Space Precinct (1994)

Costume Design by:

- Raymond Hughes ( notable efforts: Countess Dracula (1971), The Pallisers (1974), Doctor Who 'The Invisible Enemy' (1977), The Merchant of Venice (1980), Othello (1981), The Far Pavilions (1984), Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), Return to Oz (1985) )

A series notorious for being thoroughly cheesy in both premise and execution, as well as being Gerry Anderson's last foray in producing a live-action television series (due to a combination of a troubled production, poor programming schedules, and early cancellation turning Anderson away from pursuing such projects again), Space Precinct's costume design sense is more rooted in the 'cop show' part of its initial premise, with most of the costumes being fairly muted and drab. However, there was some rather standout exceptions, some of them being rather space age a bit in design, but others feel like homages to 1930s fashion (in particular the episodes 'Illegal' and 'Predator and Prey' - it should be worth noting that Anderson had been left thoroughly enamored with Blade Runner, and Space Precinct - which had been borne from a TV pilot, Space Police, that he had pitched in the 1980s - was his way of making his own tribute to the film (the flying cars that feature so prominently in it were probably a bit of a giveaway!). Sadly, Space Precinct, unlike earlier Anderson shows such as Space: 1999 and UFO, has not been given a high-definition remaster due its use of mixing videotape special effects segments with shot on film sequences (a similar problem that currently befalls Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager) so the screenshots in this post are a bit pants in quality - sorry about that.

'Double Duty'

In this episode, various ganglords are being assassinated by an alien creature known as Aleesha (Lana Citron) who in her human disguise wears a beige dress with a large white open collar.

One gangster she targets, Oturi (Nickolas Grace) wears a red tunic with a slightly asymmetrical bottom end, and is fastened with buckles.

Briefly seen is the teenage punk Inazy (Nitzan Sharron) who wears a silvery jacket with studded shoulders and silvery strips over the front.

There are also these two alien dignitaries who wear rather typically 'space age' uniforms consisting of red tunics with gold-lined shoulder boards and triangular panels down the front.

'Protect and Survive'

In this episode the gangster Tylan Gershom (Oliver Cotton) is being put on trial for murder, and spends the whole episode wearing this asymmetrically designed beige jacket with a white strip on the side, and is seen wearing a beige fedora hat that seemingly would have been worn with it too.

With him in certain scenes is this alien hitman who wears a pinstriped(?) nehru jacket with asymmetrical panelling over the chest and shoulders - sadly the horrendous quality, as well as the dark lighting, makes this harder to see.

'Enforcer'

One of the first futuristic costume designs seen in the series is the dress worn by the telepathic alien Vala (Jade Punt) who is being used by a vigilant in order to kill various gangsters with her mind. Vala's costume is purple dress that is of a classically 'space age' design, with the obligatory large collar, but it also seems designed to call to mind a fairy, especially with the translucent material of the collar and the slightly organic feel of the threaded material over the front and back of the dress.

Vala is controlled more or less by the sleazy Trask, who wears a pinstriped jacket with triangular panelling over the front and shoulders.

The punks that Vala is targeting are dressed a bit more over the top than the usual generic street punks, with these ones wearing brown studded leather with zig-zag cut to the front, as well as talons worn as epaulettes - both this and Vala's costume, with the formers 80s subculture sensibility and the latter's use of threaded material, are a bit similar to the outfits that costume designer Raymond Hughes had previously designed for the 'Wheelers' in Return to Oz a few years before this.

Meanwhile the citizens that Trask and Vala are ostensibly protecting are dressed in grubbier gear, with the elderly Skeeven wearing a brown jacket with tweed panelling and large shoulders, whilst his wife wears Luzan wears a wraparound green shirt under a green-lined black jacket.

'Flash'

In this episode, the corrupt Dr. Jensen (Michael Shannon) is making an illegal designer drug that has the adverse effects of killing the user. Jensen's first outfit slightly fits in with his title, as it is designed a bit similarly to a labcoat, with an asymmetrically designed front panel.

