Doctor Who - Season 21 (1984)

'Warriors of the Deep'

Costume Design by Judy Pepperdine

Several futuristic unifirosm were designed and made for the serial's guest cast. Judy Pepperdine came up with a wide-shouldered, double-breasted design, with pockets sewn in around the elbows and ankles.

Each uniform had strips of fabric around the shoulders, and each jumpsuit had a panel of white fabric embroidered on the back.

Partly to help the audience tell the cast apart, the speaking roles all had their uniforms in unique colour schemes. Tom Adams and Ian McCulloch wore blue uniforms as the senior officers Vorshak and Nilson, while Nitza Saul and Martin Neil wore paler hues as the technicians Karine and Maddox.

Nigel Humphreys wore a bright orange uniform as the security officer Bulic, while Tara Ward wore a beige uniform with green and red strips to differentiate her from the extras' similar beige jumpsuits.

A similar uniform was made for Ingrid Pitt as the base's doctor Solow, consisting of a futuristic labcoat cut in the same fashion as the standard uniform, with panels of blue-grey material.

The extras playing the security guards were all outfitted in identical beige hazmat suits. These 'hazmat suits' were made in the BBC Costume Department, and not merely actual hazard gear bought in bulk. The way the suits are cut gives away that they aren't protective in any meaningful way!

(I do wonder what the transparent 'hoods' orignally were, though.)

Costume Reuse Note: The faux hazmat suit 'hoods' were reused in the serial 'The Caves of Androzani' the same year, with the beige parts repainted grey.

The Sea Devil's leatherette armor, inspired by samurai, were designed by Pepperdine, but the actual construction was outsourced to a freelancer. The helmets were fabricated by Richard Gregory's special effects firm Imagineering, but I am unsure about the rest of the armor costume.

'The Awakening'

Costume Design by Jackie Southern

While the bulk of the serial's period costuming was hired wardrobe stock, I feel the gold-lined doublet worn by Denis Lill as the crazed historical reenactment enthusiast Sir George Hutchinson, was designed and made for him specifically for him, and not a wardrobe hire.

I similarly feel that Tegan's light green dress as the May Queen was also custom-made for her, as I imagine May Queen costumes were not that easy to find in stock!

The silvery doublet and uniforms worn by the Civil War 'ghosts' were definitely designed and made for the serial, due to their odd fabric, though no doubt the armor pieces were wardrobe stock.

'Frontios'

Costume Design by Anushia Nieradzik

The guest cast in this dystopian serial all had to be clad in uniforms. Two futuristic Prussian-style grey and red uniforms were made for Jeff Rawle and William Lucas as the Plantagent and his aide Range.

More simplistic single-breasted uniforms were made for Peter Gilmore as the security chief Brazen, and Lesley Dunlop as the officer Norna.

A set of jumpsuits were made for the extras playing the colony's soldiers. The jumpsuits are in the same hue of grey as the other uniforms, with similar red panelling on the shoulders, and red flaps for pockets.

Costume Reuse Note: The helmets were reused Federation trooper helmets from Blake's 7, with the faceguards removed.

'Resurrection of the Daleks'

Costume Design by Janet Tharby

Tharby designed a set of futuristic jumpsuits for the guest cast and extras playing the prison station personnel. At least one unique uniform was made for Rula Lenska as the station's doctor Styles, consisting of a short-sleeved white top with black lining around the collar and sleeves.

The uniforms followed the colour-coded ranks established by Star Trek; olive with dark green lining for security, orange with red lining for technicians, and white with black lining for medics.

The jumpsuits had flaps of fabric around the waist, giving a slightly kilt-like appearance, embroidered patches on the sleeves, and were worn with a futuristic version of a side cap.

Tharby also designed the uniforms of the Dalek troopers, coming up with leather-lined jumpsuits also following a colour-coded rank system. The jumpsuit worn by Maurice Colbourne as commander Lytton had gold lining, his subordinates sported red, and the grunts yellow.

The jumpsuits are also briefly seen being worn with a futuristic spin on a forage cap, with coloured lining indicating rank yet again.

