The Mobile Phones of Doctor Who - The Four Doctors (1993)
By @edent
· Doctor Who Doctor Who Phones · 3 comments · 550 words
The Mirror has a rather wonderful image gallery of behind the scenes photos from Doctor Who. Lots of lovely black-and-white photos of classic stories.
And then, right at the end, this:
Cor! Four classic Doctors each with a mobile! This photoshoot was, apparently, done at the Hammersmith Ark which was holding an exhibition to celebrate 30 years of Dr Who. There isn't much information about it online - other than this press cutting0 - but there is another photo from the same series:
There's also this set of photos from Getty.
So, what phones are they all using? It's 1993, which means there were only a limited number of handsets.
The birth of the UK's mobile networks was "Phones On The Move" - a 1989 document by the Department of Trade and Industry. It led to the creation of the Mercury one2one and Hutchinson Orange networks - swiftly followed by Racal's Vodafone in July 1992 and Cellnet in December 1993.
McCoy's phone is a big old brick! Probably ancient at the time this photo was taken:
It looks like a Nokia CityMan - the original "Brick". But it has a 3x4 dial pad, and a 3x3 pad underneath - with a conspicuous red button. So it is probably the Motorola DynaTAC.
Possibly the 8500X or 8900X?
It looks like Pertwee and Davison both have the same model phone.
The blue logo at the bottom made me think these are Mercury phones. Although the button layout looks a bit like the Vodafone transportable, the shape of the buttons and speaker aren't quite right for that.
So I think it is the NEC P3.
Colin Baker's phone is a bit obscured:
I think that's the Vodafone / RACAL logo. Judging from the button layout, I'm reasonably confident that's the Panasonic EU 2000 (EB-3810).
Launched in 1993 - so super modern! You can read the original manual.
What do you reckon? Did I get them right?
Any more?
I've previously written about Doctor Who actors in Mobile Phone Commercials and I've a whole series of posts charting all the in-universe use of mobiles.
But if you've spotted a photo or video that I've missed - please drop a comment in the box.
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It references the then upcoming Dimensions in Time as a "30th Anniversary special" - which is generous! ↩︎
All the phones were borrowed from the press reporters and photographers for the shots.
The press event was going to promote the [abandoned] Special 'Into the Dark Dimension', though it was currently in doubt as the actors were reluctant to sign up for it so it wasn't announced on the day.
Peter: Jon, did someone tell you we were doing this in costume?
Jon: My dear follow, I don’t know what you are talking about.
@Edent I think you're wrong on Davison's being the same as Pertwee's. I think you have the right model for Pertwee, but Davisons mic grill is different, there are 4 charging pads rather than the plug in, and the 'phone is markedly slimmer. A variation on the theme, but notably different. What that amounts to, model-wise, I have no idea.
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