Jensen's second outfit meanwhile is a beige wraparound shirt and jacket, with slightly raised shoulders as well.

Assisting Jensen in his skeevy research is Carmel (Pippar Guard), whose first outfit is this pale grey suit with straps over the chest of the shirt, and pointed panelling over the shoulders of the jacket.

Carmel's second outfit is this darker grey pinstriped suit with large shoulders with golden material at the bottom of it that resembles a star shape of sorts, worn over a striped shirt too.

'The Snake'

One of the most striking costumes of the show has to be this, worn by the titular 'Snake' (Ken Whitfield), an alien extortionist who in all his scenes wears this elaborate outfit, with both the trousers and jacket made of a yellow-green material that has been adorned with segments in order to give it the appearance of, well, snakeskin! Of note is how the snakeskin pattern forms 'stripes' that go down the legs, as well as the side of the jacket, which also is covered in more pieces around its shoulders and back. This costume thankfully still exists, judging by this page on the Propmasters website, which has more photos of it.

One of the Snake's victims is this unlucky executive who when going to bed wears this wraparound pajama top with a strap of fabric over one side, fastened with metal buckles.

Another target of the Snake is the 'Talon Princess' spaceship, whose crew wear green jackets with symmetrically patterned red lining over the front.

'Body & Soul'

This episode involved a dead CEO, Alden Humes (Bob Sherman), coming back from the dead thanks to technological marvels, and is seen wearing the same outfit consisting of a buttoned up shirt made of a slightly reflective material worn under a grey jacket with popped collars, fixed with a buckle.

'Deadline'

This episode involved an illegal organ harvesting operating going on, to serve the needs of the surgeon Dr. Jorry (Steven Berkoff) who wears this slightly futuristic spin on a nehru jacket with jagged cuts to the panelling around the bottom of it.

The two goons working for Jorry, Pike and Rik are both also dressed in grey, though Rik wears the slightly more interesting design as it is made of a grey tweed with large shoulders.

Jorry is being invested by police officer Jane Castle (Simone Bendix), who has arrived in disguise as a journalist, wearing a dark burgundy dress that has been cut in a way to reveal the patterned fabric underneath.

This episode also briefly has an android mime in a street scene, who wears an outfit that doesn't look like a typical mime much at all, consisting of patterned trousers, worn with a curved asymmetrical top, that is very revealing, as it exposes the midriff. Completing the look is a domed plastic helmet, fitted with a microphone - actually, notice that boombox too, is he a breakdancing mime?

Also seen in the street scenes is this wealthy alien wearing a dark red jacket with specially cut collars.

'The Power'

This episode involved a pair of criminals trying to take over the future city's power supply, one of them being Sylvain (Alison Fielding), who in a scene where she tries to seduce a police officer, wears this rather...90s pattnered dress, with the skirt segment having a jagged cut, and worn with a golden band around the waist.

Sylvain is also briefly seen wearing this silvery dress with translucent baggy sleeves fitted with shiny bands.

When she ends up on the space station, Sylvain instead sports a very 'space age' design, consisting of a gold and red patterned boydsuit, worn with golden shows, and an orange vest - of note especially is how the red and gold pattern is of an asymmetrical shape as well.

Also involved in this plot is the corrupt CEO Maxx Zeller (Tom Chadbon) with a large panel over the chest.

The company being targeted is Solartek, a solar power company, whose own CEO Miss Numar also dresses very stern in wraparound grey jackets.

She is flanked by her security chief Rodan who wears a black jacket with patterned brown lining - again, shame the quality is so piss-poor that it's hard to make out what the costumes are actually like proper! This jacket was reused in the episode 'The Fire Within', worn by a budding cultist.

'Seek and Destroy'

This episode involved an alien infiltration plot where the evil aliens, the Omera, were taking over by assassinating officials with...possessed dogs? Sure, alright. The lead Omarian wears this stiff black jacket with vinyl panelling on the bottom sides and collar.