The jumpsuits were worn with a futuristic armored chestplate and helmet fabricated by Richard Gregory's Imagineering, with the visored helmet designed the resemble a Dalek.

Costume Reuse Note: Several costumes in 'Resurrection of the Daleks' were reused from earlier BBC scifi productions.

The jumpsuit worn by Rodney Bewes as Stein in the serial's first half is a jumpsuit originally made for the Blake's 7 episode 'Traitor', but heavily distressed.

The jumpsuit worn by William Sleigh as Stein's friend Galloway was also reused from Blake's 7, this time from the episode 'Hostage'. The 'Hostage' costume has had its chest panelling removed, and had tubing added on for its appearance in 'Resurrection'.

The costumes worn by the extras playing the escaped prisoners in the serial's opening sequence were all reused from either Blake's 7 or Doctor Who. Among them are;

- a 'Crimo' jumpsuit originally made for the Blake's 7 episode 'Hostage'

- a flightsuit with sports armor originally bought for 'Earthshock' with a helmet made for 'State of Decay'

- a Muto jumpsuit made for (yet again) 'Hostage' worn with a helmet made for 'The Pirate Planet'

- a Vila jumpsuit and vest originally made for the fourth season of Blake's 7, worn with a Time Lord skullcap made for 'The Invasion of Time'

- a distressed UNIT uniform originally made for 'Spearhead from Space', still worn with a tan beret

- a spacesuit originally seen in (and presumably made for) 'Carnival of Monsters' worn with a helmet I haven't identified

- and one mysterious white costume with studded leather lining that, as of now, I still haven't determined where it was from, or if it ever appeared in any science-fiction production at all!

'Planet of Fire'

Costume Design by John Peacock

When creating the look of the Sarn people, John Peacock drew from both Ancient Greek and Middle Eastern clothing. A unique costume was made for Edward Highmore as Malkon, with embroidered strips of fabric over his vest and shorts.

Peacock made a set of costumes for the other performers playing the Sarn, in particular Peter Wyngarde as Timonov, with most of them having a more plain, grubby feeling. These were, I feel, custom-made, rather than reused wardrobe stock as they don't match any historical or Middle Eastern clothing I've seen!

A futuristic spacesuit, inspired by the silver fire suits used by volcanologists, was also made for the production, with a custom-made helmet. I suspect the helmet was made by Richard Gregory's Imagineering.

(In-Vision's issue on 'Planet of Fire' erronousely claims that the silver spacesuit was 'hired from a costume warehouse'. Uh-huh. Yeah, sure.)

At least two futuristic uniforms were also made for the serial, consisting of jumpsuitd with a bib-like collar over the shoulders. The commanding officer's uniform had pink lining, while the briefly seen junier officer's jumpsuit had teal lining.

'The Caves of Androzani'

Costume Design by Andrew Rose

Andrew Rose designed and made a set of colour-coded futuristic uniforms for the guest cast playing the Androzani soldiers. These uniforms consisted of trousers and button-up collarless jackets, with blocks of colour around the shoulders and sleeves.

Interestingly, the colour-coding works exactly like it did for the Starfleet uniforms in the original Star Trek, with a commander in gold, subordinates in blue, and grunts in red. At least two blue-coloured uniforms were made, with the secondary one in a darker shade. The helmets were hard hats painted silver.

(In-Vision claims that the uniforms were all minimally altered industrial wear. As of now I don't think I've seen any industrial wear of any sort that looks like this specific cut or fabric, nor does the uniform look protective in any fashion! Where did In-Vision's writers even get half this stuff?)

A set of rudimentary 'hazmat' jackets, with strips of shiny material around the sleeves, were also made to be worn over the uniforms, alongside 'hazmat hoods' reused from 'Warriors of the Deep'.

Another set of futuristic uniforms was made for the cast playing a squad of mercernaries; the mercernary costumes are made of a pale beige, with flaps acting as extra pockets on the sleeves, and quilted padding on the trousers. Maurice Roeves as Stotz is distinguished by wearing a bandana, while his cronies wear berets.

