Madame Tussauds
Madame Tussauds was a building in London, famous for its waxwork mannequins.
One of the museum's display halls was dedicated to the display of world leaders. In late 1969 or early 1970, Auto Plastics Ltd. were commissioned to produce new plastic figures for the museum's tableau of senior British government civil servants and military officers. These included army Major General Scobie. Instead of a replica, however, Auto Plastics secretly provided Madame Tussauds with the actual Scobie, held in suspended animation, while his Auton replica took the general's place in order to block or delay UNIT's investigation and reaction. Meanwhile, the other figures were dormant Autons waiting to be activated.
The Third Doctor and Liz Shaw visited Madame Tussauds in the early evening of 1970, in the course of their investigation into the Autons and Nestene Consciousness. An attendant drew their attention to the purported replica of Maj.Gen. Scobie which had just arrived that morning. While the Doctor agreed with Liz that a wristwatch would be expected on an accurate replica, his suspicions were raised Scobie's watch being kept wound and set to the accurate time. The pair returned at night, followed by Channing and Hibbert from Auto Plastics. Channing activated the Autons, who moved out to take their respective subjects' places in government as a fifth column with which to facilitate the Nestene Consciousness' invasion of Earth. Their dais was left bare, aside from Scobie's frozen self and figures of Mohandas Gandhi, two clerics, and two others.
The Doctor attempted to break Hibbert from his hypnotic trance when the man returned, but was unsuccessful.
Scobie awoke from this hibernation the next day, when his Auton replica was "killed" by the Doctor and Liz at Auto Plastics' factory. His movement startled the people around him, prompting mild screams. (TV: Spearhead from Space)
Madame Tussauds' world leaders hall; in addition to depicting the aforedescribed personages; included a dais dedicated to American statesmen, principally the nation's Presidents. Individuals depicted thereon included:
- Former ambassador & delegate Dr. Benjamin Franklin
- Former President George Washington
- Former President Abraham Lincoln
- Former President Theodore Roosevelt
- Former President Herbert Hoover
- Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Former President John F. Kennedy
- Former President Lyndon B. Johnson
- Then-current President Richard M. Nixon
During a tour of London in 2012, the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond, and Rory Williams visited Madame Tussauds, They were thrown out when the Doctor drew on the waxwork of Guy Fawkes. (PROSE: Magic of the Angels)
Behind the scenes
- Parts of Spearhead from Space were filmed in Madame Tussauds, which is where part of the story was set.
- Multiple Doctor Who related wax were constructed by the Madame Tussauds crew for the original Doctor Who Experience. One of these was infamously used in promotional images for The Five Doctors. (DWM 48)
External links
- Madame Tussauds
- Madame Tussauds London
- Madame Tussauds official site
- Doctor Who: The Locations Guide - Madame Tussauds