Attempting to warn the police of this invasion is Vachel (David Burke), who also wears black, thought with a sort of waistcoat with a black coat over it - again, the piss-poor quality of the copy I found really makes it harder to make out what the costumes look like!

One of the first victims of the Omeraians and their dog attacks is this alien official who wears this asymmetrical panelled jacket and skirt.

Another victim is this human official who wears a robe made of blue-green plaid!

'Illegal'

This episode involved an illegal (as per the title...) bloodsport being conducted, disguisted as a wrestling match, with the promoter of the fights being one of the hideous aliens of the series, wearing an admittedly endearingly cheesy tailed coat of silver and red, covered in stars, as well as red-lined black trousers.

The various bouncers working for him wear a variety of asymmetrically cut suits, with one guy in an all-blue jacket with light panels around the sides, and others wearing tan uniforms with a blue side-panel as well.

The hostesses of the arena venue are all in rather old-fashioned golden dresses, fixed with large frilly tutus, as well as similar fabric adorning the shoulders and even being fixed in a manner to wear as a hat.

Again, officer Jan Castle goes undercover, this time as a viewer to the fighting match, wearing a fairly simple but still stylish shiny black dress with a leak-like piece fixed to one side, as well as the skirt segment being of an asymetrical cut.

'Divided We Stand'

This episode centered on the corrupt alien politician Vinny Artak, who wears a pinstriped cream suit with large shoulder pads.

Vinny's suffering wife also wears a jacket with large shoulders, of a white and grey colourscheme.

Vinny has a human assistant who wears a frilly-sleeved pink shirt under an asymmetrically designed dress made of a mottled material.

Also present is this journalist who again wears an asymmetrically designed jacket, with spiked lapels and worn with green pants.

Brogan's wife appears wearing this blue dress with colourful patterned sleeves.

'Two Against the Rock'

In this episode, a prisoner takeover happens on an asteroid prison, whose former warden is wearing this black plaid jacket with a large panel over the front and shoulders.

'Takeover'

In this episode the space police find themselves under investigation from Internal Affairs, the official from which arrives, clad in a pinstriped nehru jacket with a wide diagonal sash over it.

Also present is 'intergalactic police' officer Cambria Elon (Maryam D'Abo), who wears a blue military-style tunic with large shoulders and a jagged front panel.

'Predator and Prey'

The series attempt to give a typical serial killer story a more scifi twist, this one involved a soul-stealing alien murdering women in a dance club, in particular the various dancers performing. The dancers in this episode are perhaps one of the costume design highlights of the show, all being riffs on the classic burlesque look so associated with the 1920s and 1930s. The alien serial killer's first victim sports an especially elaborate pink dress, adorned with beaded threads and shining pieces, and of course pink and black feathers fixed to the headdress.

Once again, officer Jane Castle goes undercover, and as one of the dancers so naturally she gets her own dress, this one being green in colour, made of a shiny material and with black strips, as well as aslightly different shape of feathered headdress. Unlike the other dancers, Jane is seeming to wear tights with this dress, but that as it never gets a full shot (and let alone in high definition), it's hard to tell.

The other dancers at the club are in very similar outfits with with different cuts to the main dresses pattern, as well as different headdresses - one dancer who gets little in the way of proper screentime, wears a dress of a banana yellow colour, whilst another one, who has even less screentime, wears a bright blue dress.

Also very striking are the outfits worn by the male dancers at the club, who are in rather skimpy outfits consisting of a belt and large pants made of red, gold and black stripes, and in turn worn with red and black boots - again, it is a crying shame that this series has not been restored, because goodness I'd like to see these in their full glory!

Some of the partygoers are dressed pretty flashy too, such as this woman in a colourful patterned top which is sadly obscured by the title credits, as well as a man in an asymmetrically cut black and white jacket.

Investigating this case is the police officer Verro Walker (Rolf Saxon) who wears an asymmetrically patterned green and black jacket, the black segments going over round one side especially around the bottom.

Another jacket that is briefly seen is this tan and green deal worn by one of the recurring alien police officers (can't really remember the name at the moment, sorry) - this jacket was worn by extras in some other episodes.

