Colin Baker's Doctor Who returns to Ironbridge Gorge to reminisce on filming
Doctor Who royalty returned to Shropshire’s World Heritage Site to celebrate the release of a new box-set.
Time travel is nothing special for Doctor Who, but now fans can also take a trip back to the 1980s when the show was filmed at Blists Hill Victorian Town and Coalport China Museum.
Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 22 features Colin Baker’s Doctor and some of the show’s most-loved – and feared – aliens and enemies, including the Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, and The Master. It also features the first appearance of Time Lady The Rani (played by Kate O’Mara), in an episode that was filmed in the Ironbridge Gorge.
As part of the Blu-ray release, Baker and Nicola Bryant, who played the Doctor’s companion Peri, returned to The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust to reminisce about the scenes they filmed at Blists Hill and Coalport China Museum.
Richard Aldred, marketing manager at The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, said: “It was wonderful to welcome Colin and Nicola back to the trust to look back on their time here filming the iconic episode The Mark of the Rani.
“They certainly seemed to enjoy being back here and checking out the locations they filmed in during the episode.
“The buildings, and other artefacts from the Industrial Revolution that are under our care, meant Ironbridge was the perfect location for this adventure.”
Speaking to John Craven for the Radio Times in 1985, Baker said of his first visit to Ironbridge: "Blists Hill is a great place, and it was fascinating to see things from the past just as they must have been. Lots of school parties visit this museum, and those who arrived while we were filming stayed to watch. It was an extra surprise for them."
Spanning 58 years and winning over 100 awards, the quintessential British show has a huge global following and holds the Guinness World Record as the longest running science-fiction series in the world.
