Rare original designs and production materials for The Power of the Daleks are up for auction.

The Power of the Daleks is one of the most sought-after lost Doctor Who stories. Well, I say ‘lost’. You might prefer ‘missing’ if you are an optimist. ‘Destroyed’ if you still have beef with the BBC’s junking policy. Or ‘hidden’ if you are a crazy conspiracy theorist…

But, undoubtedly, the serial’s public profile was boosted when those clever chaps with their vector graphics* managed to re-animate all six episodes back in 2016. It was all a cunning bribe to get us to switch to Netflix-pretender: the BBC Store, which offered a wealth of the corporation’s archive output to buy and watch on our digi boxes* (BBC Store closed on 1 November 2017).

But if you still want a sniff at Power of the Daleks in its original form (and have £800-£1,200 to spare, lucky you), head to West Norwood, South London, on Thursday 21st March 2019 where Roseberys are holding a Fine & Decorative auction.

Among lots of, um, lots on offer is an archive of photographs and copies of plans from The Power of the Daleks. The collection features around 100 black and white photographs of the sets and 47 similar board-mounted photographs. If that all sounds a bit monochrome for your liking, three of the photos are coloured (or toned*) to include a colour reproduction image of Patrick Troughton as the Doctor by the TARDIS.

And if that’s not quite worth £1K of your actual money, also included are ‘other loose pieces of artwork’ and nine plans for interiors. Plus they will also throw in a special effects drawing of a Dalek by Raymond Cusick (the original Dalek designer) and various notes on The Power of the Daleks’ shooting schedule. (Richard Bignell has just almost choked on an octopus sandwich, before chartering a hovercraft to West Norwood from his undersea lair below No Man’s Land Sea Fort in the Solent *.)

All of these curious and unique items are from the collection of the late production designer and art director, Derek Dodd (1937-2018). He designed the sets for two Troughton adventures, The Power of the Daleks and The Wheel in Space. Using just a pencil and his brilliance.

During a long and illustrious career, Dodd worked with some of the best TV writers and directors from the ’70s to the ’90s, including Stephen Frears, Stephen Poliakoff, and Dennis Potter. His work was recognised with BAFTA and EMMY nominations. And rightly so.

But there’s a curious addendum to this tale. Also included in the auction lot is a ‘To Victory’ Dalek Poster used to promote the 2010 Matt Smith Doctor Who story, Victory of the Daleks. So that means almost 45 years later, Derek had such fond memories of his short stint on Doctor Who that he (presumably) bought a Dalek poster just because… well, just because.

Click on the images if you fancy a proper perusal.

So if this has greased your Kaled, head over to West Norwood on 21 March at 10am (4am to beat the Bignell). And why not make a day of it by visiting the nearby British Vintage Wireless and Television Museum? But you will have to wait until Sunday 2 June for their Table Top Sale followed by Vinyl and Shellac Music Extravaganza*.

* I have literally no idea what I’m on about.