Doctor Who (1963) - 1980s seasons

The Urbankans in 'Four to Doomsday' were realized by make-up artist Dorka Nieradzik, who sculpted a lumpy green prosthetic appliance (building on the aliens' amphibious origins in the script) with a bulging forehead. The prosthetics could not be removed without tearing it apart, meaning new makeups were applied to Stratford Johns after each day of filming, resulting in the makeup's appearance shifting slightly between takes. Prosthetic gloves and feet were also made, as well as more simple facial appliances briefly worn by Paul Shelley and Annie Lambert.

The Terileptils in 'The Visitation' were envisaged as reptilian in the script, but costume designer Odile Dicks-Mireaux opted to base them on tropical fish, having the visual effects department sculpt three suits resembling humanoid fish, each vibrantly coloured.

The leader Terileptil would be distinguished by having scarring on the face. Producer John Nathan-Turner did not want the Terileptil's mouth to flap open like a puppet, so visual effects designer Peter Wragg had voice-activated solenoids fitted in the leader Terileptil's mask; something he had learned when working on Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation shows. The Terileptil leader mask was also fitted with small servo mechanisms that could make its lips curl.

The Plasmatons in 'Time Flight' consisted of a pair of pants and a mail sack, both coated in glons of polyurethane foam plastic. The plastic was then sprayed a grey colour, and had holes cut in to allow the performer inside to breathe; however, there was no sleeves so the actors inside had to walk with their arms pinned to their sides, at risk of tripping over!

The alien 'dragon' in 'Time-Flight' was the work of freelance prop-builder Richard Gregory and his Imagineering firm; the dragon was a puppet made of foam rubber, and Gregory himself worked as the puppeteer, wearing a catsuit of green CSO material to be invisible on the screen.

Also seen in 'Time-Flight' are the Xeraphin, realized as concealing prosthetic masks designed by make-up artist Dorka Nieradzik, sculpted to have a lumpy, enlarged cranium.

The Ergon in 'Arc of Infinity' was sketched by costume designer Dee Robson, who was instructed to make something along the lines of H. R. Giger's renowned xenomorph design. Robson contracted Richard Gregory and Imagineering to build the suit's physical parts.

Imagineering built the costume by taking casts of various animal bones, with the head being based on a pterodactyl skull. The material was light enough so that it would be worn by the performer easily, with the head being worn like a hat; unfortunately the way it was worn meant the head would wobble, resulting in the crew making chicken jokes!

The Kastron mutants in 'Mawdryn Undead' was too complex for the makeup department and so handed to visual effects supervised under Stuart Brisdon; a batter powered mechanism was placed inside the latex prosthetic to show the alien brain pulsating on-camera; only David Colling's prosthetic had the mechanism, with the other Kastrons wearing soft 'dummy' brain prosthetics instead.

The Garm in 'Terminus' was also based on a sketch by costume designer Dee Robson; her sketch bears a similarity to some of the aliens from Wayne Barlowe's Guide to Extra-Terrestrials, which the copy of In-Vision I'm using claims was 'encouraging costume making for fancy dress parties and school fetes'. Sorry to be the type of pedant to correct a decades old fanzine, but no it was not! Dee Robson's sketch does feel similar to some of Barlowe's artwork for the book though, in particular the 'Tran'.

The Garm was 'clothed' meaning that only the arms and head would require the assistance of make-up and visual effects; the head was constructed out of fibreglass and coated with latex, with the eyes being battery-powered lights as well, this making it the heaviest part of the costume to wear. Because of the weight and extra padding of the costume, it was deeply uncomfortable for performer R. J. Bell to wear, making him sweat enough that it would pour out the latex gloves!

The Silurians in 'Warriors of the Deep' were updated by Mat Irvine of the visual effects department to have turtle-like 'armor' and new heads sculpted by Richard Gregory's Imagineering team. The costumes looked good, but the latex was so heavy and stiff that it was almost impossible for the performers to move around in it, and the rushed schedule meant there wasn't time to remake them in a lighter material.

The Sea Devils were also reimagined, based on the original design by John Friedlander but now having no frills; the heads were once again manufactured by Imagineering, and them wearing costumes meant there wasn't a need for full-body suits like with the Silurians.