'The Witness'

In this episode, an alien child is witness to the murders happening to various criminals in the city, her mother wearing this asymmetrically patterned pink dress.

One of the many criminals being targeted include this alien wearing a brown and black lined jacket with star-like symbols on the sides.

There is also an especially nosy alien who looks like they stepped out of Alien Nation, wearing whis suit with black asymmetrical panelling over the chest and shoulders, worn over a striped shirt.

'Hate Street'

This episode was, of all things, about racial hatred (but with aliens, because typical 90s television tastelessness towards such topics (say that 5 times fast), the violence being directed first at an alien shopkeeper wearing this orange and green outfit with large shoulders, with furred cuffs.

The hate crimes are being orchestrated by the bigoted Burl Flak (Christopher Fairbank) who wears a black jacket with a purple cloak.

Flak has a personal doctor who who wears this brown jacket with large shoulders - again, I am sorry for the awful quality of the copy I found.

On the trail of the racists is the bounty hunter Erika (Frances Barber), who sports a more 'space age' design with pointed collars, made entirely of a vinyl-like material of a grey colour, whilst the triangular strip on the chest is black.

She also sometomes wears this grey and black cloak over it, fixed with a shiny pin.

When infiltrating Flals' meeting, Erika wears this shiny orange dress fixed with shoulder pads around the shoulders.

'Friends'

In this episode we see an appearance from the father of one of the young delinqunts, dressed in a brown jacket with a panel on one side.

'Smelter Skelter'

This episode involved the police attempting to stop the corrupt mine owner Alvin Zann (Bradley Lavelle) who is first seen wearing a red and black striped jacket with short lapels.

Zann's second outfit is a red tunic consisting of a large panel over the chest and back, with diagonal shiny streaks on the front.

The manager of the bank Zann is attempting to rob wears a black and grey asymmetrical jacket, whilst his assistants wear similarly asymmetrical (like so many costumes in this series!) jackets.

Zann steals the technology from an alien scientist who wears a jacket with grey strips on the shoulders.

During the raid, Zann and his men wear silver jumpsuits with pointed shoulder panels worn over them - these suits appeared in a few other episodes too, worn with spacesuit collars.

'The Fire Within'

This episode involved a cult whose members all wear a variety of widw-shouldered robes with fire emblems on them, with their leader Icar Vedra (Jack Hedley) dressed in white with more detailed panelling around the shoulders and chest.

Also briefly seen in this episode is this jacket worn by the police chief Podly, wearing a green open jacket with raised shoulders. His wife or so wears a multiculoured shirt under a grey shirt.

'The Forever Beetle'

In this episode, Brogan attempts to have the gangster Amory Wolf (Constantine Gregory) arrested for what he believes the murder of his friend. Wolf wears a pinstriped brown jacket with one pointed shoulder board, whilst his lawyer wearing a grey and black tunic.

Brogan's friend in question, Tommy (Sam Douglas) briefly appears wearing a grey jacket with black lining over the shoulders and front.

A side plot in this episode involved the sports hero Thunder Cole (Glen McCrory) who is first seen wearing a green and white jacket, with a logo on the back.

Thunder's second outfit is this brown jacket with large asymmetrically patterned shoulders.

'Deathwatch'

In this episode, a mysterious alien meteor crashes, causing a series of strange events around a bunch of tower blocks thanks to the possessed landlord, who wears an asymmetrically designed brown and black jacket, with a specially cut lapels.

The landlord hires a bunch of goons to terrorize the residents, one of the goons wearing a shiny shirt with a jacket fitted with leather panelling on the back, fitted with shoulders.

The meteorite was discovered by a military intelligence division, the staff members wearing brown tunics with large shoulders.

The commander of the military organization, Captain Tara (Cecilia Noble) who wears a grey tunic with black lining on the sides and collar.

For the rest of the episode she wears a combat uniform that has baggy sleeves, with black lining on the sleeves and legs, and a grey vest worn over it.