Doctor Who and An Unearthly Child Playset

Entering the yard

An Unearthly Child (sometimes referred to as 100,000 BC) is the first serial of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC TV in four weekly parts from 23 November to 14 December 1963. Scripted by Australian writer Anthony Coburn, the serial introduces William Hartnell as the First Doctor and his original companions: Carole Ann Ford as the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan Foreman, with Jacqueline Hill and William Russell as school teachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton. The first episode deals with Ian and Barbara's discovery of the Doctor and his time-space ship TARDIS in a junkyard in contemporary London. The remaining episodes are set amid a power struggle between warring Stone Age factions who have lost the secret of making fire.

Super-Powers: Clark Kent's Office Diorama

And who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan
newspaper, fights a never ending battle for truth, justice and the American way.

Its Clark Kent in his office at the Daily Planet! Based mainly on the office set featured in the 1950s TV show The Adventures of Superman and also seen briefly in the first episode of the cartoon Challenge of the Super Friends entitled "Wanted: The Super Friends," this diorama is scaled at 1:16 and is suitable for use with 4.5" Kenner Super Powers Figures.

Papercraft Set Dressing

When making a diorama or scene for action figures, it takes more than just the figures themselves to make a scene stand out. Sometimes the small details in the background can make a scene pop. Take for example the scene to the left. There is more there than just Clark Kent, the phone booth, and Superman. There is a US Mail collection dropbox, an outdoor ice freezer, a Soder-Cola vending machine, and a newspaper rack!.

Super Powers Batcave

Batcave mock-up box art by Javier Garcia

Despite any speculation on what it may have looked like, we really don't know what an official Kenner Super Powers Batcave playset would have looked like. While conceptual drawings have been seen, it is unknown if they are actual official plans. However, given the time frame, a Super Powers Batcave playset would have only had influences from the comics and perhaps the 1966 Batman live action television show. The designs from the Batman movie with Michael Keaton would have had absolutely no influence due to the fact it wouldn't be made until 1989, three years after the last released wave of the Super Powers Collection. With this all in mind, a Super Powers Batcave diorama scene was assembled.

Super Powers Papercraft TroubAlert

Also known as the Trouble Alert, the TroubAlert is an advanced globally networked emergency monitoring system relaying information from the Justice League Satellite to the Hall of Justice alerting the Super friends to all sorts of dangers and natural disasters.

The TroubAlert is also connected to the Secret Department of Investigation (SDI). The SDI is an agency withing the United States government which alerts the SuperFriends when they are needed in case of danger and other emergencies. Colonel Wilcox routinely contacts the SuperFriends on behalf of the SDI using the TroubAlert.

Super Powers Bio-Cards

Hasbro started it all by printing file cards on the backs of G.I. Joe action figure blister cards. Kids were expected to cut them out and save them along with the figures. The figure collector cases even featured compartments to keep the file cards in.

This allowed kids to have a better idea about who was who in the collection, who the good guys were , who were the bad guys, and what their powers were. Kenner definitely paid attention to this when they designed the packaging for the Super Powers collection.

Super Powers: Papercraft Phone Booth

Clark Kent ducks into a nearby telephone booth for a quick change into Superman!

Scene Recreation: An Adventure in Space and Time

A scene recreation from An Adventure in Space and Time.

As William Hartnell prepares to shoot his final scene, he has a vision of the future: a young man
smiling reassuringly from across the TARDIS console.

Papercraft Batcave Build-up

As promised earlier, here is the complete build-up of the Batcave using AFTDownloads plans. This model is 1:18th scale and designed for the new Funko 3.75" line.

Coming soon: AFT Batcave Set

Stay Tuned Batfans, Action Figure Theatre Downloads will be releasing a 1966 Batcave Papercraft diorama playset next month... I can't wait!

Update: This will be for 3 3/4 inch figures only, not 6 inch 1:12 scale.

Coal Hill Secondary School

Recently my friend Phil over at AFT Downloads posted a new papercraft diorama of Coal Hill Secondary School from the Doctor Who story Remembrance of the Daleks that can be printed a assembled. Here are some shots of mine:

Coal Hill Secondary School Shoreditch

Papercraft Store Buildings

Liquor Store and Fish N' Chips Shop

Doctor Who and the Polybius Conundrum

Here is little comic strip I created featuring the Paper Arcade. The Doctor arrives and discovers that a certain infamous video game has been added to Shadie's Arcade.

Shadie's Arcade Video Slideshow