10 Times Doctor Who Reused Footage And Hoped You Wouldn't Notice

It’s not just the new series that’s guilty of shot reuse.

In 1985, Doctor Who was put on an 18-month hiatus, and when the show eventually returned to our screens, producer John Nathan-Turner was keen that it should do so with a bang.

To that end, he decided to open season-long epic The Trial of a Time Lord with Doctor Who’s most expensive sequence to date: an establishing shot of the space station on which the trial takes place.

It lasts for 40 seconds and cost a colossal £8,000 to create, making it the most expensive shot in classic Who. But also one of the most impressive!

JNT made sure he got his money’s worth by reusing the shot multiple times in subsequent episodes. So, if you thought you’d seen those exact same space station angles more than once, your eyes weren’t deceiving you.

Notable examples include the start of Mindwarp (below, to re-establish the setting), the climax of Mindwarp (which features a reprise of the TARDIS being brought to the station), and the start of The Ultimate Foe (which sees Mel and Sabalom Glitz arrive in a similar fashion).

Rather fitting that a story all about manipulated events should itself attempt to hoodwink the viewer!