50th Anniversary Trailer Breakdown

Okay, seen a couple of lists about the trailer, some have drawn some pretty long bows, some have missed elements that I spotted.  So here’s my list. I’ve put up framegrabs, then highlighted and numbered most of the relevant bits.  If you click on an image it will jump to a full sized version.

I haven’t always gone for the clearest shot of an object, but this already runs to 19 images and 90 entries total, so I was trying to get the most bang for my buck. With the way I’ve presented it, you should be able to figure out where it is on screen and check for yourself.

But mostly I only cover the elements that I’m fairly certain of, there’s very little supposition in my list, and I debunk (possibly incorrectly) one or two other theories. I did skip one or two shots of Daleks where I found it impossible to narrow down the type or story.  I have no doubt I’ve missed a few things, but I think I’ve covered most of them fairly well.

01

1. The policeman seen in the very first episode, An Unearthly Child. Fred Rawlings was the first actor seen in the show.

2. This bike is potentially one of the most anal retentive bits of continuity.  It appears clearly in some of the set photos for An Unearthly Child, but you can’t see it in the episode.  Or maybe it’s a nod to the bike Tom Baker rides in Shada.  What? You want a bike seen on screen in an episode that was broadcast? Okay, it belongs to Pigbin Josh from Claws of Axos.  Happy?

02

3. Yes, it’s the gate from An Unearthly Child.

03

4. Mask from The Masque of Mandragora

5. The pyramid is probably from Pyramids of Mars. It certainly looks like the Osiran war rocket.

6. Yeti model from either Abominable Snowmen, or Web of Fear.

7. It’s subtle, but the previous two props are resting on a chessboard. Could be from numerous stories, but I’m going to say it’s from Curse of Fenric.

8. Mask for one of the Clockwork Robots from Girl in the Fireplace.

9. Roboform mask from Runaway Bride.

10. The 9th and 10th Doctors’ sonic screwdriver.

11. The 11th Doctor’s fez from The Big Bang.

A. A lot of folks have said the two objects here are the headgear of the Black and White Guardians. Or that the white thing is an Adipose.  Truth is, you can’t tell.  The black feathery thing is the wrong shape for the Black Guardian’s birdie hat, and the white thing could just as easily be a robot mask from The Caves of Androzani, or it might represent foam from any one of several Troughton stories.

I figure if you can’t even manage a realistic guess without drawing a long bow, it doesn’t count.

04

12. 6th Doctor’s Umbrella, seen in stories like The Two Doctors.

13. 1st Doctor’s walking stick, given to him in the story Marco Polo.

14. A black umbrella… Let’s say it’s the 2nd Doctor’s from The Krotons, though there are a few other stories it could count for as well.

15. Blue bucket. Love and Monsters.

16. 1st Doctor.

17. St. John’s Ambulance badge on the TARDIS, which dates from the first story and came back with the 11th Doctor’s era.

18. I’m guessing it’s the 500 year diary from the Troughton era, based on the thickness.  Or it might be the little wallet that hold the psychic paper, but I don’t think so.

19. Sign from the Cloven Hoof, from the story The Daemons.  I’ve been to that pub!  Not that you care *sob*

20. Hartnell/Troughton TARDIS console.

21. Chameleon Arch fobwatch from Human Nature/Family of Blood.

22. The Key to Time, with the Locator in place, from season 16 The Key to Time season.  If you want to be specific, it only appeared like this in the last story, The Armageddon Factor.  Various parts of the key to Time can be seen floating around later – they look like large pieces of glass or crystal.

23. The TARDIS key. The old style key used in the early years, and then brought back with the new series.

24. K9’s dog whistle.

B. Someone said this was an old BBC videotape playing or editing machine.  Looks about right.

C. A big old film reel, possibly to represent the use of film from the old days.

05

25. I don’t know what it’s called, but this was basically a recurring TARDIS console room prop from several Hartnell stories.

26. The Polyphase Avatron from The Pirate Planet.

22. Just to avoid confusion, this is the Locator handle from the Key to Time.

06

27. The skeleton extermination effect, first seen in Remembrance of the Daleks.

28. Dalek – This type of casing variant was first seen in Day of the Daleks.

29. U.N.I.T. soldier… well, probably. First introduced in The Invasion, when the name stood for United Nations Intelligence Taskforce.

07

30. The 4th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver.

31. The Himalayas, setting for The Abominable Snowmen.

32. The 2nd Doctor, playing his recorder.

33. I looked at the wreckage behind Troughton and thought it looked like it belonged from Power of the Daleks.  Then I spotted the bit I eventually decided to put the number on – a Dalek neck section – so I figure Power is right or close.

08

34. 3rd Doctor’s sonic screwdriver.

35. The 4th Doctor.

36. Jelly Babies!  Well this one should be obvious to anyone with a passing interest in the show.  Patrick Troughton from The Three Doctors.  Well, he was the first to offer them to someone.

09

37. Sarah Jane Smith! First seen in The Time Warrior. Back when companions were real people without unlikely destinies. I miss her…

38. Okay, I’ve seen some long bows drawn in trying to identify some of the objects and tie them down to something, so I want to do one.  This is the crystal ball from Snakedance.  Or maybe from The Shakespeare Code.

39. There’s a few stories this could be from, but given this style of Dalek saucer appears again later in the clip, I’m going to pretend that this one hails from the TV21 Dalek comic strips, since they were the inspiration for the design.  Given the London background, it’s probably intended to be from Dalek Invasion of Earth though, even though it looks nothing like that ship.

