Doctor Who - Season 14 (1976)

'The Masque of Mandragora'

Costume Design by James Acheson

In an interview with James Acheson, Dressing Doctor Who, he admits that after plans to reuse costumes from Italian costumiers failed (we'll get to that in a bit), he opted to have several costumes designed and built, as well as rent out from local theatre companies and the BBC's own wardrobe department.

In short, it's actually impossible to tell which costumes in this serial were custom-made, versus which were wardrobe hires. Frankly, for how I will just assume everything was wardrobe hires until further notice!

However, a set of masks were definitely made by John Friedlander for the ominous cultists. Resembling Greek theatre masks, a jeering mask was made for the cult leader Hieronymous, and a set of wailing masks for his underlings. Some of these masks were auctioned by Bonhams in 1992.

For the masquerade ball sequence, a snarling lion mask was made for Tom Baker to wear. This mask in particular still exists to this day, and was restored by Tom Spina Designs.

I don't know if any of other masks in the masquerade ball sequence were made for the serial, or just wardrobe hires, so I have neglected to cover them.

Costume Reuse note; Elisabeth Sladen's masquerade ball dress had been previously worn by Maggie Smith in a 1972 production of The Merchant of Venice.

(A long-running myth is that Acheson reused costumes from two film adaptations of Romeo & Juliet; Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version and Renato Castellani's 1954 version. Ignoring how Acheson was supposed to quickly acquire costumes from Italy, no costumes from either film appear in this serial!

In the Dressing Doctor Who interview, Acheson explained in detail that while he did fly to Italy, he couldn't actually find the Zeffirelli costumes, and returned to the BBC empty-handed.

The source for this myth is, of course, the notoriously inaccurate (when it comes to costume design) In-Vision fanzine!)

'The Hand of Fear'

Costume Design by Barbara Lane

Most of Lane's costume design duties went to relegating the serial's rock-like aliens, but also required two futuristic robes to be worn by the spacecraft pilots during the first episode's opening. The two robes seem to be made of a quilted material, with holes cut for the arms.

'The Deadly Assassin'

Costume Design by James Acheson

One of Acheson's main duties for this serial was to reimagine the attire of the Time Lords, something he had already done before on 'The Three Doctors'. This would prove to be Acheson's last work on Doctor Who, and he would leave the BBC soon afterwards. In an interview with In-Vision #18, Acheson recounted;

'I think I realized I was producting the same old tired ideas. I got more and more frustrated about not being able to produc what I wantd. I did lots and lots of drawings, and time was getting shorter. Also I was in the situation where I hadn't got enough money to make the costumes.'

'So I went to the head of department and said 'Look, I'm in a predicament. I don't have enough budget, and I don't have enough time, and I'm floundering. And they said 'You're tired, you're overworked, we'll put somebody else on it' And thn I told them the dates of transmission, and they said 'Oh no, you've got to do it!' Doctor Who finally broke me! I ran away to Spain and worked as a manager in an ice circus.'

The new designer allocated to replace Acheson was Joan Ellacott; the chevron-patterned Time Lord gowns in this serial were Ellacott's design. The hard collars and caps worn as part of the costumes were made by sculptor Allister Bowtell, who had collaborated with Acheson on 'The Mutants' and 'The Three Doctors'.

Acheson and Ellacott's respective designs for the Time Lord robes took some slight inspiration from clerical garments as worn in the Vatican, with some space age flourishes, especially when it came to the collars. Of note is also the chevron makring around the chest.

George Pravda sports brown and black robes as Castellan Spandrell. Pravda also wears a robe of brown fabric, with golden lining on the lapels and shoulders.

Costume Reuse note: Many of the Time Lord costumes in this serial would be reused in later serials set on Gallifrey. Pravda's brown and gold robe would be worn again by 'Castellans' in 'The Invasion of Time', 'Arc of Infinity' and 'The Five Doctors'.

(Also, I do not know if Tom Baker's costume in this serial, consisting of a buccaneer shirt and trousers, was actually custom-made or just wardrobe stock. As of now, I will assume the latter.)

Similar gowns were made for Erik Chitty as Co-ordinator Engin and Hugh Walters as Runcible; Chitty's robe is black as per his utilitarian role, while Walters' robe is beige and brown, with an extra chevron marking.

Costume Reuse note: Engin's black gown was worn again by extras in 'Arc of Infinity' and 'The Five Doctors', and Runcible's costume was reworn in 'Arc of Infinity'.