(In-Vision claims that Stotz and his mercernaries were also just in minimally altered industrial gear. Once again, I highly doubt this was the case!)

A more 'space age' costume was made for John Normington as Morgus, made of a dark copper fabric with tubing around the collar, and heavily ribbed sleeves. Shots of the back show that the jacket could be zipped up from behind.

A similar costume was made for David Neal as Androzani's president, made of a yellow fabric with gold patterned fabric around the collar and elbows.

A wide-shouldered futuristic dress was made for Barbara Kinghorn as Timmin, with embroidered lining around the sleeves. A case where videotape quality really doesn't let costume intricacies show as well!

Most elaborate of the serial's costumes was Christopher Gable's as the crazed scientist Sharaz Jek. Honing in to the script's homage to The Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Rose came up with a mask inspired by a Nuba tribesman's facepaint photographed in Leni Riefenstahl's The Last of the Nuba.

The mask was made by freelance prop and costume maker Steven Gregory (who, as far as I know, had no link to Richard Gregory). The Sharaz Jek outfit was also designed with a leather panel going over the neck and down the front, to hide where the mask's cowl went under the jacket collar.

However, despite popular conception, I don't think that Sharaz Jek's leather jacket was merely an off the rack biker jacket. While the leather trousers could have been bought or stock, the jacket doesnt have any of the telltale pockets or collar flaps that a commercial one would have, and it seems too loose and form-fitting to be a lucky find. So for now, I feel that the evidence points to the jacket being custom-made.

Jek's androids were also a collaboration between costume and visual effects departments, with heavy canvas-like armor padding worn by the android's performers, along a sculpted cyclops-like mask.

Lastly, I do feel the hooded gowns worn by Peter Davison and Nicola Bryant for the execution scene, were also made for them.

Costume Reuse Note: The unnamed assassin Morgus sends away briefly is wearing a costume originally made for 'Underworld' a few years earlier.

'The Twin Dilemma'

Costume Design by Pat Godfrey

Many of the costumes in this infamously loathed serial were gaudy to the extreme. A pair of futuristic tunics were made for Paul and Andrew Conrad as Romulus and Remus; one costume was in green, the other in peach. Both costumes had striped belts, cuffs and epaulettes.

A similar costume in deep purple was made for Dennis Chinnery as the twins' father Sylvest, with additional strips of material going down one side of the tunic.

A set of futuristic police tunics were made for the various cast members playing Interplanetary Pursuit officers. The tunics match the tabard-like design that Pat Godfrey went with for many of the serial's costumes, with the women's costumes having a longer skirt-like cut.

(In-Vision erroneously states that the tunics were reused 1950s New York police uniforms from Bermans & Nathans' stock. Yeah, sure! The breeches and boots no doubt were hires from the wardrobe department.)

The tabard motif is seen clearly in the costume Pat Godfrey designed for Maurice Denham as Edgeworth. The gown has a tabard-like panel going over the front and back, made of a geometric golden-lined fabric.

The bird-like Jacondans wear similar costumes made of a shiny, charcoal grey material. The higher-up Jacondans have their tabard-like panels studded with metallic segments.

Another tabard-lke robe was made for Seymour Green as the chamberlain, with silver lining around the shoulders and bottom of the gown.

A very colourful wraparound tunic was made for Kevin McNally as the officer Hugo Lang after he has stowed away in the TARDIS. The tunic is asymmetrically designed, with strips of differently-coloured lame (or an imitation?) aroun the sleeves and back.

However, most garish of all was Colin Baker's costume as the new Doctor, something that producer John Nathan-Turner wanted to be 'totally tasteless'. The costume's components were made by several costumiers. The yellow striped trousers were presumably made in the BBC's Wardrobe Department.

I don't know which tailor made the asymmetrically cut waistcoat, but the gingham-patterned question mark shirt was made by Harvie & Hudson, a freelance London tailor.

The infamous frock coat however, was tailored by Arthur Davey, a renowned costume maker. For Baker's initial season, two frock coats were made, with a third made for his second season a year later. Despite the 'tasteless' look, the frock coat was carefully designed with the clashing colours and patterns.