The serial's most infamous aspect was the Myrka; thanks to studio deadlines and cuts, Irvine opted to have the Myrka realized as an elaborate costume, similar to a pantomime horse of the sort seen in children's shows such as Rentaghost. The Myrka's body was constructed from foam rubber and fabric over wooden hoops, but was delivered on-set so new that the green paintjob was still fresh - in some shots you can see paint stains left behind!

The demon-like alien 'Malus' in 'The Awakening' was designed by visual effects supervisor Tony Harding, with the sculpting of the prop going to Imagineering once more. The Malus was realized in two different methods, with the first being a large 'head' prop made to be part of the studio set, fitted with tubes connected to a smoke generator in order to look like it was breathing fumes.

However, for one sequence a smaller full-body Malus puppet was required, and thus also built by Imagineering according to Tony Harding's sketches. The Malus puppet was four feet high and made up of a wire and fibreglass underframe coated in moulded rubber, with a cable mechanism that could make its jaw open and close. Harding and Imagineering were very pleased with the puppet, but disappointed when they saw how brief its appearance onscreen was.

The pillbug-like Tractators in 'Frontios' in the original script were intended to roll around, unfurl and ensnare their prey to curl up around them once more - however, this was never possible to do thanks to the final costumes being too cumbersome to move in as is, let alone to do complex movements. The Tractator costumes were made out of fibreglass with the underbellies made of a hessian-like material. Strips of 'Scotchlite' reflective paint were added so that it would appear they were glowing when using their powers, but overlighting prevented this effect being truly visible. The 'Gravis' Tractator, that acts as their leader, noticeably has a more human-like head than the other Tractator suits.

Davros returned in 'Resurrection of the Daleks', with a new latex mask sculpted by Stan Mitchell; the new mask was made of a softer foam-based rubber compared John Friedlander's original mask, and was shaped to have more of a sagging appearance to imply Davros had aged further. Dorka Nieradzik would later make a recast of the mask for 'Revelation of the Daleks' a few years later, this recasted mask being reused in 'Remembrace of the Daleks' after that.

Makeup designers Jan Nethercot and Shirley Stallard were tasked with the disfigured appearance of the unmasked Sharaz Jek. Jek's visage was achieved as several prosthetic appliances built up on actor Christopher Gables face, To achieve an aged look, rubber solution was painted on Gable's face and blow-dryed to make it crease and wrinkle.

A monster suit was also constructed for 'Androzani'; the Magma Beast, intended as a cross between a hawk and a dragon in design. The monster suit was realized at the behest of visual effects designer Jim Francis, who had the suit built by a freelance prop-building firm.

Due to being intended for several scenes (that never made it into the final cut), a considerable amount of detail was put into the Magma Beast suit, especially around the head which thus made it very heavy for the performer to wear.

The slug-like Mestor in 'The Twin Dilemma' was too complex for the costume department, and so was outsourced to Richard Gregory's Imagineering. The Mestor body was basically a giant sack made of three layers of material, with the back painted in latex and fitted with a fibreglass carapace.

The arms and feet were basically rubber gloves and boots given a heavy coat of latex. The suit was cumbersone and very, very hot to wear under the studio lights. Mestor's mask meanwhile was a collaboration between the make-up department and Imagineering, with a cast taken of actor Edwin Richfield's face; a two piece underskull was fabricated, as well as the sculpted static face plate.

The Cryons in 'Attack of the Cybermen' were handled by make-up artist Linda McInnes; a generic size mask was made, as none of the Cryon's actresses wished to have facial casts taken. The masks were sculpted to form a dome shape, and painted inside with a latex rubber mixture, and more layers of latex were applied after the actress put on the mask to hide the seams. The mask worn by Faith Brown was coloured with grease paint in scratched lines to imply the character had been physically tortured.

The slug-like Sil in 'Vengeance on Varos' was realized as a collaboration between the visual effects, costume and makeup departments. Costume designer Annie Hardinge designed the basic suit, after which visual effects designer Charles Jean sculpted a foam rubber bodysuit, with the makeup department achieving a hood-like mask to be worn by performer Nabil Shaban, by being glued onto his face. Problems arised thanks to the harsh studio lights melting the glue, which would cause the mask to loosen and slip off Shaban's face during filming, meaning a new take!

As said before, Sil was played by Nabil Shaban, who got the part thanks to his short stature induced by the bone condition osteogenesis imperfecta. Shaban is also a disability activist, who co-founded the Graeae Theatre Company for deaf and disabled artists and thespians. Shaban also narrated the 1983 documentary The Skin Horse about sex and intimacy in the disabled community, and which has been uploaded on the Internet Archive. Given disabled actors often have been typecast as monsters and aliens in film and television (to varying degrees of sensitivity), I feel it is important to mention his activism here.

