Bessie

[galacticprobe]

With all the interest in the Whomobile's whereabouts, when my wife stumbled across this site, http://freespace.virgin.net/dr.dean/, that is dedicated to Bessie, well, I just had to post it here because many people probably have not see it yet.

The site gives all sorts of info on Bessie: history, technical info (of the actual car, not the "Doctored"-up version), etc. And since Bessie doesn't have her own thread on here... yet... I thought I'd put this into the Off-Topic But Related section. (And if the Mods feel this should go into an actual Bessie Thread, I'm sure one of them will relocate it.)

So check out the site! It could be a wealth of info for someone who (PUN!) is trying to, or thinking about, building a replica.

Dino.

EDIT, 22 April 2018: Original link above is defunct. Info can still be found here: Bessie Info Site: Web Archive Pages.

 

[fardelsbear]

Interesting that Bessie gets a new credit for "The Name of the Doctor."  I assumed all her shots were material from "The Five Doctors" but it seems they did some new film of her for the new story.

 

[jellybaby]

I'm pretty sure they did the filming with Bessie from Monday 26th November 2013. I was at the Doctor Who Experience after it had closed to put up a TARDIS wallpaper display. This was what I wrote on FACEBOOK at the time: ...I saw the Exhibition in London when it was on there and remember thinking it a shame they hadn't put in Bessie, the Doctor's car. How lovely it was to see her in Cardiff the day I went to hang the wallpaper. You can see her through the window! After putting up the wallpaper I thought I'd get a photo of her as I left but....no Bessie! Apparently the BBC had made off with her for something!
Funnily enough Dr Dean bought some wallpaper that week and we speculated on what she might be up to....Now we know!

 

[fardelsbear]

BBC must have their own Tardis.  "The Name of the Doctor" was broadcast on 18 May 2013!

Is that a "vworp, vworp" I hear!

 

[jellybaby]

Ha! No....That should've been 2012

 

[kingpin]

As I recall, it'd be the shot of Bessie passing by Clara (and she spins to see it) which would be the new footage, as there wasn't a shot like that in The Five Doctors, and you can tell it's new footage due to the small changes to the car since 1983.

 

[galacticprobe]

Yeah... Bessie had some serious, and some slight mods done to her over the years. I wonder if she'll ever make another appearance in the New Series at some point. With U.N.I.T. and Kate (Lethbridge-) Stewart coming into the picture - so to speak - Bessie could even be in a static cameo as the Doctor walked through (what would appear to be part of) a U.N.I.T. building, passing her and patting the bonnet with a "Oh, hello, Bessie, old thing."

I love seeing stuff like that. It lets everyone know that they really haven't forgotten the past. (Like that Seal of the High Council the Doctor put on "Handles'" head - nod back to that exchange between the 3rd Doctor and the Master in "The Five Doctors". Absolutely loved it! I'd love to see the same thing happen with Bessie.)

Dino.

 

[galacticprobe]

Here are a few reference photos of Bessie from... back in 2004, I think? It's been a while, at least, so I don't remember exactly when. But she was looking pretty fine (and I still had hopes then of someday building a replica - maybe from an old 1910 Buick which had a similar look to her).

If anyone recognizes any of these, please chime in so the photographer gets the proper credit.








(Note the different number plate: not her filming plate of WHO 1, or her original registered plate of MTR 5.)



I know they're not the best, but I'll keep digging in my "WHO" folders to see what else I've got on her. As for some of her accessories, here is the remote control that the 3rd Doctor used on her (and the story title escapes me, though I keep thinking it was "The Daemons"; so if anyone remembers the correct story, please let us know):

Sorry, but I don't have a clearer image of this, and I've cleaned this one up as best I could.

And of course, her "turbo booster" the 7th Doctor used in "Battlefield":

This little gizmo attached to the center of her steering wheel, and when the Doctor "wound up" the little joystick in the center, the seven red LEDs started blinking away as Bessie raced off at super speed.

Again, I'll see if I've got any better photos of any of the above. And if anyone had some photos, feel free to post them. (This thread is for everyone, especially Bessie fans!)

Dino.

 

[domvar]

I believe there are about 4 siva edwardians in yellow knocking around in yellow the one with the ford grill isn't screen used.

 

[mark]

I think the 2nd one down is from Longleat '83 and I'm fairly certain the last one is the real deal complete with (unsightly) bonnet addon, but I couldn't say where it was taken.

