Showing posts with label James Acheson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Acheson. Show all posts

Sunday, 31 August 2025

Doctor Who - Season 9 (1972)

'Day of the Daleks'

Costume Design by Mary Husband

The Daleks' ape-like Ogron soldiers wear a uniform consisting of a vinyl vest with tubing around the shoulders and collar, worn over a mesh shirt. Worn with it are wristguards and a belt both made of the same brown vinyl material.

Costume Reuse note; Several of the Ogron uniforms were reused in the later serial 'Frontier in Space'.

Also with the Ogrons are human soldiers in similar uniforms, though the vests are narrower and made of a slightly more stiff material; underneath the vests are red or brown patterned tops, the commander's made of a quilted material. I don't know if the helmets were made for the production or just altered existing helmets of some kind.

Costume Reuse note; Some of the tunics were worn by the extras playing Ogrons in the later serial 'Frontier in Space'.

A deep bottle green nehru-style suit was made for Aubrey Woods as the 'Controller' of the dystopian future Earth.
The Controller's underlings wear grey uniforms consisting of smock-like tops and trousers, with the manager wearing a grey zip-up jacket with a large open collar.
Resisting the regime are guerilla fighters in futuristic combat fatigues consisting of a custom camouflage patterned nehru-style jacket, caps and large sash belts. Their squad leader Anat (Anna Berry) is distinguished by her jacket having a deep v-collar.

'The Curse of Peladon'

Costume Design by Barbara Lane

Lane revamped Pertwee's look as the Doctor, with a reddish velvet smoking jacket with narrow lapels, and worn with a tartan-patterned Inverness cape.
Pertwee also wore a mosaic-patterned waistcoat, that I suspect was designed and fabricated by Lane for the production, given if fits with Lane's fixation on similar patterns (such as Delgado's priest robe in 'The Daemons').
Lane designed and made Kary Manning's dress in this serial; designed to evoke the look of a princess. The gown was made of silk with hand-painted floral patterns on the sleeves, chest and skirt bottom; Lane would later design similar costumes for the women in Blake's 7 first season. Worn over the gown is a custom-made velvet red dress.
Peladon is a feudalist planet, with this reinforced by the dress sense of Peladon's nobles. Lane designed a purple hued costume for David Troughton as King Peladon, with fur lining on the cuffs and a stiff white collar. Worn over is a cape made of a wavy blue material. A ceremonial robe with a large Ming the Merciless-esque collar was fabricated; the collar was embedded with coloured stones to appear as gemstones.
A similarly hued robe and cape was made for Geoffrey Toone as Hepesh, Peladon's high priest; the robe is adorned with silvery lining. A robe similar to Hepesh was also made for Henry Gilbert as the doomed chancellor Torbis, with fur on the shoulders and a different style of lining across his chest.
Peladon's soldiers wear a Greco-Roman influenced, but still slightly futuristic, set of armor worn with kilts; the chest armor is segmented, with the commander having more segments.
The Earth ambassador that briefly appears in the last episode wears a black gown, silvery shawl and black hat lined with the same material; sadly there are no production photos showing off this costume better.

'The Sea Devils'

Costume Design by Maggie Fletcher

Fletcher designed and made a white pantsuit with purple highlights and wide lapels; Katy Manning loathed the suit, saying 'it made me feel like a British Rail waiter'. The suit was made of wool, which meant it shrunk if it got wet - and this was a serial filmed in a lot of wet locations!
A shiny patterned cape with silver-painted fasteners was also made for Roger Delgado, though it is not seen much in the serial.

Costume Reuse note: The guards staffing the Master's prison wear Victorian police capes - no doubt from wardrobe stock - with their jumpers and berets, intended to evoke an old-fashioned maritime look.

Husband also had to make several vests made of mesh netting at the last second to be worn by the titular Sea Devil monsters; the director felt that the idea of them walking from the water nude was potentially obscene! A rudimentary mesh cape was made for the chief Sea Devil.

'The Mutants'

Costume Design by James Acheson

The first serial to have its costumes designed by the future Oscar-winner; Acheson designed the future humans' garments to be cut like frocks, with angular cut deep collars.

The costume designed for Paul Whitsun-Jones as the Marshal consists of a black frock-like jacket is adorned with angular silver lining with a silver panel around the collar and chest. In some scenes it is worn with a silvery cape.

