When Doctor Who’s TARDIS landed on Dunstable Downs

It was a time when Jon Pertwee was well into his stride as the Doctor’s third incarnation.

The photo shows Pertwee pausing between takes of action sequences being filmed around the radio relay masts which still remain at Zouches Farm, on top of the downs.

The TV crew are almost certainly working on a four-episode Doctor Who serial called Terror of the Autons, which was screened during January 1971.

Evidence for this is provided by a scrapbook kept by Pam Oliver, of the Caddington Local History Society, which contains references by stuntmen on the site to a storyline about Autons trying to take over the Earth.

This proved to be particularly scary and led to complaints about children being upset by its disturbing violence.

It was also the episode which introduced Roger Delgado, as The Master, and Katy Manning as Jo Grant, the doctor’s companion.

The Blow’s Downs filming particularly featured two stuntmen, Terry Walsh and Roy Scammel, one of whom (dressed as a policeman) was knocked down a steep incline by a car.

We are guessing that it’s Terry Walsh apparently sunbathing in the foreground, with a make-up girl on the right, but we wait to be corrected by a host of Doctor Who anoraks!

> Yesteryear is compiled by John Buckledee, chairman of Dunstable and District Local History Society.