A more brief bit of prosthetic makeup effects in the serial was the lizard-like creature that Geraldine Alexander transforms into, realized as a prosthetic mask and gloves.

The Sontarans returned in 'The Two Doctors', with new masks sculpted by Richard Gregory and his Imagineering firm (who also had to make the Sontaran helmets and collars); one problem was that the costume had no padding like the original James Acheson Sontaran costumes did, so the collars sat loose and showed more of the latex mask's lower half than was intended.

The lizard-mutant Borad in 'Timelash' was a collaboration between make-up designer Vanessa Poulton and visual effects designer Stan Mitchell, who had experience working on Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal, which gave him insight into the then-latest developments in sculpting techniques. The Borad's distorted facial prosthetics were sculpted out of fine and soft, but expensive, foam rubber solution that meant minimal discomfort for Robert Ashby to wear.

The Morlox serpents were the work of the visual effects department, and were basically a rubber sleeve puppet sculpted out of foam rubber over a wire armature, with wires connecting it to a rack and pinion pivot that allowed the operators to move its head as if it was thrashing about.

Additionally there was also the Bandrill, only seen from a viewing screen, and realized as a glove puppet; an infamously cheap effect but the design is charming in my opinion.

'The Ultimate Adventure' was not a serial but a stage play made with the BBC's permission where one of the Doctor's friends is this gremlin-like alien. The Zog prop would be taken to Doctor Who exhibitions in the following years, and appear in the infamous Children in Need special Dimensions in Time, before being auctioned decades later. I can't find any information on who designed or sculpted the Zog suit, but I imagine it could have been any number of the freelancer propmakers the BBC itself commissioned for the series. Would love some concrete answers!

Shaban would return to play Sil again in 'Mindwarp', but that serial's make-up and visual effects designers (Dorka Nieradzik and Peter Wragg, respectively) opted to replace the 'hood' with a new, much more snug prosthetic that Shaban would wear, but otherwise past a new paint job the design was unchanged.

An entirely new suit was required for Kiv (played by Christopher Ryan), with a segmented tail and different style of facial prosthetics. The suit was kept the colour of the original foam latex, but with some paint applied to make it appear believable.

The titular plant creatures of 'Terror of the Vervoids' were again a collaboration between the costume and visual effects departments. Costume designer Andrew Rose worked on the body, realized as a jumpsuit coated in moulded segments of latex for the 'leaves' of the Vervoid, with the gloves designed to resemble the closed petals of a flower. The head meanwhile was the work of visual effects designer Kevin Molloy, who sculpted them out of rubber and based the design on carnivorous plants; though the final result looks hilariously phallic.

Also briefly seen in the serial was the half-Vervoid mutant, which was the work of the makeup department supervised by Shaunna Harrison; part of a Vervoid mask was cut and applied to actress Barbara Ward's face, with an air bladder placed underneath to let it pulsate on-camera.

The bat-like Tetraps in 'Time and the Rani' were beyond the skills of the BBC costume department to realize without help from Colin Mapson's visual effects department. The Tetraps were based on a sketch by costume designer Ken Trew, then modified by visual effects sculptor Stan Mitchell, who in turn gave some of the work to freelance prop-bulders and puppeteers Susan Moore and Stephen Mansfield, who had previously worked on the 1981 Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy miniseries as well as episodes of Spitting Image.

The Tetrap heads were all static with the exception of the leader one, who had a fibreglass jaw that moved as the actor spoke. An animatronic Tetrap head was built by visual effects assistant Tom Wilkinson for close-ups. Several miniature Tetrap sculptures were made for certain special effects sequences as well.

The Chimeron baby in 'Delta and the Bannermen' was realized as two puppets by Susan Moore and Stephen Mansfield, based on a design sketch by the serial's assigned effects designer Andy McVean. The first baby was more or less a hand puppet, operated from under a table. The second puppet required to do movements on-camera, and was rigged to cables to control its mechanisms, allowing it to pulsate and move.

The biomechanical Dragon in 'Dragonfire' was the work of the visual effects department, with visual effects designer Andy McVean sketching the creature's look, which owed a great deal to H. R. Giger's xenomorph design. After this, the visual effects team member Lindsay McGowan produced a maquette upon which the suit would be referenced from.