Costume Reuse note: The Marshal and his troops wear the helmets that had originally appeared in the serials 'Enemy of the World' and 'Fury from the Deep', These helmets would appear once more in the rebooted Doctor Who episode 'End of the World' in 2005.

The soldiers under the Marshal's command wear similar uniforms with a blue-grey chest panel instead and single-strip lining rather than double-strip; their cuffs also do not have the number '58' inscribed like those of the Marshal's jacket.
The Administrator (Geoffrey Palmer) wears a frock coat with the same pattern of lining as the Marshal's jacket, but in gold instead. He also briefly wears it with a glittery golden cape as well.
The investigators sent from Earth are dressed in white robes with frilly sleeves adorned with golden lining in a similar manner to the other uniforms.
The investigator’s guards wear white jackets also adorned with golden lining in a similar pattern to the investigator's robes; they also wear white versions of the reused Enemy of the World helmets.
The Marshal’s own scientist Jaeger (George Pravda) is in a tan frock coat with brown lining and a brown panel around the collar.
Sondergaard (John Hollis) wears a blue-hued silver spacesuit; the silver material was presumably overdyed with blue dyes, with the helmet made by the prop department.
The Solonians's native garb evokes medieval aesthetics, consisting of tunics and vests with coloured fabric on the sleeves and collars. John Hollis' vest has silvery material around the collar.

Costume Reuse note: I have no idea about the chainmail vests worn by the Solonian performers, but the helmets were reused; they have previously appeared in a brief fantasy sequence in A Clockwork Orange! Whether they were originally made for Kubrick's film, or from another production, it's impossible to know.

I aslso suspect the armor worn by James Mellor as Varan, and the vest worn by Garrick Hagon as Ky, were also reused from other productions; they're a little *too* well-made for a Doctor Who budget! I honestly suspect that all of the Solonian costumes were reused medieval wardrobe stock.

An elaborate costume was definitely designed and made by Acheson for Garrick Hagon as the evolved Solonian Ky, consisting of a silver armor set with large shoulder pads, and a cape. In the episode itself it is obscured with a rainbow effect.

'The Time Monster'

Costume Design by Barbara Lane

Lane designed a woollen jumper and skirt for Katy Manning to wear in this serial; the grey wool is coated in yellow and teal Greek patterned lining around the chest, sleeves and skirt. The rest of the costume, such as the yellow boots, were from Manning's own wardrobe.
The reason for the Greek motif of Jo's main costume is due to most of the story being set on Atlantis; Lane designed a Minoan-style dress for Jo, with a colourful skirt and waistband. The golden-trimmed top has a deep collar showing Manning's chest - but not as much as real Minoan women showed!
Much more ornate is the dress Lane designed for Ingrid Pitt to wear as the Atlantean queen Galleia; her first dress is white and gold design with a wide golden patterned waistband and belt.
Galleia's second outfit is blue with silver and gold trim, with a large panel of silver stripes on the waist and a golden waistband as well; this dress, like the earlier white one, is cut to of course show off Pitt's busty figure!
The robe worn by Donald Eccles as the priest Krasis was most likely made by Lane for this production, with his cape in red, orange and yellow with golden trim.
Most likely the various other Atlantean costumes in the serial were designed and made by Lane for the production, as the robe worn by George Cormack as King Dallos.
The Atlantean extras presumably also had their costumes made for the production, especially the women's dresses; several loinclothes were also made. I have no idea about the armor and helmets worn by the soldiers though, they were most likely wardrobe stock.
Note: the information about the bespoke-made contemporary costumes made for Katy Manning is sourced from Doctor Who Magazine Special 52: Costume Design Special Issue.

Doctor Who - Season 13 (1975)

'Terror of the Zygons'

Costume Design by James Acheson

In addition to Tom Baker's waistcoat, Acheson must have designed and made the green jacket and trousers worn by Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah. The costumes cut, as well as the way too short trousers, make me feel this was specifically made for the production. It's suited for both the cold weather and running in the fields!

'Planet of Evil'

Costume Design by Andrew Rose

Elisabeth Sladen was made to wear a pale blue frilly corset, and flannel shirt with ruffled collar and sleeves. I feel that the shirt and corset were custom-made items.
Set on another planet in a plot ripping off Forbidden Planet, the military detachment of the 'Morestrans' all wear blue bodysuits adorned with white hosing and shoulder pads, very much a 'space age' design.