A gown made of a richer material was made for Bernard Horsfall as Chancellor Goth, in a fiery orange colourscheme too. A silver-lined robe and collar piece was also made for Horsfall, worn over the gown in certain scenes. And of course, the collar and skullcap which was sculpted by Bowtell - the collars were notoriously hard to walk in due to their stiff construction.

Costume Reuse note: Goth's gown and robe was reworn briefly in 'The Invasion of Time', and was then reused again in 'Arc of Infinity', worn by genre film/cult TV stalwart Michael Gough.

A similarly vibrant robe was made for Angus MacKay as Borusa, consisting of a deep pink gown and silver-lined purple patterned robe. Sadly, the gown is never seen without the robe on top in this serial!

Costume Reuse note: The Borusa robe and gown was reused on an extra in 'The Invasion of Time', and the gown on its own was worn by another extra in 'Arc of Infinity' - allowing us to see it without the robe over it!

Interestingly, one extra robe in the same cut and chevron pattern was made for a bit-part actor; it was briefly seen again, worn by an extra in 'Arc of Infinity', but otherwise there's no other clear shots of it sadly.

Many scenes required several extras as Time Lords, with the extras' robes all following a similar outline and serrated cut to the shoulders. There of course was not enough money to make more gowns similar to the principle actors', so instead simple tabard-like garments were fabricated. Several collars were also made for the extras as well.

Costume Reuse note: The various extra robes and collars were reused in later serials set on Gallifrey, in particular 'The Invasion of Time', 'Arc of Infinity' and 'Trial of a Timelord'.

Two unique robes were made for Llewellyn Rees and Maurice Quick as the Time Lord President and Gold Usher, respectively; Rees' robe is of a pale cream pattern, while the Usher's is two-tone gold.

Acheson also designed the uniforms of the Chancellery Guard, which consist of a tunic and trousers made of a brick-red wool-mix fabric, with white and black stripes over the front. The uniform is completed with a sculpted helmet (courtesy of Allister Bowtell) and a cape with white tubing. The guard's captain is distinguished with a slightly different helmet, and an armor chestplate also sculpted by Bowtell.

Costume Reuse note: The Chancellery Guard uniforms were reused in every ensuing serial set on Gallifrey. In 'The Invasion of Time', a new chestplate was made for Chris Tranchell as the guard captain Andred, with a yellow lanyard worn with the tunic. In 'Arc of Infinity' the boots were painted silver, and the uniforms were reused again in 'The Five Doctors' and 'Trial of a Timelord'.

Costume Reuse note #2: According to some published sources, the tattered robe worn by Peter Pratt as the undead Master was reused from a production of The Flying Dutchman.

As of now, I don't have access to a copy of the BBC's 1975 production of Flying Dutchman but due to the stretched costume budget, and Ellacott's notes on her costume sketch, this sounds likely. This robe was reworn by Geoffrey Beevers as the undead Master in 'The Keeper of Traken' a few years later.

However, I can definitely state that this is definitely *not* reused from 1951's Pandora and the Flying Dutchman as Propstore - a site also full of inaccuracies - states on its listing for Ellacott's costume sketch!

Costume Reuse note #3: In one very brief scene, the Doctor is menaced by a samurai. I find it highly unlikely that a full set of samurai armor - and one so detailed! - was made for the production, only to be used in such a brief scene. So the question is, where did that samurai suit come from?

'The Face of Evil'

Costume Design by Ann & John Bloomfield

The serial's plot revolved around two tribes descended from a crashed spaceship crew. Ann & John Bloomfield, who had previously been costume designers on the BBC's The Six Wives of Henry VIII miniseries, came up with a typical 'tribal' look for the Sevateem clan, with their costumes cobbled up from salvaged junk.

This would prove to be a testing ground for the Bloomfields, as they would go on to design for many films centering on pre-industrial tribal cultures (Rapa Nui, The Mummy), fantasy barbarians (Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer and The Scorpion King) and post-apocalyptic societies (Waterworld, The Postman).

One of the main tasks was to design a costume for Louise Jameson as the warrior woman Leela; the Bloomfields designed a stitched leather corset, with black leather panelling to form a rudimentary loincloth. The look is finished with a pair of cloth boots, that also appear to have been taken apart and stitched together.

