A bunch of journalists and photographers pack into Riverside Studios and stand amongst the Daleks in the Mechanoid city.  In their camera sights, producer Verity Lambert and a robotic rival for the Daleks: a Mechanoid, shooting flames:

Source: tragicalhistorytour.com

This photo call was taken to publicise The Chase, and articles appeared in several newspapers around the middle of May 1965, using photos that were being taken in this shot, but what is Verity Lambert doing?  Let’s take a closer look…

Yes, she’s lighting a cigarette, or at least pretending to.  The actual photos used in the papers tended to be more selective with the angle of the shot, to give more of an illusion of the actual lighting of a cigarette rather than having a smoke somewhere fairly near a Mechanoid.

How times have changed.  Nowadays, there’s probably more chance of a producer arriving naked for a photo shoot to publicise Doctor Who than turning up with cigarette in hand.   RP

Read next in the Junkyard… Unusual Doctor Who Photo #12: Dalek, Nuns and a Driverless Train