Tardis

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Tardis
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Tardis
This topic might have a better name.

Sky Ray (TV story)

Talk about it here.

RealWorld

Sky Ray was an advertisement promoting new Doctor Who Walls’ lollies. It featured Gerry Grant as the Second Doctor. It was released in 1967 in conjunction with Dr Who's Space Adventure Book.

Two different versions are known to exist: one in black-and-white, used for screening by the commercial TV channel ITV; and one in colour, used for cinema advertising.

Each version used different takes: the black-and-white TV version gave a wider context of the Daleks entering the TARDIS control room, while the colour cinema version started with the Daleks already there. In both versions, the live-action sequence ends with the Doctor covering his face.

Synopsis[]

The Second Doctor is attempting to pilot the TARDIS, when he is attacked by two Daleks which have entered the ship. The Doctor covers his face from the Daleks.

Cast[]

Crew[]

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Worldbuilding[]

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Story notes[]

  • The Doctor is only ever shown on-screen obliquely, and covers his face from the Daleks in an attempt to hide from the audience that the actor is not Patrick Troughton.
  • As promoted by the advertisement, the price of a Sky Ray was sixpence (around 3p in decimal currency).
  • Not heavily connected to the actual short story featured within the campaign, Daleks Invade Zaos, the short video is notable for being one of the few colour depictions of the Second Doctor's era on-screen during the 1960s. While the TARDIS control room set was created especially for the video, and bears little resemblance to its TV counterpart, the Daleks were real props which had been used on the show, meaning that viewers can use the piece as a window into what those props would have looked like in colour. The advertisement is also useful to historians who wish to understand the product itself, as the frozen treats would have been less likely to survive than similar tie-ins. Its feature role outside of the live-action segment is in illustrating that the ice lollies resemble the space-ships within the featured short story. It has become a novelty to many fans since its release, and was featured in More than 30 Years in the TARDIS.
  • The scene is also one of very few stories to feature the Doctor's pipe hat, which was gradually phased out within the Second Doctor era.

Continuity[]

to be added

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