The Sevateem tribesmen wear similar 'caveman' outfits cobbled up with strips of leather and junk, forming primitive versions of riding chaps; the tribal chief Andor (Victor Lucas) is distinguished with a cape made of a patterned material, presumably intended to be what's left of a tarpaulin.

The tribal shaman, Neeva (David Garfield) is distinguished by his two costumes being remains of a spacesuit; the first costume is made of wiring and tubing with a helmet made out from a spacesuit glove, while the second outfit consists of a cape made out of a tatterd spacesuit - sleeves still visible - and a helmet on the back.

The 'Tesh' meanwhile are what's left of the spaceship's technical crew, and so still sport their futuristic garb consisting of pink-lined tunics and rounded caps; the Tesh priest Jabel (Leon Eagles) has a slightly different uniform to his underlings, with his tunic having a darker-coloured fabric and little stones on the cap.

One Tesh guard wears a spacesuit. While the helmet is clearly one of the helmets reused from Pathfinders to Mars, the rest of the costume was no doubt made for the production, being made of the same fabric as the other Tesh costumes.

'The Robots of Death'

Costume Design by Elizabeth Waller

An Agatha Christie pastiche set on a futuristic mining vessel, this serial's general design sense of this serial was meant to evoke Art Deco, something which Elizabeth Waller - who had previously been costume designer on the BBC's Elizabeth R miniseries - ran with for the costumes. Each cast member playing the mining crew would have their own unique costume; the serial's writer Chris Boucher explained why to In-Vision #20:

'The costumes did not denote rank ~ the crew were civilians — but rather personal choice. They were a long, tedious time in the desert on a tour of duty, and it was also a reaction against the uniformity of the robots.'

Many of the costumes for the serial's principal leads were constructed at Jean Hunnisett costumiers, thanks to auction listings for Pamela Salem's and David Bailie's costumes

Several of the men's costumes follow a similar design consisting of a billowy sleeved vest and pantaloons, made of a shiny fabric, with a tabard-like garment worn over the chest; Russell Hunter, as the mine operation's leader Uvanov, also wears an ornate headpiece as part of his outfit, coated in gold material.

David Bailie sports a similar costume as the engineer Dask, with his underclothes coming in a grey-striped pattern instead; perhap the grey colour signifying his relationship with technology?

Tariq Yunus and David Collings both sport similar costumes as Cass and Poul respectively, with Colling's being beige while Yunus' is is deep purple; both of them have tabard-like collars of the same design, with a little zig-zag panel on the collar underneath.

The other male crewmembers deviate in their style; Brian Croucher wears a soft velvet tunic of a lilac colour with silver collars and red baggy trousers, while Rob Edwards as Chub sports a dark grey silvery vest with tubing around the collar and cuffs.

Pamela Salem sports two outfits as Toos, with her main one being a dark gold dress with a cape of glittery material; it is worn with a belt fitted with gems, which also adorn the collar as well. The look is completed with an ornate headpiece.

Salem later sports a nightgown, more reserved in design but with strips around the collar fitted with beads.

Tania Rogers stars as Zilda, and sports a dress similar in design to Salem's first one; the dress is of a blue colour, with a semi-translucent skirt and a shiny collar and cap evoking sealife.

Costume Reuse note: The Zilda costume's belt, collar and cap was worn by an extra in the opening sequence of 'Destiny of the Daleks' a few years later.

Dask also happens to be Taren Capel, the serial's villain; his identity is kept secret for most of the serial, with his appearance disguised by wearing a robe made of a pleated fabric, fixed with a hooded mask made of a shiny material, resembling an executioner's hood.

The bulk of the costume department's duties went to realizing the 'Voc' robots, with help from the BBC's visual effects department who sculpted the masks. The Voc robot costumes consisted of a jacket with a futuristic tabard worn over it - the Bonhams auction photograph shows how the jacket did not have the quilted shiny material where the tabard would hide it!

Three versions of the robot costumes were made; a silver 'Super Voc' costume, five green 'Voc' costumes, and two black 'Dum' costumes. One extra tabard was made for David Bailie as Taren Capel.

'The Talons of Weng-Chiang'

Costume Design by Ann & John Bloomfield

This serial was a pastiche of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu novels, with all the racist baggage and 'yellowface' makeup that entails, but we'll get to that in a bit. The serial's budget was enough that at least three period costumes were constructed for Louise Jameson, as well as a full period costume for Tom Baker's Doctor.

