Doctor Who (1963) - Season 4

Note: Yes I am still going through and fixing up older articles, and splitting them apart into 'new' articles. After Doctor Who (which I really want to be done with!), it will be Lexx and Babylon 5 next. After that, I promise any articles will be entirely new ones! Apologies if it seems like I'm going around in circles...

'The Tenth Planet'

Costume Design by Alexandra Tynan aka Sandra Reid

This serial marked one of the first notable serials to no longer have Daphne Dare as costume designer. While the serial's guest cast and regular's costumes were all contemporary clothing (ergo stock or bought), there was the matter of the Cybermen, the villainous cyborgs acting as the serial's monsters

The Cybermen were a collaboration between the BBC's Wardrobe and Visual Effects Departments. Alexandra Tynan (credited as Sandra Reid) did not have as much enthusiasm for designing 'monsters' as Daphne Dare did, but the Cybermen were technically humans in life-support spacesuits.

Tynan made a set of patterned onesies (painted over to resemble tubing) and transparent jumpsuits, with rubber tubes, metallic shoulder plates and rings over the limbs. The helmets were made by the BBC's Visual Effects Department, while the chest units were made by freelance costume & prop maker Jack Lovell.

Costume Reuse Note: The rocketship's pilots are wearing 'Windak flying suits', which were actual air force surplus. However, it's stated a lot in fan circles that these flying suits were reused in The Empire Strikes Back, but more likely it was just another copy of the same flying suit.

Windak flying suits had also earlier been seen in the 1964 film First Men in the Moon, and were used again in Doctor Who in the serial 'The Wheel in Space'

'The Power of the Daleks'

Costume Design by Alexandra Tynan

Similarly to William Hartnell's Doctor costume, Patrick Troughton's costume as the new Doctor was assembled from wardrobe stock, with no clothing actually tailored for him.

Tynan's costuming duties for the serial went to the Vulcan colonists. Tynan came up with a futuristic double-breasted uniform with short sleeves and no collars or lapels. The uniforms came in shades of blue or beige. A single-breasted version of the uniform was made for Anneke Wills, with shorts in the same fabric.

I don't know if the scientist scrubs, or the police uniforms, were custom-made items or wardrobe hires. The police uniforms and caps especially don't look particularly futuristic in any sense, so I'll assume they were just wardrobe stock. The colony police helmets were just bought crash helmets.

'The Underwater Menace'

Costume Design by Alexandra Tynan

Tynan's costume designs for this serial's guest cast reflected the maritime theme of the Atlantis setting. A set of dresses were made, consisting of 'seaweed' skirtsa and tops coated in seashells. The dress was complimented with a headdress also fitted with a seashell. (I wonder if the 'sea shells' were actually porcelain ashtrays?)

The costumes for the male guest cast also keep the 'seaweed' motif, with kilts and cloaks made of the same material. A netted fabric was used to construct several cloaks, evoking fishing nets.

Most striking are the various headpieces, with conch-shaped headpieces worn by most of the male cast. The Atlantis priests wear ornate headdresses made of plastic tubing, possibly evoking sea amemones.

A specially made helmet, also keeping in with the shellfish theme, was made for the Atlantean executioner, who also wears a similar cloak made of 'seaweed' material.

The costume worn by Noel Johnson as the Atlantean king Thous slightly differes from the piscean theming of the other costumes, though the clasps on his cape are shellfish shaped! I do feel the costume was custom-made for the serial, due to the cheaper materials and the fantastical setting.

(The cloak worn in some scenes by Joseph Furst as Zaroff in some scenes is most likely a wardrobe hire. It definitely does not go well with the surgical scrubs!)

'The Moonbase'

Costume Design by Daphne Dare and Alexandra Tynan

Tynan had only managed to design the returning Cybermen before she fell ill, with Daphne Dare desiging the rest of the cast's costumes.

When it came to the Cybermen, the actual construction of the costumes fell to freelance propmakers Jack Lovell and John Lovell. According to Tynan, the silver fabric was the hardest element!

'I was much happier with the Cybermen Mark II. The people who made them weren’t that happy though. We bought silver vinyl for the costumes and the people who made them up nearly went bananas. They broke machine needles and they just went round the bend working on those costumes. Very difficult stuff to sew.

It was topstitched and hard to get under the foot of the sewing machines because it would slide. They had to try different tactics to stitch it properly. But the finished articles did look good, I thought.'

