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 came up with a set of patterned custom-made onesies (painted over to resemble tubing) and transparent jumpsuits, with rubber tubes, metallic shoulder plates and rings over the limbs. The helmet and chest unit were made by the propmakers Jack Lovell and John 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.'

The uniforms of the titular moonbase crew consist of bought vests and trousers. However, I feel the jacket worn by Patrick Barr as the moonbase commander Hobson was a custom-made item. It doesn't contemporary jackets of the era, especially with the cut of the collar.

Costume Reuse Note: This jacket was worn again years later by Derek Farr as Ensor in the Blake's 7 episode 'Orac'. The colour of the jacket is revealed via this reuse too; it is beige.

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

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'.