Ahead of Propstore’s Doctor Who Charity Online Auction in association with BBC Studios.
This auction features over 150 lots of iconic Doctor costumes (Doctors 10 – 13), Monster costumes, and companion costumes straight from the BBC studio’s archives. It’s shaping up to be one of the most thrilling auctions they’ve hosted at Propstore. The catalog is also live here: Bidding runs from February 11 – 25, 2025.
Below is an E-interview with Sian Taylor, Propstore’s Auctions and Project Manager, who has been leading the Dr Who auction out of the UK Propstore office.
How did this auction come about? Did you approach the BBC or did they get hold of you?
ST: Propstore has worked with BBC Studios in the past on other fundraising projects, and it was a privilege to be invited to partner with them again, this time for something even bigger and better.
David Tennant as Doctor Who
Do you expect any of the costumes to be more popular than others depending on the popularity of the Dr Who actor? For example Tennant appears to be constantly voted as the fans favourite, do you think that plays into the thinking when people bid for items?
ST: I agree, the 10th Doctor is a firm fan favourite, and it’s a costume from an exciting episode, and even comes with a pair of his trademark Converse. That’s definitely going to appeal to a wide variety of fans, but there are other costumes in the auction that are more visually recognisable as belonging to the Doctor, such as the 11th Doctor’s series 6 costume with the bow tie.
Is it harder to market this auction of Dr Who globally as Dr Who is very much a British institution?
ST: The appeal of Doctor Who is genuinely global. It may have started life as a quaint British sci-fi show, but we’ve got bidders registering from across the world. We are also showcasing some of the lots in the auction at Gallifrey One in Los Angeles 14-16 February to give American fans the chance to see some costumes in person. The themes and topics covered in the show speak to such a wide demographic, it’s wonderful to see so many fans uniting for such a wonderful cause.
Foon (Debbie Chazen) and Morvin’s Van Hoff (Clive Rowe) Costumes
Do you find there is a big community of Dr Who fans/ collectors?
ST: We’ve seen from our prior auctions that there’s a massive community of Whovians, who have already shown up, registered, and spread the word of the auction.
Did you get to pick and choose which props and costumes you wanted to put up for auction?
ST: The team at BBC Studios have been so methodical and careful choosing what content they are happy to part with – and the Propstore and BBC teams have worked in partnership over the last year to put the auction together. The opportunity to work with content of this calibre from such an incredible source, and for a wonderful cause, is worth taking the time over!
Is there one item from the Dr Who auction in particular that is exciting the Prop Store team?
ST: That would have to be the Stonehenge Cyberman head (see below) – it’s instantly recognisable, it screen-AND-photo-matches to the episode ‘The Pandorica Opens’, and will fit in most people’s homes.
