Doctor Who (1963) - 1960s seasons

The long-running science-fiction series famed for its various alien monsters, especially impressive given the budget and time constraints of BBC television up to the 2000s. Often the realization of these aliens usually was a collaboration between the costume designer, and 'visual effects designer' (a role that would now be more described as 'special effects' or 'special makeup effects' today).

This process would be further complicated as often the various production/costume designers hired freelancers rather than 'in-house' departments at the BBC itself. Another complication is that, unlike most later TV series that have a singular designer assigned to a whole season (or sometimes whole show), different designers were assigned to different serials.

Doctor Who's co-creator Sydney Newman had originally not wanted any 'bug eyed monsters' in the show; by the time of 'The Keys of Marinus', this policy was already ignored. The serial's designer Raymond Cusick (also responsible for designing the Daleks, but that's a story easy to find elsewhere) designed the Masters of Morpoton as puppets able to 'pulsate' on camera, resembling brains with stalk eyes.

The titular aliens of 'The Sensorites' were achieved as latex masks worn over the performer's face. The masks were a collaboration between costume designer Daphne Dare and make-up artist Jill Summers.

The Slyther in 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth' was realized as two costumes; the first was made for the serial's fourth episode, while the second was made for filming the fifth episode. Both costumes were baggy with arms attached, but the second version had antennae fitted on.

Briefly seen in 'The Rescue' is the (mostly) tamed 'sand beast' (adorably named Sandy by one of the characters); it is similar in design to the Magnedon from 'The Daleks', so was presumably designed by Raymond Cusick rather than by costume designer Daphne Dare. Judging by the photo of the technician in the skull mask, the monster prop was constructed at Shawcraft Models.

'The Web Planet', for its world of insect aliens, required close collaboration between the costume designer Daphne Dare, production designer John Wood and make-up designer Sonia Markham. The butterfly-like Menoptera and grub-like Optera were in particular creations of Dare and Markham, due to the costumes mostly made of fabrics with painted faces.

Other 1960s aliens realized primarily as costumes were not quite as successful, such as the Aridians in 'The Chase' (also designed by Daphne Dare), or the fish mutants in 'The Underwater Menace' (designed by Sandra Reid). Not to knock on two deeply talented costume designers!

The ant-like Zarbi were designed by Dare and constructed by Shawcraft Models; inside the Zarbi suit were mechanisms that allowed the actor to move the Zarbi's pincers like a real insect. The thorax contained a hole coated in gauze that allowed the performer inside to see. The suits were uncomfortable for the performers inside due to the heavy fibreglass material, stifling heat due to the studio lights, and the hunched posture the performers had to adopt.

The 'larvae guns' were a static prop with a performer moving it from underneath, with the fabric tendrils giving the appearance of small legs.

The Rill aliens in 'Galaxy 4' were most likely static masks with a performer behind, though thanks to this serial being lost (like most of the 1960s Doctor Who serials), there is only two production photographs that indicate what the design looked like in full, as the one surviving episode has it only behind a glass pane.

The alien delegate Malpha in 'Mission to the Unknown' was realized as a prosthetic makeup applied to actor Robert Cartland; I think the head was achieved with a bald cap painted to resemble the makeup on the rest of Cartland's face.

The Monoids in 'The Ark' were realized as one-piece bodysuits with a mask; the masks were fitted with wigs, out of which the performers would see out of.

'The Macra Terror' was another casualty of the BBC's junking policy; as such, the only clear shot that exists of the titular Macra crab aliens is a behind the scenes photo of the full-sized prop constructed by Shawcraft Models. There also still exists some colour footage taken at the Shawcraft Models workshop that gets some glimpses of the Macra prop, showing it from other shots. The prop had mechanisms built inside it that allowed a performer to give it some limited body movements.

The eerie Chameleon aliens of 'The Faceless Ones' were realized via performers wearing heavy latex appliances on their faces and hands, the faceless masks being made more gruesome with the blood vessels applied on top, with a coating of vaseline making them appear to glisten on-screen. Unfortunately, due to the serial being lost, the below image is the only one showing what they looked like on-camera.

The titular creatures of 'The Abominable Snowmen' were designed and realized by costume designer Martin Baugh. Rather than being ape-like humanoids, they were large shaggy creatures. Each Yet costume consisted of a bamboo framework with the fur laid on it; the visual effects department were responsible for the chest piece and possibly the feet and claws.

The titular Martian warriors of 'The Ice Warriors' were realized by costume designer Martin Baugh once more. Baugh hired a boat building firm to sculpt the 'helmet' and 'armor' as it was far beyond the skills or materials available to the BBC's costume department). The original script had called for them to be cybernetic Viking-like warriors, but Baugh strayed away from this as he felt it was too similar to the Cybermen; the influence is still felt as the 'helmets' do bear more than a resemblance to early medieval helmets, especially the Sutton Hoo helmet.

The Ice Warrior limbs were moulded out of latex rubber, and the pincer-like arms were plastic clamps that had a wire connected to them in order for the laser gun prop to light up when being 'fired'. A latex makeup was applied to the actors' faces in order to show that there was a reptilian creature under the 'armor'. The suits were deeply uncomfortable for the performers to wear, to the point that leaning boards were provided for the actors to cool down between takes. The suits would be reused in later serials even up to the early 70s.

'The Web of Fear' was a sequel to 'The Abominable Snowmen', and once again had costume designer Martin Baugh realizing the Yeti; for this serial he would have them redesigned to be more threatening than their previous design, with with new designs for the clawed hands and large glowing eyes fitted on the head, with the general frame being leaner and stockier than the bottom-heavy originals.

'The Seeds of Death' was a sequel to 'The Ice Warriors'; the commanding Ice Lord Slaar was visualized by costume designer Bobi Bartlett, with the helmets, chest plate and pincers being the work of the visual effects department. Slaar's reptilian half-mask was sculpted by John Friedlander, who would contribute many monster masks in the ensuing decade. The costume was mostly a bodysuit with a texture evoking a reptile's scales.

(It should be worth noting that I used various issues of the Doctor Who fanzine 'An Adventure in Space & Time' as a source for the information here. Scans of the zine can be found on the Internet Archive).