The other Bessie pictures are, as Domvar Says, not screen used but replicas.

Nice screen grab of the 3rd Doctor's remote control. Looking at it, kinda reminds me of the modern day remote key fobs that can strat the engine, open the boot etc. Another future technology that Doctor Who got right.

 

[theta sigma]

Another site of interest on this subject:

http://sivaedwardian.co.uk/index.html

 

[galacticprobe]

And one of the menu items at the top is "Bessie", with the headliner on that page "Dr Who drove a Siva"!

Nice find, Theta Sigma!

Also, a thank you to domvar and Mark for helping to ID some of the photos I posted as replicas, and the actual Bessie. And as I said, Mark, sorry that I couldn't clean up that grab of the 3rd Doctor's Bessie remote control any more than I did. I'd love to see what those labels are on the buttons (and near the little "steering wheel"), and the markings on the meter. The aerial/antenna looks like a smaller version of the one on the 4th Doctor's "Beware Sutekh" signal detector. The buttons (rectangular and little red round ones) as well as the main casing look like "Radio Shack" project box specials. The little steering wheel? Not sure what that might have come from. (If anyone has better photos of that, or the "turbo booster", please post them!)

(I wonder if they ever sell Sivas on eBay Auto? ???) Not that I could afford one, but one can dream.

What I'd really love to know is, how does one go about getting a replica of Bessie's "WHO 1" number plates? I've seen cars in the States driving around with those types of plates (at least the front one) on their cars, bolted either above or below their proper front plates (wherever it fits best), but I have no idea where they're getting them. They're not "Bessie" plates, but they are the white-on-black and personalized. I'd love to bolt the front one below my regular plate (since we've been calling our car Bessie, in her various incarnations, since the 1970s); the rear plate I'd just hang on my den wall. (Although, the next time we manage to make it to Timegate, with our Bessie becoming a permanent fixture in the hotel car park for the weekend, I might swap both front and rear plates out for the replica "WHO 1" plates until it's time to drive home.)

Seriously... with all of the Bessie replicas out there with the proper number plates, where and how are those people getting their plates?

Dino.

 

[silverfox]

Here's a bigger screen shot of the remote control from the Deamons DVD.
I planned on modelling it in 3D

 

[domvar]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SINGLE-PRE-73-BLACK-SILVER-PRESSED-ALUMINIUM-NUMBER-PLATE-FOR-CLASSIC-CAR-/321073702790

getting WHO 1 should be fine as long as you make it clear it is just for use at shows and will be removed or covered when driving in the uk

 

[kiwidoc]

I have a fantasy of having Bessie one day but little hope of it, but have followed the cars. For years anyway.  They sell on eBay every so often, around 4-5000 pounds for a good example is not unusual.  Not bad for a 1950 base car.    It was reputedly unreliable, small, cold etc etc but somehow even knowing the faults there is some magic about that car...  

And one of the menu items at the top is "Bessie", with the headliner on that page "Dr Who drove a Siva"!

Nice find, Theta Sigma!

Also, a thank you to domvar and Mark for helping to ID some of the photos I

(I wonder if they ever sell Sivas on eBay Auto? ???) Not that I could afford one, but one can dream.

What I'd really love to know is, how does one go about getting a replica of Bessie's "WHO 1" number plates? I've seen cars in the States driving around with those types of plates (at least the front one) on their cars, bolted either above or below their proper front plates (wherever it fits best), but I have no idea where they're getting them.
Seriously... with all of the Bessie replicas out there with the proper number plates, where and how are those people getting their plates?

Dino.

 

[Five Fingered Styre]

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I'm not so sure that one actually is Bessie, the radiator grille and the windscreen aren't quite right.

Here's some pictures I took of the old girl (ina really sorry state...  :-[) back in 2000...









(Ignore the geeky looking 30 year old me in the last one...  :-[)

And heres some not very good shots of Bessie at the Doctor Who Experience last September, as well as a shot of the old girl from The 50th Gig at the ExCel in November...

















I love this car, its an ambition to get hold of a body shell and chassis and restore one...

 

[Volpone]

Great photos.  I always thought the wheels looked a little...odd.  These photos show that they are regular wheels with yellow custom "spoke" hubcaps on them. 

 

[theta sigma]

I'm going to suggest that this topic be moved from "off topic news" to "other prop reference".  Any objections?

