Picture the scene - new season of 'Dr Who', and a little Wild West set is being put together for the episode 'A Town Called Mercy'.
Set designer calls down for a couple of typical 'olde Wild West' set dressing elements - you know the sort of thing, hitching rail, water trough, set of buffalo horns.
What's more evocative of the Wild West than the buffalo, bison bison, Woman on a Raft's 'huge quiet spirits'? Except maybe the Indians that regarded them as food, shelter and spiritual being? But I don't think the Beeb props department has any Indian skull mounts, so there's that.
And what did the props department send them?
Well.....
The eagle-eyed among you will have realised that that's no American buffalo. That's our old friend, the Cape Buffalo, synoceras caffer, and the Plains Indians would have found this old boy a bit tougher to live on. Many papooses would have gone hungry, not to mention fatherless.
Not that they had to worry, since these animals live in Africa, and never the twain shall meet.
Does anyone remember when the BBC had professional standards?
Yeah. Me too.
I don't know about the American bison thing. But I think they were probably looking for something like Texas Long Horn Skull
ReplyDeleteBut as you point out it's still a Cape Buffalo Skull whatever the intent.
You never know the town may have been visited by yet more unusual folk previously unlike aliens, cyborgs and time travellers from the future that they are used to.
ReplyDeleteGiven as Doctor Who doesn't actually exist (sorry to spoil it for you) and time-travel is impossible and television is crapola, you begin to see why they made a little error like that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what else they might have put up on the gateway so I googled "antique horns".
Mistake.
"But I think they were probably looking for something like Texas Long Horn Skull"
ReplyDeleteYou'd think, if it was filmed in the States, they'd have had no problem!
"Given as Doctor Who doesn't actually exist (sorry to spoil it for you) and time-travel is impossible and television is crapola, you begin to see why they made a little error like that."
Once, they wouldn't. Once, they had standards, not the attitude 'Oh, this'll do! The viewers are ignorant, so....'
"Mistake."
:D
You'd think, if it was filmed in the States, they'd have had no problem!
ReplyDeleteYou'd think , but according to the IMDB it was filmed in Spain