A set of futuristic vests were also made for the moonbase crewmen. A pair of futuristic helmets were also fabricated, but I'm not sure who made them.

Costume Reuse Note: The jacket worn by Patrick Barr as the moonbase commander Hobson, was a bought item I feel. It was worn again years later by Derek Farr as Ensor in the Blake's 7 episode 'Orac'.

A set of spacesuits were made for the scenes on the moon's surface. The jumpsuits were made of a quilted material, and according to an interview with Frazer Hines, the helmets were the worst part to wear. 'You had to be bolted into the helmet and the minute you were, you wanted to scratch your nose – it’s psychological! It’s not as if you could lift up the visor, like a helmet. You can see in the pictures how they fogged up.'

'The Macra Terror'

Costume Design by Daphne Dare

Several futuristic double-breasted uniforms with popped collars and shoulders pads were made for this serial. It again makes me sad that these costumes were only seen in black-and-white, as according to Frazer Hines in the interview linked above, his uniform was in bright orange!

A slight variant was made for the women cast members, as their uniforms lack the collars, and a set of hussar-style hats were also made. Interestingly, some of the female cast wear a type of stripey-patterned jacket - I imagine these were also made for the serial, but what did they look like in colour?

'The Faceless Ones'

Costume Design by Daphne Dare & Alexandra Tynan

I am unsure who designed the uniform of the grotesque 'Chameleon' aliens; either way, their uniform consists of a tabard-like garment worn over a sleeved vest made of a quilted fabric, which evokes medical bandages.

A cassock-like costume was also made for Bernard Kay as the Chameleon's 'Director'. I wonder, again, what colour this actually was in reality?

'The Evil of the Daleks'

Costume Design by Alexandra Tynan

While most of the cast's costumes were wardrobe hires, judging by a design drawing and fabric swatch printed in Doctor Who Magazine's Special Edition: Costume Design, the red dress worn by Brigit Forsyth as Ruth Maxtible was indeed made for the serial, and not a wardrobe hire!

Sadly, thanks to the serial's episodes being all missing, we can't see this costume in action...unless it ended up reused in a later period production, that is.

Costume Reuse Note: The pink dress worn by Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield indeed was a wardrobe hire; it was earlier seen in the 1960 Pathe short film 'Sewing Machines: Old and New'.

Doctor Who (1963) - Season 1

Note: Yes I am still going through and fixing up older articles, and splitting them apart into 'new' articles. After Doctor Who (which I really want to be done with!), it will be Lexx and Babylon 5 next. After that, I promise any articles will be entirely new ones! Apologies if it seems like I'm going around in circles...

The original Doctor Who was a daunting task for any costume designer assigned to it, both for the ambitious demands of the scripts, and the reality of the show's low budget.

Another difficult was that quite often, the assigned costume designers had to design whatever 'monsters' required for a serial, if it was an actor in a suit. The costume designer would design the monster, but it varied as to if they outsourced the construction to a freelancer or not.

And then there's the further complication as to where the non-monster costumes were made as well! Quite often they were constructed in the BBC Wardrobe Department, but quite often a freelance tailor or costumier was hired to construct the costume.

Generally, 'futuristic' costumes in Doctor Who were always custom-made for the show, 'period' costumes were *usually* wardrobe hires (either from the BBC Wardrobe Department, or costume houses like Bermans & Nathans), and 'contemporary' costumes were bought clothes, or the actor's own!

However in some serials, certain period costumes or companion's 'contemporary' costumes were indeed custom-made for the show, and not wardrobe hires or bought items. These were generally the exception, not the rule, but are noted whenever it is the case.

In the show's first few years where William Hartnell played the mysterious 'Doctor', his costume was actually cobbled together from wardrobe stock, and was not actually tailored for him.

The series first ever costume designer, Maureen Heneghan, came up with Hartnell's 'look' in the serial 'An Unearthy Child' which was mostly set in prehistoric times. I don't know if any of the caveman costumes in that serial were custom-made or wardrobe hires though.

'The Daleks'

Costume Design by Daphne Dare

The first futuristic costumes in the series' history were the work of Daphne Dare. Dare had never designed any science-fiction productions before, but approached the series as a way to be creative with designing.