 

[galacticprobe]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SINGLE-PRE-73-BLACK-SILVER-PRESSED-ALUMINIUM-NUMBER-PLATE-FOR-CLASSIC-CAR-/321073702790

getting WHO 1 should be fine as long as you make it clear it is just for use at shows and will be removed or covered when driving in the uk

Thanks! (Though this shouldn't be a problem as I doubt I'll ever be in the UK long enough to own a car!) This would definitely be Stateside only, and just another version of a "bumper sticker".

I have a fantasy of having Bessie one day but little hope of it...

Something we have in common!

They sell on eBay every so often, around 4-5000 pounds for a good example is not unusual.

And too rich for my wallet (and will probably always will be unless I hit the lottery!).

Not bad for a 1950 base car. It was reputedly unreliable, small, cold etc etc but somehow even knowing the faults there is some magic about that car...  

Funny... That letter I got from Jon Pertwee said that Bessie's gearbox "...was a right pain in the 'A'," he said. I don't know if this was inherent in just the show's Bessie, or if it was one of the design flaws in the Siva model itself, but apparently the gearbox was all wrong. According to Mr. Pertwee, the 1st gear was too low, and 2nd was too high, which yielded something that only he could make sound so humorous. (Give me a few and I'll let everyone read it for themselves.) Third gear, I guess, was fine... you just had to convince Bessie to get there!

Here's a bigger screen shot of the remote control from the Deamons DVD.
I planned on modelling it in 3D

Nice big photo of that, silverfox! After getting a better look at that remote control, it looks like that meter is labeled "MODULATION", has a tiny needle in it (in your grab stemming from the bottom as we're looking at it), and has a graticule numbered from "1" to "9" - that we can see; and though there is room for a "0" before the 1, and a "10" after the 9, they're not visible.

The little wheel is clearly labeled "STEER". The buttons, starting at the meter, are HORN, LIGHTS, and what looks like HOOD (with either an A or a /\ centered above each word, which are in turn centered with the buttons). Odd thing, that "HOOD" label. I know in the States (and probably other countries) the "hood" refers to the covering over the engine - which in the UK is called a "bonnet". And with 'Who' being done when most of its viewers were in the UK, what would the "hood" be? (I wouldn't think it to be the bonnet. The "convertible top" that was mostly left folded back, perhaps?)

I'm going to suggest that this topic be moved from "off topic news" to "other prop reference".  Any objections?

No objections from this end. (But then, I'm a bit prejudiced; I did start this thread. ) In all seriousness, though, I think this thread has enough interest (and reference photos and info) in it to warrant its own "Other Props Reference" thread.

Dino.

 

[galacticprobe]

Whoa! Okay... that was fast! Bessie got her own thread while I was typing away! So now that she's gotten her own thread, and I did mention the letter (and thanks to military moves the only letter to survive) that I received from Jon Pertwee regarding my defunct Bessie Replica project is shared below. I had posted it a while back, just to share it with everyone, but it was in the Off-topic section and has since gone away.

My wife and I corresponded with Mr. Pertwee (through his agent, of course) quite often after we'd gotten to meet him at one of the Doctor Who Cons in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania back in 1985. I was stationed on Governors Island, New York at that time and it was easy to attend that Con using my mother's house (in Henryville, PA) as a jumping-off point. Then I was transferred to Virginia in 1989 and that's when most of the letters were lost. Well, actually all of the letters were lost with many other items (fracking military movers!). As my wife reminds me, between her new job and me being on a Coast Guard Cutter and in the middle of the pond so much, the last letter we wrote to Mr. Pertwee was to ask him about Bessie, and this was the last letter we got from him (which we treasure). In all of the letters we always addressed him as "Mr. Pertwee", and though we always told him otherwise, he always addressed us as "Mr." or "Mrs." (you'll see the last name - and then know why for most of my military career I was known as "G").

But here it is, complete with typos (including the misspelling of our last name... that last "a" should be an "o"), scanned in for everyone's enjoyment. (The blacked out part is the name and address of someone Mr. Pertwee referred us to for more info on Bessie as he was the main mechanic that put her together. Unfortunately when we wrote to him we received a letter back saying that he'd moved on leaving no forwarding address. So once I scanned in the letter I blocked out that info to prevent anyone from bothering the new people living there. Not that any of us would do that, but in 24 hours anyone out there will see this. So, better to err on the side of caution, and the value of privacy.) It was typed on A4 paper, so I cropped off a good part of the blan bottom of the page so it wouldn't be so big with empty space.



Dino.