Doctor Who - Season 7 (1970)

'Spearhead from Space'

Costume Design by Christine Rawlins

Christine Rawlins was costume designer on all episodes of the seventh season; she also firmly disliked science-fiction, which made the task of designing Doctor Who all the more daunting.

Rawlins was tasked with designing Jon Pertwee's costume as the new Doctor. In Issue #62 of the fanzine 'An Adventure In Space and Time' (which rebranded as 'In-Vision', my nemesis when writing up articles on Doctor Who's costume design), Rawlins is quoted as saying;

"There was a ghastly programme going around then called Adam Adamant Lives, he wore a cloak, I think. Anyway, something started something off in my mind, combined with the fact that Edwardian shaped jackets and yelvet were everywhere.

So Jon Pertwee ended up with a velvet jacket and Edwardian/Victorian look with the frilled shirt and bow tie. Imagine my astonishment when I first met Jon Pertwee and the Producer, and they said tney 'd decided to have a velvet jacket and cloak! It was an astonishing coincidence. Jon Pertwee decided on the final look - he knew exactly what he wanted."

However, in a later quote from Issue #10 of 'Doctor Who Chronicles', Rawlins elaborated on the story and contests the idea that it was all Pertwee's own clothing, and states that she worked with London costume-maker and tailor Arthur Davey, recounting that 'We never had enough fabric!'.

Judging by how the midnight blue velvet smoking jacket also has red lining on the inside, I feel that Pertwee's story that the on-screen Inverness cape was a family heirloom to be questionable, considering Rawlins' assertions. Presumably the frilly shirt was tailored for Pertwee as well.

The Rawlins quotatins in the same Doctor Who Chronicles issue also reveal that Caroline John's costume as Liz Shaw was also designed and custom-made for her, and not a bought item. Rawlins apparently had experience with designing for fashion lines before pursuing costume design.

The outfit consisted of a brown miniskirt dress with a belt of cream-coloured plastic, with a jacket fitted with curved panels of the same plastic material, as well as a belt going around the back.

Rawlins recalled about the mod fashion-inspired costume, 'I thought it was rather good, but a lot of people thought it was a bit off, at the time'.

I feel that the yellow labcoat that John wears over her dress to have also been a custom-made item, and not a commercially available lab coat. Not only does it not look protective much at all, but a very similar labcoat is worn by John in the following serial, indicating there was multiples.

Rawlins also made several uniforms for the performers playing UNIT personnel. According to Rawlins in 'An Adventure With Space and Time's issue on the serial, 'They were the same ones, we just made more of them'.

However, a tell-tale difference between Rawlins' new uniforms, and the original set that Bobi Bartlett had designed for 'The Invasion', are the pockets and lapels. Bartlett's design had narrow, short lapels and flat-lined pockets. Rawlins' imitations however, have wider lapels and pleated pockets.

It seems that while Bartlett had designed a futuristic homage to the US Army 'Eisenhower jacket', Rawlins just replicated the American jacket's design in the same fabric as Bartlett's original UNIT costumes.

Costume Reuse Note: At least two of Rawlins' duplicate UNIT uniforms were reused for the spacestation commanders in 'Revenge of the Cybermen' a few years later. One of them was reused yet again on an extra in the opening sequence of 'Resurrection of the Daleks' a few years after.

Costume Reuse Note #2: The extras playing Autons just wear bought overalls and scarves, but notice their silver boots? These are the boots worn as part of the Cybermen costumes in 'The Invasion'!

'The Ambassadors of Death'

The three spacesuits were bespoke-made one-piece jumpsuits made of a quilted fabric, with zippers down the back.

Due to budget, the gloves and boots were bought, rather than part of the jumpsuit like a real spacesuit; there also wasn't enough time or money to make a new spacesuit helmet, so instead the costume department borrowed and repainted helmets previously used in 1969's Moon Zero Two.

A set of futuristic flightsuits were also made for the astronauts still trapped on the alien spacecraft. At first, I thought these were reused from the UFO episode 'The Dalotek Affair', but a closer inspection reveals that the uniforms don't actually match.

The sleeves don't have piping, the cuffs are different, the piping arrangement on the chest is different, and there is no piping on the trousers. They look similar, but that is all.

Things get messier as while 'The Dalotek Affair' was filmed before 'The Ambassadors of Death', it was broadcast in 1971, a year later. So Rawlins couldn't have merely copied it. So for now, I feel these jumpsuits were made for this serial, but perhaps it was made by the same tailor?

I also feel that the 'radiation suits' seen in the serial were custom-made by the Wardrobe Department, rather than rented or bought items. Not only does the design feel 'futuristic', but the one sported by Caroline John feels like it was tailored to her frame.

The jackets worn by the UNIT soldiers in this serial (in all other appearances, UNIT extras wore either outphased or contemporary military surplus) were presumably custom-made due to their futuristic appearance, as well as the seaming having a slightly DIY vibe.

The oddest costume was the 'spacesuit' worn by the alien that talks to the Doctor. Seemingly inspired by Gort from The Day The Earth Stood Still, the spacesuit seems to be made out of an unusual material, and is totally obscured by the visual effects.

'Inferno'

The last serial of the seventh season was set in a parallel universe where the UK was a fascist dictatorship. Rawlins designed and made the uniform worn by Caroline John as her fascist doppelganger. The uniform consists of a jacket and miniskirt. The skirt definitely shows off the thigh-high boots!

I suspect the garrison caps worn by Nicholas Courtney's Brigade Leader and his 'Republican Security Force' troops were also custom-made by the costume department, and not bought surplus. The design feels inspired by US Army garrison caps, which were never produced in black and silver.

Considering that the extra UNIT uniforms that Rawlins made for 'Spearhead from Space' followed a WWII US Army pattern, then perhaps the black RSF caps were also modelled on a WWII US Army garrison cap?

Only the caps were made; otherwise the RSF uniforms were cobbled up from American military surplus, with Courtney's tan shirt (presumably a bought item) minimally altered with patches and shoulder boards.

Another bespoke-made costume for the serial was the white nehru-style jacket and trousers worn by Olaf Pooley as the parallel universe's Stahlman, evoking villains of the then-recent James Bond films.

I also feel that the labcoat worn by Sheila Dunn as the scientist Petra was also custom-made, rather than a bought item. Note not just the back zipper, but the white buttons on the collar and cuffs, as well as the lack of pockets and low cut. Not really useful to use for medical purposes!

Costume Reuse note; The 'radiation suits' in this serial were just 1930s asbestos fire suits; one of the hoods was reused briefly in the later Doctor Who serial 'The Time Monster'.