According to fellow costume designer Colin Lavers, in an interview printed in Doctor Who Magazine #582, 'From the disparaging press coverage, Doctor Who seemed a very small kiddies’ programme. We were surprised that Daphne, who normally did more straightforward dramas, was doing it. But for a designer it was creative. Daphne was quite happy, while some designers seemed frightened to touch it because it was ‘children’s’. Perhaps they took it too seriously.'

Dare used Doctor Who's futuristic settings as a chance to explore making costumes with unusual materials and patterns, as seen with the Thal costumes in 'The Daleks'. The male Thal performers wear leather or leatherette leggings with hexagonal patterns cut on the sides and v-shaped blue vests.

The vests and leggings are worn with wristguards and belts. A futuristic plastic 'crown' was made for Alan Wheatley as the Thal leader Temmosus.

A futuristic cape, made of segmented hexagonal panels of synthetic fabric, was made for John Lee as the Thal Alydon. The cape was designed to totally obscure Lee, and look like a tree in certain shots.

The female Thal performers wear blue dresses cut of a stiff material, with hexagons similarly cut into them.

A striped blue cape was also made the female performers, and notice the little futuristic 'headdresses' as well.

'The Keys of Marinus'

Costume Design by Daphne Dare

In contrast to 'The Daleks', most costumes in this serial were wardrobe hires. It's also hard to tell what historical costumes were made or hires though. According to Colin Lavers in the aforementioned DWM interview, some costumes for the historical serial 'Marco Polo' were custom-made, but he doesn't specify.

The futuristic dress worn by Fiona Walker as Kala had to have been custom-made for the production though. The dress has a triangular panel of synthetic material on the chest.

As said above, most of the costumes in 'The Keys of Marinus' were wardrobe hires. The judges seen in the serial's trial sequences are wearing stock monk habits, but worn with custom-made futuristic headdresses

Costume Reuse Note: The overalls worn by the male jury extras in the serial's trial sequences seem to be the Outer Party overalls originally seen in the 1954 BBC adaptation of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The 'Voord' aliens were perhaps some of the first 'monster' costumes in the series. The only custom-made parts of the Voord costumes were the masks and gloves; the rest of the outfit was bought scuba gear.

Thw Voord masks were constructed by freelance costume and prop maker Jack Lovell. Several variant of the Voord masks were made; the design is remniscient of Ancient Egyptian crowns.

'The Aztecs'

Costume Design by Daphne Dare

Unlike most 'historical' Doctor Who serials, a good few of the costumes in 'The Aztecs' had to be custom-made. There was no readily available source of stock Aztec garments.

Dare designed a feathered cape and headdress for Jacqueline Hill to wear as Barbara in her turn as the Aztec goddess Yetaxa. Only production photos give an idea of how colourful this costume actually was.

Underneath the feathered cape is a traditional 'quechquemitl' top and 'cueitl' skirt. Similar ones were made for the serial's other actresses.

Dare took some liberties when it came to the Aztec men's costuming; John Ringham's costume as Tlotoxl has a black spandex onesie underneath the red robe. I do wonder who made the 'hard parts' of this serial's Aztec costumes.

A headdress and robe was made for Keith Pyott as the Aztec elder Autloc, with a similar gown made for one of his deputies.

Further historical liberies were taken with the costumes made for the other male Aztec cast members, with quilted vests and trousers being worn with the headdresses and loinclothes. I suspect the vests were some kind of fencing gear or sportswear! The trousers no doubt were bought items.

A ceremonial eagle headdress was made for William Russell for Ian Chesterton's Aztec warrior guise, with a patterned cape and loincloth.

A similar costume - right down to the ahistorical quilted fencing vest - was made for Ian Cullen as the warrior Ixta. The jaguar mask still exists, and is currently owned here.

The quilted fencing jackets were used for the other Aztex perfomers, but the various conical headdresses and sashes were made I feel. I do wonder what sort of fabrics Daphne Dare used for this serial!

'The Sensorites'

Costume Design by Daphne Dare

Dare designed a set of futuristic uniforms for the Earth spaceship's cast members. These uniforms consisted of dark blue leggings and jackets. The jackets could only be zipped up from the back.

Costume Reuse Note: One of these uniforms was worn by Peter Purves in the later serial 'The Chase', with the rocket insignia removed.

Dare also designed the uniforms of the titular Sensorites; custom onesides with high collars that covered the performer's hands and feet. The feer were designed to imply the Sensorites had an alien foot shape.