Baker's costume was a pastiche of Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes, consisting of a deerstalker cap, tweed Inverness cape, and velvet smocking jacket and waistcoat. All of the costume's components were designed and constructed for Baker, presumably at - like the Magnus Greel costume - Bermans & Nathans.

Bloomfield designed multiple costumes for Louise Jameson to wear as Leela - a sign of the serial's fairly lavish budget, as usually companion's got one costume at most! Leela's first costume is a knickers suit with large sleeves, made of a mottled green fabric with red lining across the back and sleeves.

Leela's second main costume is a green chevron-patterned dress, with red and black lining on the cuffs and collar, as well as wide sleeves. A red waistband, with a cut also evoking the chevron pattern of the main dress, completes the look.

(While the serial had a fairly lavish budget by Doctor Who standards, I am still going to assume that all the other Victorian English costumes in the serial were wardrobe stock)

Bloomfield designed a beautiful red and gold patterned 'Ru'-style robe for John Bennett as Li H'sen Chang; the robe has golden trim across the collar, with silver trim on the lapel and cuffs, and finished with a 'nuanmao'-style hat in the same mottled gold and red fabric. Shame that it's worn with racist yellowface makeup.

Production photo showing the detail of the robe more clearly.

Deep Roy starred as the killer doll Mr Sin, whose costume was also designed and fabricated by Bloomfield - and the design is finished with a, yet again, racist makeup. There was at least two Mr Sin costumes made (a 'hero' and a stunt double) both made of a blue and red patterned fabric with pointed shoulders and silver trim.

(The Bloomfields would once again provide sumptiously designed costumes for another racist production; this time Peter Sellers' trainwreck of a swansong, The Fiendish Plot of Dr Fu Manchu a few years later. The Bloomfields skill with historical Asian garb would also get them work on 1986's Tai-Pan as well.)

Bloomfield designed another ornate historical Chinese costume for Michael Spice to wear as the serial's main villain, Magnus Greel. Greel's hanfu robe has golden embroidery around the collar and sides, and is worn with a gold robe. The robe is tailored in wool, with satin detailing stitched over it. According to the DoctorWhoProps website's photo of the robe, it was constructed at the world-famous Bermans & Nathans costumiers.

Also part of the costume is a mask made up of stitched leather strips, evoking the popular imagery of historical executioners and torturers, as well as evoking The Phantom of the Opera - perhaps that's why a wide-brimmed hat and wide-collared green-lined cape is also worn by Spice in the earlier episodes!

The Greel robe as it exists today, looking worse for wear.

Costume Reuse note: The robe was later reused, and reworn by Christopher Green - one of Britain's tallest men - in David Lynch's The Elephant Man. It was then reused in another production - possibly Richard Carpenter's Robin of Sherwood - upon which it had its sleeves removed.

Doctor Who - Season 12 (1974)

'Robot'

Costume Design by James Acheson

It was Acheson who was responsible for inventing Tom Baker's look as the new Doctor; as Acheson himself described it to the fanzine In-Vision; 'It was more eccentric, not flamboyant. Pertwee was very flamboyant, but whereas Pertwee was much more the sartorial, frilly, velvety, greying Doctor Who, Baker was this much more manic, scarecrow-like, slightly more dangerous Doctor Who.'

One inspiration for Acheson's vision of the new Doctor came from the French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, in particular his posters for Aristide Bruant's cabaret show. The bold red scarf and wide-brimmed hat influenced the look of Tom Baker's costume.

Of course, an amusing and oft-repeated detail about Baker's costume is how one of its most iconic elements - the scarf - came about by accident. Acheson had Begonia Pope, a knitter, make a scarf for him, but she accidentally used up all the wool Acheson gave her, resulting in a massively long scarf. Baker and the production team loved the scarf, and so it remained part of the costume.

The 'poet fedora' was bespoke-made by Royal Hatters of Herbert Johnson, who also made Patrick Macnee's bowler hats in The Avengers, and Harrison Ford's fedoras in the Indiana Jones films. I would imagine the shooting jacket, trousers and waistcoat were also custom-made items; in this this sketch by Acheson, one of his notes suggests that Begonia Pope knitted the waistcoat.

Costume Reuse note: There is a brief sequence where Baker sports costumes from the wardrobe stock; one of them is the King of Hearts costume from the 1971 film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. The clown costume and Viking costume were also no doubt from other productions, but which ones?

