White Plains
White Plains was a filming location for the Doctor Who season 1 story The Reign of Terror [+]Loading...["The Reign of Terror (TV story)"].
It was notable for being part of the Doctor Who production team's first day of location filming, though it was beaten to the distinction of first exterior location used in the programme by filming for the same episode "Guests of Madame Guillotine" at Isle of Wight Farm earlier that same day.[1][2] The scenes were shot on 35mm film[1][3] by Peter Hamilton's camera team[4] and contained no dialogue, depicting the Doctor walking through the French countryside on his way to Paris. The sequence shot at White Plains is identifiable by the poplar trees lining both sides of the lane.[2][3] The only actor featured was walk-on Brian Proudfoot doubling for the absent William Hartnell who was instead occupied with the first day of rehearsals for "A Race Against Death", the fourth episode of The Sensorites [+]Loading...["The Sensorites (TV story)"].[2][3][4]
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
Filming[[edit] | [edit source]]
Preparatory work[[edit] | [edit source]]
It fell to production assistant Timothy Combe to locate a suitable site. He travelled for miles, scouting all around the south of England to find suitably French-looking lanes with poplar trees.[3][4] As Combe later recalled, most of the areas he first found were unusable as they had anachronistic roads for the time of the French Revolution but he eventually found the ideal place in Denham at White Plains, a nursing home.[3]
On 8 June 1964, a minibus with a roof rack was hired from Coomer Garage to transport passengers and equipment to the location on 15 June, with 18 June also provisionally booked in the event bad weather scuppered the first planned date. Combe also secured the services of Mrs Laird of South Oxley for the on-site catering on this day.
Combe wrote to Mrs Shakespeare of White Plains on 9 June to confirm that filming would be taking place on her drive in the afternoon of 15 June, or on 18 or 19 June depending on the weather, with around twelve crewmembers expected to be present. Also on this day, Brian Proudfoot was sent the schedule for the day of filming while production secretary Ann Earl also wrote to Mr Collins of the Facilities Department to tell him of the upcoming filming locations. The following day Earl hired photographer Charles Walls of Focus Ltd to take pictures of the fields and forest locations on 15 June which would later be used as studio caption slides.
On 11 June, a planning meeting was held for the location filming and the filming to take place at Ealing Film Studios. Among those attending were director Henric Hirsch, film cameraman Peter Hamilton, designer Roderick Laing, lighting supervisor Howard King and technical manager Neil Campbell.[2] The next day on 12 June Proudfoot attended the camera rehearsals for "Hidden Danger" to practice imitating William Hartnell's walk in preparation for the location filming.[2][3][4]
Day of filming[[edit] | [edit source]]
The location filming took place as originally planned on 15 June 1964. After the filming at Isle of Wight Farm had concluded at 11am, filming resumed at White Plains from 2.30pm.[1][2] The final shot of the day, featuring the Doctor walking down the poplar-lined lane, was completed in one take.[2]
Later that day, Timothy Combe wrote to Mrs Shakespeare thanking her for allowing the use of her drive and promising to recommend White Plains for other productions requiring French poplar trees as well as telling her the Facilities Department would contact her shortly regarding the fee. He also advised her that the transmission date of the episode featuring the location was 8 August although "Guests of Madame Guillotine" was ultimately broadcast on 15 August as a knock-on effect of the one-week postponement of "Hidden Danger" earlier in the season.
Still on the same day, Ann Earl wrote to the Television Accountant to confirm that Brian Proudfoot could now be paid, adding that his presence during rehearsals on 12 June was deserving of an added fee.[2] Both Proudfoot and Mrs Shakespeare eventually received a fee of five guineas for their contributions to the episode.[3] Mrs Laird charged £11-10-0 for her work during the location shoot.[2]
Post-filming[[edit] | [edit source]]
As of 2024[update], White Plains is still a care home.[5]
