Land of the Dinosaurs: Behind The Scenes

First Doctor - Custom	The dinosaurs used in the story were actually 2in high models bought in a pack.
Susan - Custom
Ian Chesterton - Custom
Barbara Wright - Custom


This was the first ever AFT adventure, opening the site on November 23rd 2001.
The story concluded in January 2002.

For many years Dapol had made Doctor Who figures. From 1997, I had made toy movies using the figures and my own customised 'Dapol-style' 8th Doctor. But my interest in customising had grown into making molds of figures allowing me to generate blank male and female figures that could take on any character.

So when Dapol decided to stop making articulated figures in favour of 4" statues, the time was right to replace the old figures with custom versions. And not just the scant, sporadic and eclectic mix that Dapol had come up with. I made ALL the TV Doctors, plenty of companions and lots of monsters. For the first time my stories weren't governed by what was available. I was free to recreate ANY era in the show's history and give it that AFT touch.

The season one era had always been a favourite of mine with it's dynamic of the two uprooted school teachers forced to get along with the alien Doctor who in turn is forced to become more tolerant of his 'less advanced' companions. It was inevitable that this era would be created. And with the idea of having them face dinosaurs, the story began to form.

A very early test for the AFT (then called Netstrip or Webstrip) using specially taken images and dialogue

Like many of the early stories, it was originally written to be a toy video. You can read the full script here. In that form, the story would have taken too long to produce and the idea of making a video for each Doctor every year obviously proved impossible. That was when the idea of online comics came about and the AFT was born. Land of the Dinosaurs with it's season one style was the obvious choice to open with.

The first episode was shot in sequence, the exterior scenes shot in bushes in New Cross. Episodes Two and Three were shot sometime after, all indoors, with the forest scenes done using backdrops.
	Once the format of the AFT was decided upon it was obvious that many scenes and lots of dialogue from the full script would have to be cut down. One of those that had to be cut and shows the Doctor urging a reluctant Susan to use her telepathic powers. It was specially filmed for 'the making of the AFT' and is presented (left) in colour for the first time.
The first TARDIS model (shown above) with it’s sloping roof is incorrect. It does however have a retro look in keeping with the story’s “60s” feel. It was replaced for later stories.

In keeping with the period, the story has individual episode titles.

The story was made in colour but then colourised to make it look like a 1960s story. The colour version no longer exists.

Did you watch till the end? If you're familiar with the original version of the story you will have noticed that in true Hartnell era style, there is now a teaser scene leading into the next story. That story was only ever partly filmed so don't expect to see it er... ever. But I place the first scene here as part of Land of the Dinosaurs, where it belongs.

There is nothing in the finished story to suggest an exact timeframe for the story but since the Doctor still doesn't trust Ian and Barbara we can surmise that it is early on. I choose to place it between The Keys of Marinus and The Aztecs.