Paul Dykes
@paulodykes.bsky.social
Photographer, nerd and fan of old films. Creator of #GhostMonuments police box photos. Doctor Who obsessive, it goes without saying.
“These Doctor Who fans are everywhere.”
November 6, 2025 at 8:42 AM
“These Doctor Who fans are everywhere.”
I remembered that there’s also this front door on a road that’s even closer to where I live. Points deducted for actual resemblance to a police box; points added (I guess 😁) for the sign to explain the effect they were going for.
November 6, 2025 at 8:42 AM
I remembered that there’s also this front door on a road that’s even closer to where I live. Points deducted for actual resemblance to a police box; points added (I guess 😁) for the sign to explain the effect they were going for.
Haha!
Well, it’s within ten miles of it 😊.
Well, it’s within ten miles of it 😊.
November 4, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Haha!
Well, it’s within ten miles of it 😊.
Well, it’s within ten miles of it 😊.
That’s great! Just a shame they didn’t make the letterbox a wee bit more discreet!
November 4, 2025 at 12:03 PM
That’s great! Just a shame they didn’t make the letterbox a wee bit more discreet!
Absolutely! The owners were lovely as well, closing the doors for me so that I could get my shots.
It was slightly too wide when viewed head-on, but, you know, that’s being unnecessarily picky!
It was slightly too wide when viewed head-on, but, you know, that’s being unnecessarily picky!
November 4, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Absolutely! The owners were lovely as well, closing the doors for me so that I could get my shots.
It was slightly too wide when viewed head-on, but, you know, that’s being unnecessarily picky!
It was slightly too wide when viewed head-on, but, you know, that’s being unnecessarily picky!
On the topic of police box doors, I was going to recommend folk go to see this splendid example in Worthing, but I’ve just found out that it’s no more 😔. It was the entrance to a real ale pub that had to move premises in 2023. I’m glad I got a photographic record of it before it dematerialised!
November 4, 2025 at 10:38 AM
On the topic of police box doors, I was going to recommend folk go to see this splendid example in Worthing, but I’ve just found out that it’s no more 😔. It was the entrance to a real ale pub that had to move premises in 2023. I’m glad I got a photographic record of it before it dematerialised!
Keyholes plural. Coz London.
November 4, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Keyholes plural. Coz London.
Yep. That was my immediate thought too 😅.
November 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Yep. That was my immediate thought too 😅.
I *did* catch a faint scent of roses…
November 3, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I *did* catch a faint scent of roses…
😁
I choose to think that the homeowner has to operate a control on the console before they can make use of the spyhole.
I choose to think that the homeowner has to operate a control on the console before they can make use of the spyhole.
November 3, 2025 at 5:14 PM
😁
I choose to think that the homeowner has to operate a control on the console before they can make use of the spyhole.
I choose to think that the homeowner has to operate a control on the console before they can make use of the spyhole.
😂
Him indoors is a Dr Who fan, so this could’ve been an option for us, but I didn’t know it was possible! Still, we went for a door that was as close to TARDIS blue as the manufacturer made.
Him indoors is a Dr Who fan, so this could’ve been an option for us, but I didn’t know it was possible! Still, we went for a door that was as close to TARDIS blue as the manufacturer made.
November 3, 2025 at 3:53 PM
😂
Him indoors is a Dr Who fan, so this could’ve been an option for us, but I didn’t know it was possible! Still, we went for a door that was as close to TARDIS blue as the manufacturer made.
Him indoors is a Dr Who fan, so this could’ve been an option for us, but I didn’t know it was possible! Still, we went for a door that was as close to TARDIS blue as the manufacturer made.
The Doctor Who fans must’ve moved in fairly recently. Here’s the same door three years ago.
November 3, 2025 at 3:06 PM
The Doctor Who fans must’ve moved in fairly recently. Here’s the same door three years ago.
On the other side of the street is one that looks like this. It’s a shame they’re not next-door neighbours.
November 3, 2025 at 2:33 PM
On the other side of the street is one that looks like this. It’s a shame they’re not next-door neighbours.
I mean, the TARDIS is stuck as a police box after its subsequent journey back in time...
And what's that saying... "Correlation is precisely the same thing as causation"... That's it, isn't it?
And what's that saying... "Correlation is precisely the same thing as causation"... That's it, isn't it?
November 2, 2025 at 9:49 PM
I mean, the TARDIS is stuck as a police box after its subsequent journey back in time...
And what's that saying... "Correlation is precisely the same thing as causation"... That's it, isn't it?
And what's that saying... "Correlation is precisely the same thing as causation"... That's it, isn't it?
At no point does the writer mention the Doctor visibly touching a console control, Susan screaming, "Don't touch it! It's live!" or Barbara rebuking the Doctor.
I suppose if you ignore what's seen on screen, then perhaps you *could* theorise that the bang is Ian breaking the chameleon circuit.
I suppose if you ignore what's seen on screen, then perhaps you *could* theorise that the bang is Ian breaking the chameleon circuit.
November 2, 2025 at 9:49 PM
At no point does the writer mention the Doctor visibly touching a console control, Susan screaming, "Don't touch it! It's live!" or Barbara rebuking the Doctor.
I suppose if you ignore what's seen on screen, then perhaps you *could* theorise that the bang is Ian breaking the chameleon circuit.
I suppose if you ignore what's seen on screen, then perhaps you *could* theorise that the bang is Ian breaking the chameleon circuit.
And then there's this bit, which asserts that it's quite likely that we see the breaking of the chameleon circuit. You know, that bit in An Unearthly Child when Ian touches the console again, having touched it several times moments before, and receives an electric shock.
November 2, 2025 at 9:49 PM
And then there's this bit, which asserts that it's quite likely that we see the breaking of the chameleon circuit. You know, that bit in An Unearthly Child when Ian touches the console again, having touched it several times moments before, and receives an electric shock.
By the time I was born, there were only five left! I envy people who saw the Barnet Bypass one.
November 2, 2025 at 3:06 PM
By the time I was born, there were only five left! I envy people who saw the Barnet Bypass one.
The book says the Master’s TARDIS takes on the guise of an Ionic column. It does not. It takes on the form of a Doric column.
November 2, 2025 at 3:01 PM
The book says the Master’s TARDIS takes on the guise of an Ionic column. It does not. It takes on the form of a Doric column.
Me too. The data is out there and it’s not hard to find.
November 2, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Me too. The data is out there and it’s not hard to find.
The Met Police Archive has the dates of decommissioning for 95% of the police boxes. Here are a couple of charts based on that data. The first chart shows that the two big years for decommissioning were 1959 and 1970. The second chart visualises the number of police boxes in operation over time.
November 2, 2025 at 11:40 AM
The Met Police Archive has the dates of decommissioning for 95% of the police boxes. Here are a couple of charts based on that data. The first chart shows that the two big years for decommissioning were 1959 and 1970. The second chart visualises the number of police boxes in operation over time.
Again, I can help with this assertion about "during the 1970s and early 1980s". While the writer says, "across much of the United Kingdom," most police boxes were in London. 97% had been removed from service by the end of 1970, and 99% by the end of 1971, at which point there were only seven left.
November 2, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Again, I can help with this assertion about "during the 1970s and early 1980s". While the writer says, "across much of the United Kingdom," most police boxes were in London. 97% had been removed from service by the end of 1970, and 99% by the end of 1971, at which point there were only seven left.