(The fascistic uniforms worn by Patricia Maynard as Miss Winters and her 'Scientific Reform Society' thugs were presumably re-dyed uniforms minimally altered with extra buttons, as I don't feel the serial's costuming budget, already spent on the K1 Roboto and Baker's costume, would have went that far!)

'The Ark in Space'

Costume Design by Barbara Kidd

The crew of the 'Nerva' space station all sport white uniforms consisting of flared trousers and zip-up jackets. The jackets have a panel over the shoulders (a design trait Kidd was fond of in her futuristic costume designs) with coloured piping around the edges. The colour-coded uniforms were likely a nod to Star Trek.

'The Sontaran Experiment'

Costume Design by Barbara Kidd

The human astronauts wear zip-up jumpsuits with a cloth collar, indicating where a spacesuit helmet would go. Judging by one of the surviving jumpsuits, they were fabricated at the Morris Angel & Son costumiers.

Costume Reuse note: The Sontaran Styre's spacesuit costume is just a reuse of the Sontaran Linx costume made by James Acheson for 'The Time Warrior', albeit with a new collar and helmet.

'Genesis of the Daleks'

Costume Design by Barbara Kidd

This dystopian serial starts with an unnamed Time Lord sent to give the Doctor his mission, wearing an ominous high-collared black robe – apparently this costume design was inspired by the depiction of Death in The Seventh Seal.

Due to the setting, most of the cast are in uniforms with the Kaleds wearing buttonless black jackets and breeches; the design of the jackets feels slightly inspired by WWI Royal Flying Corps jackets, with a more sloping cut.

The rest of the Kaled Elite wear futuristic jackets with sloping zips and round collars; its very hard to see the zippers and collars thanks to the video quality and dark lighting. The rest of the costume components, such as the belts, riding breeches and jackboots, were no doubt bought.

At least two futuristic vinyl labcoats were made for Kaled Elite's scientists, as well as for Michael Wisher to wear as Davros; Davros' jacket seemingly goes down much longer like a smock, or possibly by a Howie-style surgical robe.

The opposing Thals meanwhile have green as their signature colour, but only the Thal leaders wear bespoke-made costumes consisting of smart wraparound green jackets (worn over turtleneck jumpers) and trousers.

I am fairly sure the radiation suits worn by the rocket silo guards were bespoke made - the shiny material doesn't match any real fire suit, and the shoulders are ribbed and cut to let the sleeves out.

The last of Kidd's costume duties went to making the tattered rags worn by the 'Muto' scavengers on Skaro's surface. All of the other Skaro performers wear a variety of bought utilitarian clothes; overalls, dungarees, dentist scrubs, fencing outfits (dyed green to match the dungarees), and military surplus.

'Revenge of the Cybermen'

Costume Design by Prue Handley

The costume budget of this serial went to the Cybermen and their enemies the Vogans. The Cyberment had not appeared since 1968's 'The Invasion', and the costumes were in no state to be reused. Costume designer Prue Handley also felt that the Cyberment costumes in 'The Invasion' were too obviously altered swimwear.

Handley instead had a set of futuristic zip-up jackets and flared trousers fabricated in a silvery-painted material, with the assorted 'hard parts', such as the helmet and chest unit, being made by sculptor Allister Bowtell.

To contrast with the Cybermen's silver costumes, the Vogan costumes utilized gold. Vogan noble Vorus (David Collings) sports the serials flashiest outfit – the Vogans are associated with gold and this motif is plainly demonstrated by his chain-mail like underclothes and symmetrical chest piece.

Costume Reuse note #1: Vorus' tunic was reworn by a bit-part performer in the Blake's 7 episode 'Warlord'.

Costume Reuse note #2: The 'Interplanetary Space Command' officers wear the beige 'Ike'-style jackets originally made by Christine Rawlins for the UNIT soldiers in 'Spearhead from Space'.

The soldiers under Vorus’ command wear similar outfits to him, minus the more ornate patterns, but still keeping up a pleasant symmetry.

The Chief Councillor of the Vogans, Tyrus (Kevin Stoney) is opposed to Vorus, and this opposition is also demonstrated in his own dress, which is much less officious or ornate as Vorus, instead essentially being a mesh gown adorned with golden pieces.

The guards loyal to Tyrus also are in similar golden gowns, but with belts and no added pieces, with their commander only distinguished by his belt having more 'gem' pieces stuck on.