40. Big Ben. Let’s just say it’s from Aliens of London/World War Three.

41. Earthshock style Cybermen.  Could be from Attack of the Cybermen or Five Doctors, but let’s say Earthshock.

42. K9, who first appeared in The Invisible Enemy, way back in 1977.

43. Dalek Invasion of Earth style Dalek.

44. A Sea Devil, from The Sea Devils. Oddly, “Sea Devil” appeared to be the actual name given to their species many years later in Warriors of the Deep.

10

45. 3rd Doctor. Actually, given the poor likeness, I like to think that this is Jon Pertwee’s unknown half-brother, Bertram Lee.

46. The Master, Roger Delgado version. The 3rd Doctor and The Master had a sword fight like this in The Sea Devils.

47. TARDIS console from the Tom Baker/Peter Davison eras.

11

48. Clara Oswald.

49. The Most Important Leaf in the Universe, first seen in The Bells of Saint John, which was obviously not considered that important by the production team since they used a couple of very obviously different leaves.

37. Sarah Jane Smith’s reflection. Some people have said it is Susan’s reflection, but it looks more like Sarah Jane than Susan.  That said, I can see it, and an willing to be proved wrong.  I’m 55% certain on this one.

12

50. A Weeping Angel from Blink.

51. The 5th Doctor.

52. The 5th Doctor’s spectacles, as seen in a few episodes, including Frontios.

53. Cricket ball, not doubt a reference to The Ark in Space. Or Four to Doomsday. Or Black Orchid.

54. TARDIS key – Pertwee version. But let’s say it’s the 8th Doctor’s just because he doesn’t get much of a look in.

55. 6th Doctor, Colin Baker.

56. Robot D84, from Robots of Death. “Please do not throw hands at me.”

57. A Silence, from The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon.  Yes, I know, people argue about what they are called. But if you pay attention to every mention of “Silence will fall,” or “The Silence,” you’ll see that there is in fact no consistency between mentions – none of it holds together.  So who cares what they are called if the production team don’t care enough to make their hints and clues consistent?  Maybe Moffat will fix it all for the 50th, but let’s not get our hopes up, eh?

58. 7th Doctor’s umbrella.

59. 7th Doctor.

12a

60. Dalek – judging from the silver and black, it’d be from Death to the Daleks. Edit! Except I was wrong! It’s Dalek Sec from Army of Ghosts/Doomsday! I’ve since seen a behind the scenes picture.  The casing looking so shiny in the clip confused me.

41. Another Earthshock Cyberman.

13

61. Bronze Dalek – Design first appeared in Rob Shearman’s story, Dalek.

62. Rose Tyler

63. 8th Doctor, from the TV Movie with the Pertwee Logo.

64. Racnoss from Runaway Bride.

65. An Ood, who first appeared in The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit.

66. An Auton, who first appeared in Spearhead from Space.

67. A Judoon scanner from Smith and Jones.

68. 9th Doctor.

69. Amy Pond.

70. The time and date on the clock refer to the screening time and date of the very first episode. From a distance it looked a little like the cyberbomb from Earthshock, but I don’t think it’s meant to be.

14

71. Bessie, the Doctor’s car, which first appeared in Doctor Who and the Silurians.

72. This is an interesting one.  Few people have said it looked like Brigade Leader Lethbridge-Stewart from Inferno, but the costume is more than a little wrong.  I had wondered if it were meant to be Lethbridge-Stewart from Web of Fear, or maybe Terror of the Zygons, but still not right.

Also wondered if it might have been Jamie, but again, the costume doesn’t match any variant I can come up with off the top of my head.

So I’m guessing that it may be the John Hurt non-Doctor. The figure is wearing a vest with what looks like an ammunition belt over it.  Maybe we’ll find out in a few weeks.

73. Cyberman from Neil Gaiman story, Nightmare in Silver.

15

74. Sontaran ship. Looks to be the classic design, first seen in The Time Warrior.

75. 10th Doctor.

16

76. The backdrop behind the bridge looks, to me, like the Utah area around Lake Silencio, seen in Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon. Felt like it was a likely possibility, given the rest of the picture.

77. Golden Gate Bridge, as seen in the TV Movie with the Pertwee Logo.

78. New series style Gallifreyan writing.

79. The Shard, as seen in The Bells of Saint John.

80. Dalek Saucer with lots of smaller ships as seen in Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways.

D. A lot of people have said this might be a nod to The Face of Evil, but I think it’s just people looking for patterns, which is not surprising given the nature of the clip. I honestly don’t think it’s anything but some interesting shadows on rocks.

E. Even though I put down my Lake Silencio theory, I didn’t put down my thought that this building could perhaps represent the Powell Estate where Rose and Jackie lived.

17

81. Master’s laser screwdriver from The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords.

82. 11th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver.

83. Miss Foster’s sonic pen from Partners in Crime.

18

84. Jackson Lake’s ‘sonic’ screwdriver from The Next Doctor.

85. 11th Doctor.

6 thoughts on “50th Anniversary Trailer Breakdown

    • I know that. What I was really referring to was the use of ‘silence’ in season 5, which is in now clear way consistent with the Silence, or the Silents. Some of it could still be retconned, But the bits where actual lack of sound was key to the ‘Silence will fall,’ statements seems to have been forgotten.

      Though I’ll admit, the sad fanboy part of me hopes Moffat will actually explain it all and tie it together in a clever or acceptable way so I have to eat my words. I’d love that.

  1. Just a thought but the rock you said is nothing I think is something i think, really after every little tiny detail they put in do u really think they would have accidentally add a rock face that looked to me to be Rory as a stentorian. Amy made it in so he had to somewhere…. and where is River 😦 so many missing pieces…… still love you work and the cant wait for the new Doctor Who to start 🙂

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