Spectrum Headquarters Forum

Posted: **Wed Jul 05, 2006 2:03 pm**

As you probably know, 'House Of Dolls' was never actually filmed but was replaced by 'Grey Skulls'. The reason given in The Complete Gerry Anderson paperback is as follows:

"'Grey Skulls' was an eleventh hour replacement for another script which was abandoned when Anderson decided that it would be too frightening for younger viewers. Phil Ford's 'House Of Dolls' saw Scarlet, his sister and her eight year-old son becoming trapped in the house of an eccentric toymaker during a thunderstorm. Under Mysteron control, the toymaker's collection of toys comes alive and Scarlet and his family are menaced by a killer clown puppet, tin robots, toy soldiers, a life-size dragon doll and an evil teddy bear."

Doesn't that sound just terrific - almost like an Avengers script.

Is there any way that the script could be made available for enthusiasts such as those on this forum?

I note that Ladybird Books have released a couple of NCS paperbacks but the sales are not good and so we are unlikely to see a non-broadcast episode in print on the bookshelves.

Posted: **Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:03 pm**

Father Unwin wrote:an evil teddy bear

You've got to love that.

Posted: **Sun Jul 09, 2006 1:05 pm**

That would have given my kids nightmares for weeks afterwards! Would have been a nice post-watershed episode though.

Posted: **Sun Jul 09, 2006 2:05 pm**

Not the first time that this sort of thing has happened. Back in the day, the network removed a filmed episode of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon. It dealt with a bogeyman who lived in drawers, cupboards, wardrobes and under beds. Psychologists at the time decided that it would give children nightmares and advised the network to withdraw the episode to avoid lawsuits.