The final Dragon suit was sculpted from latex rubber and polyurethane foam, with the heavier elements (such as the claws and spines) being supported by armatures in the material. Two versions of the Dragon's head were constructed; the first was made of fibreglass, and had equipement inside it to breathe smoke out, something that wasn't realized on-screen due to the performer having difficult with wearing the heavy head prop. A second head was made from the same mould, but cut up for the shot where the Dragon head would open up on camera. The actor was shorter than intended, meaning the suit was fitted with platform shoes to make them appear taller.

In the Iceworld shopping centers are scenes of various customers eating at diners, similar to the cantina scene from Star Wars; the visual effects team did not have the budget to create several new masks, and so turned to freelancers Susane Moore and Stephen Mansfield to provide them with alien masks; the two of them made several masks, as well as an alien glove puppet they had named 'Eric'!

Several creature effects were needed for 'The Happiness Patrol', the first being Helen A's pet Stigorax, Fifi; original plans to have Fifi just played by an actual animal where thankfully discarded in favor of having it realized as a puppet, and once again Susan Moore and Stephen Mansfield were called to work on it. Mansfield drew two preliminary sketches of how the Fifi creature should look, as something between a rat and a dog.

The two of them built three Fifi props; a static prop to be carried by Hancock in some scenes, a running version for the scenes where it chases people in the sewers, and a fully working one to interact proper with Hancock. Whilst the static prop was just made of solid foam rubber, the animatronic versions required fibreglass and metal skeletons for the mechanisms to be placed inside of, with the running prop's mechanisms partly being taken from a dog toy Moore and Mansfield had bought.

Moore and Mansfield also had to the realize the rodent-like Pipe People, the original natives of the planet; originally intended to be furred, they opted to instead have them be bald with just some tufts of hair on them, to save both time and money.

The most complicated creature to realize in the serial was the 'Kandyman', a robot executioner made out of confectionery. This was a very complex suit, realized by prop maker Robert Allsop (who had special costume prop making experience on The Max Headroom Show) and freelance propmaking company Artem, itself founded by former BBC Visual Effects Department employees. The various bodyparts were casted from polyurethane and latex foam, with the head coated in plastic pith balls, and each bodypart painted like various types of sweets. Additionally, the chest unit was moulded fibreglass that had space enough for a powered pump that would force red liquid into the pipes attached to the other parts of the Kandyman body, with more circuitry to make the eyes spin around.

The Destroyer in 'Battlefield' was again realized by the sculptors Susan Moore and Stephen Mansfield, who came up with a classic demonic rubber face mask, as well as prosthetics for the chest and hand as well. The Destroyer mask had a fibreglass mechanism underneath the latex that would allow the lips to curl and snarl as the actor moved their mouth.

The insectoid 'husks' of the alien Josiah Smith's earlier forms in 'Ghost Light' were realized as sculpted latex masks and gloves.

The Haemovores in 'The Curse of Fenric' were sculpted by Susan Moore and Stephen Mansfield once again, with several masks being created. The rubber masks were very detailed, and showed how much the Haemovores are in various states of mutation with some barely human anymore; of note are the sculpted cracks and suckers over the faces!

Originally, Mansfield and Moore intended for the Haemovores to mutate even further into a lamprey-like creature and had even sculpted a maquette, but this was abandoned partly for budget and partly as the design was felt to be too horrific.

The Haemovores are led by the 'Ancient One', an aged mutant from a future polluted Earth, and perhaps the most complex prosthetics work in the serial, consisting of sculpted latex prosthetic chest, arms and head, with the head also being fitted with air bladders to allow the fins on the side of the head to move. The Ancient One was sculpted with tubes attached to fleshy organs to imply the creature was partly a cyborg as well.

The Cheetah People in 'Survival' were pretty much the work of the costume department under designer Ken Trew, with masks to conceal the performers face.

The cancellation of the series led to several fan-films; a good few of them involved cast and crew members who had worked on the original series. The most notable of them was the 1995 direct to video film Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans, which as per the title, involved the Sontarans. These Sontarans are fairly different to John Friedlander's original design, and were sculpted by a team that included Stephen Mansfield and Susan Moore, hence the prosthetics being fairly solid for such a cheap production.

(It should be worth noting that I used various issues of the Doctor Who fanzine 'In-Vision' as a source for the information here. Scans of the zine can be found on the Internet Archive).