David Hugo Boyle
1948 - 2019
David Boyle was born in
Preston Royal Infirmary. He moved to Warrington at just a day old after his Dad
who had been demobbed from the RAF, returned to the UK from India. It was his
Dad who first piqued his interest in trains, having bought his first model railway
before he started at the now defunct Richard Fairclough Secondary Modern
school. He would often supplement his pocket money by fixing other pupils’
broken engines.
In 1983, he founded the
DAPOL company (DAPOL is an amalgamation of David and ex-wife Pauline’s names. Polly
is short for Pauline) that made mainstream ‘OO’ Model Railways. Their model
engines manufactured from their Winsford site were produced in Hong Kong and
the Far East, an arrangement that successfully survived for 32 years,
strengthening their relationship with their Far East partners.
In 1994 the Boyle’s moved
their business from Winsford to a larger site at Llangollen, which was able to
support both the railway business and their new Doctor Who exhibition which was
also supported by the BBC. Under licence from the BBC, DAPOL also produced
Doctor Who figurines and action toys, including Tardis Play Sets.
In 1994, during the move
to Llangollen, a devastating fire broke out in their Winsford site, destroying
huge quantities of their products including their historical ‘Wrenn’ model
railway material.
Their Llangollen
Exhibition had 6000 square feet of space, to house a collection spanning 30
years of Doctor Who props from the Troughton era right up to the Seventh
Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.
In 1998, David resigned
from DAPOL, his former wife Pauline became the sole proprietor, running not
only the factory but also the Llangollen exhibition until it closed.
Unfortunately, in 2002,
the BBC decided not to renew the licence for the Doctor Who figures and
playsets and DAPOL turned their attention back to model railways and in 2003
moved their manufacturing site from Llangollen to Chirk, Wrexham.
David set up another
Exhibition of Doctor Who, this time on the promenade in Blackpool, next door to
Sea Life. It ran from 2004 – 2009 when it closed. He sold a new range of Doctor
Who figures from the Character Options range, along with a few of the early
DAPOL figures rescued from the Winsford fire – the Time Lords of Gallifrey.
Only a few of these are still in existence.
The BBC took back some of
the Doctor Who costume exhibits after it closed to be displayed in their other
venues up and down the country.
David was well known
within his local community and a regular supporter of the Lytham Club Day
Parades, where he would be seen driving his popular yellow Doctor Who car
BESSIE, whilst dressed as a Native American. Bessie was the Third Doctor’s mode
of transport when he was without his TARDIS. She was one of only 22 built.
It has a Ford Popular
chassis with an Edwardian Roadster kit body. Its registration plate SUX419 will
show it as a Ford Esquire on car insurance databases. It was occasionally used
as a back up car in the Doctor Who series.
In 2009 David met his
beautiful partner Julie in which they spent nine and a half loving years
together. With Llangollen holding many fond memories for David, from his old
DAPOL days where he brought up his family, to his twilight years with Julie,
they would often spend their time visiting the local Llangollen Railway Station
together.
On one particular
Valentine’s Day, Julie arranged a trip to the Steam Railway. It was the first
operational day of the year, so naturally the heating wasn’t working! As Julie
recalls, ‘the champagne was particularly well chilled!’ Julie often called
ahead to the staff at Llan, so that David was always given the ‘Red Carpet’
treatment. When he celebrated his 66th birthday, he was invited to
ride in the cab for the journey, however due to heart surgery six days earlier,
he was unable to drive the train.
In 2017, David suffered a
massive stroke which rendered him unable to speak, and requiring 24-hour care. Yet,
despite this, however, David retained an amazing quality of life. Even after David’s
stroke, they attended a very uplifting talk at Preston Comic Con, given by
Colin Baker and Gareth David-Lloyd who reminisced about their careers in both
Doctor Who and Torchwood. Later, after a photoshoot with Colin, the Sixth
Doctor spoke with David, ‘treating him with the utmost respect and compassion.’
They had met on numerous occasions in the past, at David’s Doctor Who
Exhibitions.
On 17th
September, 2019, David sadly passed away but he was determined to go out in
style.
David had always been a
lifelong Wire supporter. He was brought up on the Wilderspool Causeway, close
to the ground of his beloved Rugby League team, the Warrington Wolves. His
matchday shirt was placed upon his coffin in the church, alongside his Native American
headdress, outfit and shoes.
His TARDIS coffin was
transported in a silver horse drawn hearse from the home he shared with Julie,
in Lytham, to St Cuthbert’s Church, where a public celebration of David’s
wonderful life took place. David’s last wishes were that everyone who came to
pay their respects at his funeral were to wear bright colours. As the cortège
arrived at the crematorium, a bag piper led the procession playing ‘Abide with
Me’ and ‘Amazing Grace’.
David’s family said their
final goodbyes to the original 1960s Doctor Who theme tune.
David also requested that
half of his ashes were to be scattered along the steam railway at Llangollen,
which was the location of the DAPOL factory and the Doctor Who Exhibition, and
half in the grounds of Lytham Hall, where the Lytham Club Day celebrations
continue once the parade has finished. The scattering of these ashes will take
place sometime next year.
Special thanks to Julie
Whitfield, for the use of photographs within the article, and for the personal
information.
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