Costume Reuse note: One of the Morestran uniforms was reused for an extra in 'Destiny of the Daleks' a few years later.

The scientists of the Morestran team are clad in more drab tan and brown jumpsuits, with padded lining around the neck.

'Pyramids of Mars'

Costume Design by Barbara Kidd

Kidd slightly altered the Doctor's look by designing a burgundy Edwardian frock coat made of velvet; this would continue to be worn in later serials, with Acheson's red shooting jacket never appearing again.

I don't know if the period dress worn by Elisabeth Sladen in this serial was designed and made for the production, or a costume reuse. I am fairly sure that the rest of the period costumes in the serial were reused wardrobe stock though.

This serial was a science-fiction spin on The Mummy. The alien Sutekh (Gabriel Woolf) sends to Earth a 'servant' wearing an all-vinyl black robe and helmet. The helmet's design simultaneously evokes spacesuit helmets and Ancient Egyptian canopic jars.
More vibrant is Sutekh's red and black robe, designed with a futuristic flourish. Sutekh's helmet, which was sculpted by John Friedlander, was inspired by the red and white 'pschent' crown worn by Egyptian rulers.

'The Android Invasion'

Costume Design by Barbara Lane

Lane designed a new coat for Baker to wear, made of grey tweed with brown cuffs and shoulder patches - evoking the grey shoulder patches on the original red shooting jacket that Acheson originally designed.
I feel that Saran Jane's pink sailor costume was also designed and bespoke made by Barbara Lane; it looks like it was tailored to Elisabeth Sladen's figure, has a consistent colour-scheme and is a fairly odd design as is! The white beret was most likely bought though.
Lane's duties also went to designing the uniforms of the invading rhino-like Kraal; they wear odd outfits consisting of of brown underclothes and rectangular meshing - the commanding Kraal has a necklace over his mesh uniform, which has a slightly golden hue as well.

'The Brain of Morbius'

Costume Design by L. Rowland-Warne

This serial was a scifi spin on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and as such a lot of it is in dark and atmospheric lighting. This is rather irritating from a costume design perspective, as it results in a lot of the costume details to not be seen well, especially in the awful videotape quality that BBC TV shows were filmed in!

Sarah wears an outfit that was presumably bespoke-made by Rowland-Warne, consisting of a quilted vest and shirt made of the same brown material, and adorned with powder blue lining.

The mad scientist Solon (Philip Madoc) wears a green buttonless jacket with raised shoulders; Rowland-Warne, in an interview with the fanzine In-Vision, described it as looking like something from a Gerry Anderson production.
Rowland-Warne also made a tattered tunic and belt to be worn by Colin Fay as the thuggish Condo, worn over a no doubt bought and distressed jumper; the jumper had padding inside it to give Fay a more lumbering appearance.
The design highlight of this serial has to be, in my opinion, the robes worn by the Sisterhood of Karn, all clad in robes and gold and red with oranted lining around their headdresses and chest garments. The leader, Maren (Cynthia Grenville), sports a red robe with what looks like an ornate golden-lined vestment over it, as well as a flat-topped rounded headpiece.
Her deputy Ohica (Gilly Brown) wears a similar headpiece (with a red and gold striped band around it) and as well gold and red makeup on her face in the design of flames, keeping in line with how the Sisterhood are fire worshipers. Lesser members of the Sisterhood are dressed similarly, with some of them having slightly conical headpieces also covered in golden piping, as well as makeup similar to Ohica’s.

Rowland-Warne explained the process behind the Karn costumes, as quoted in the fanzine In-Vision #12; 'I wasn't told before we got into the studio that the Sisterhood* were going to carry genuine burning torches. So, I had to fireproof them on the day with a substance that could have caused skin irritation. They had hats which were made very cheaply and decorated with coloured latex. The skirt fabric was in two layers, and made ragged and sprayed with wood dyes to give it texture. They wore bodices which were fabric covered in latex, with plastic teaspoons from Winnie, the BBC tea lady, laid into it.'

Costume Reuse note: At least one of these costumes was reused and worn by an extra in 'Destiny of the Daleks' a few years later.

'The Seeds of Doom'

Costume Design by Barbara Lane

I feel that Lane must have designed and custom-made the floral-print costume that Elisabeth Sladen sports in this serial. The cut feels too 'odd' to be a bought item, and the floral print fits with the serial's plant life theme.