9. The Doctor Acquires A Car
Since he was mostly exiled on Earth during this incarnation, The Third Doctor needed "a car with great character." The episode
Doctor Who and the Silurians introduced the viewers to a beautiful canary yellow roadster named Bessie. With modifications like a remote control, super charged speed and inertial dampeners, the crew of the Fast and the Furious would have been jealous. The Doctor was now an Earth motorist and a serious one at that. The Third Doctor originally borrowed a red version of the Edwardian Roadster (without permission of course) from Doctor Beavis in
Spearhead from Space. He enjoyed it so much that he asked for one of his own as compensation for being UNIT's Scientific Adviser. For the most part, The Doctor is the only one allowed to drive Bessie. However, there were the occasional life and death situations where he handed over the keys to one such as the Brigadier. The total cost to the BBC for the limited-edition kit car (from Siva/Neville Trinkett (Design) Limited of Blandford, Doreset) ended up at £ 502. Due to the fact that WHO 1 was already registered to a driver in the UK, the vehicle was registered as MTR5 on public roads, but covered with a false WHO1 plate for filming.