floor manager in the 1960’s but who rose to a production manager by the early 1980’s. Margot Hayhoe started her career as a child actress and revealed she had been in a production at Riverside Studios called Women Of Troy which had been very exciting. More importantly for Doctor Who was Margot revealed she later, being the right size, was stuck in a cupboard on set for The War Machines moving the reel tapes for WOTAN! Margo loved the element of television and live performance so she decided she wanted to pursue production.

Using the secretarial route to gain a job at the BBC she started working her way up. Margot considered herself very lucky as she worked with Campbell Logan, a television director and producer well known for her work on classic serials. She was involved in Fury From The Deep and Jon Pertwee’s era The Ambassadors Of Death Margot later became Production Manager on three early 1980’s stories with Tom Baker and Peter Davison. Margot acknowledged that Doctor Who was technically challenging, more different than any other programme and difficult sometimes. She gave examples of how working with heavy moving props such as the Tardis to create the materialise and dematerialise effects and then using also effects such as colour separation overlay (CSO) were time-consuming in an era where time did equal spending money.

Robert Dick also introduced Dudley Darby, who has never spoken at a public event before but was a tracker on ‘The Moonbase‘ and rose later to be a cameraman. Dudley was involved in many classic stories featuring the first four Doctors including ‘The Moonbase‘, ‘The Green Death‘ and ‘The Seeds Of Doom’. Dudley remembered fondly working as part of a crew, filming usually 4 days a week of drama in the summer. Much of the filming was done in the summer to take advantage of the good weather. Explaining how he started he originally wanted to join the Air Force but was rejected for wearing glasses he found a leaflet asking for technical engineers. He was accepted by the BBC and learned on the job joining a film crew as a tracker who drives the studio crane. Although the crews came under engineering the roles weren’t comparable in terms of specialism as the crews looked after the pictures, not the technical equipment.

Dudley discussed the different routes available for career progression from going into lighting or pursuing vision mixing. I got the sense that he felt a slight unfairness that senior cameramen weren’t allowed to go to outside rehearsals or that being in the studio was uncredited until much later in the 1980s. Usually, he explained only film cameramen would be credited if they produced content more than 30 seconds outside on location. Dudley remembered about the challenges of evening recording at Riverside Studios in the 1960s. Being on the airport flight path to Heathrow meant most planes could be heard coming from miles away and the studios weren’t soundproofed that well so there would be a roar of engines and also vibration which stopped and disturbed recording. Dirt which floated down from the girders in the roof would need to be cleared from the set before recording could resume,

Derek Chafer, Martin Cort (Monster supporting artists) and Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon) interview.

Derek Chafer has appeared in a variety of small roles in over twenty Doctor Who stories. He started off as a Saxon in 1965’s ‘The Time Meddler’ and played also a cowboy in ‘The Gunfighters‘ He was a Cyberman in ‘The Moonbase‘ and later went on to feature in episodes with both the third and fourth Doctor. Derek recalled the inflexibility of costumes, especially being unable to move his head. Filming in a studio such as Lime Grove Studios in the early days could be claustrophobic within the tiny space of the studios and hot with the very bright studio lights. Derek enjoyed being on location rather than in the studio and at that point Frazer Hines recalled the joys of location filming. He described a scene where he and Deborah Watling were being chased by a Yeti who overtook them and then slipped and slid all the way down the hill.

John Levene was unable to attend the event as planned and actor Martin Cort was invited at very short notice. He played several roles in the 1964 story The Keys of Marinus and appeared in the 1969 Troughton story Seeds of Death. He played a Voord in The Keys of Marinus and discussed the difficulty of trying to get into a diving suit using talcum powder and without clothes. The suits were hot, and the eyeholes were lower than they should have been so all he normally would see were his feet. It was a nightmare he said trying to hear the action cues and sometimes he didn’t go in the right direction! The life of a supporting artist also wasn’t easy as they were waiting for a long time and sometimes were asked to do unexpected scenes which were then left on the cutting room floor.

Frazer Hines played Jamie McCrimmon alongside Patrick Troughton’s second Doctor from 1966 to 1969, appearing in more episodes than any other companion. As a child actor, he appeared with Charlie Chaplin in the movie ‘A King in New York‘ and went on to appear in a range of television series including ‘The Silver Sword’, ‘Coronation Street’ and ‘Emmerdale Farm’.

Frazer recounted originally auditioning for the part of Ben but due to his dodgy Cockney accent he laughed he wasn’t successful. However, a year later Frazer was invited by Innes Lloyd to ” Bush House” to play Jamie McCrimmon in The Highlanders. Remembering Michael Craze (Ben) Frazer revealed he knew Michael before Doctor Who, from drama schools’ days where they met for the same type of roles at auditions. Frazer was invited to join the Tardis crew as Jamie but was aware that Michael Craze and Anneke Wills were not particularly happy at another male character coming in as he was given lines allocated to Ben. For ‘The Moonbase’ as the script was already written before his character came in Frazer felt he had an easy time being unconscious for a couple of episodes and avoiding being taken by the Cyberman.

Frazer said it was a joy to go to work despite the long schedules of 48 episodes a year and the speed of working. When he was recording on a Saturday he would go down to the BBC canteen for supper and watch the broadcast episode at 5:25 pm, recorded sometimes two weeks previously, before going into a live recording between 7pm-10pm. He recalled how they were often also working on Sundays, meant to be their day off. Asked about his accent Jamie Frazer revealed his mother is Scottish and he, much like all the actors in his first serial, used a Highland accent which has an up, light quality of taliking. Frazer wasn’t originally intended to carry on beyond one serial but when invited to stay and be a companion he adjusted his accent to make it more television-friendly. He feels so lucky he said yes to the part as it gave him the opportunity to travel extensively as part of the Doctor Who family. He revealed he has also recently written a new book novelisation of Doctor Who: Evil of the Daleks available in October.

After the event finished there were opportunities for autographs and a studio for pictures with all the guests. There was also a striking event postcard from artist Alister Pearson for sale featuring Patrick Troughton and a Cyberman against a white and orange background.

Upcoming Events at Riverside Studios

DWAS also announced at the end of this event the next Doctor Who special screening with guests. Time & Riverside IV on Saturday 14 October 2023 which will feature the two live episodes ‘The Underwater Menace‘ Episode 2 and ‘The Wheel In Space‘ Episode 6. The venue is also doing Doctor Who screenings every other month.

September – Doctor Who: Classic Episode Showcase – The Tenth Planet + Introduction | Riverside Studios

October- TIME & RIVERSIDE IV: Doctor Who – Sea & Space + Q&A with special guests | Riverside Studios

What do you think of The Moonbase? Post your thoughts here, on the Big Blue Box Podcast Discord Server or on Twitter. Let’s talk.