And the winner is.... The Fifth Doctor!

This year continues to be very successful for the costumes I have been making.

Back in February I won Best In Show for my Ultimate Six Frock Coat, and last month I showed how one of my clients won a Best In Show at a costume competition for her Romana costume.

Well I have now learned that a another of my other clients has been strutting his stuff and winning a competition too!

Late last year Bret, asked me to help him get his Fifth Doctor costume together.
He was looking to assemble the later Season 21 variant, and I was able to make him the Frock Coat, the correct trousers and a hatband.

Bret told me:
My Frock Coat, Trousers, Braces and Hatband by Steve Ricks are top notch; the quality and fit are excellent and accurate to the last degree, well worth what I paid. It is a comfortable and easily recognizable costume that is a joy to wear! The Jumper is by Bob Mitch and I blocked the Panama Hat myself.

He debuted the complete costume in late March at WonderCon in San Diego where he met up with a number of other Doctor Who cosplayers.

It’s cool to see the classic Doctors are still remembered alongside the usual Tenth and Eleventh Doctors.

There was also a Stolen Earth style Rose Tyler on hand.

Bret then attended a Doctor Who Costume Ball at Whimsic Alley, a Harry Potter themed store in Los Angeles.

Up for grabs was Best Alien, Best Companion and Best Doctor.

The Best Alien prize was won by Bret’s girlfriend Jaqueline for her Novice Hame outfit (see left).

There were about 15 entrants for the Doctor, with the majority being modern incarnations (Nine, ten and Eleven).

Not aware there was a competition taking place he hadn’t intended to enter, but after friends encouraged him, he reluctantly agreed.

Judging was by the attendees by applause and the prize was a copy of the just released Doctor Who Character Encyclopaedia.

Well done Bret!

Five Coat - the whole ensemble!

When my friends from Classic Doctor Who Props came to visit a couple of weeks back, giving me the chance to get the Six Frock Coat Pattern Trace, they also picked something up: a Five Coat I had made for Chris!

He had previously bought a pair of Five Trousers from me (see right), and having seen the Five Coat I did for Bob Mitsch, he persuaded me to make him one as well.

It was a perfectly timed commission, since I had just sorted out the Five Hatband at last, and Bob had just taken delivery of the Season 21 Jumpers (see left), the perfect accompaniment to the Season 21 Trousers Chris had already bought!

I think he strikes a dashing pose!

S21 trousers - customer review

Last year I made a number of Five Trousers,
and one of my clients, Chris, kindly wrote a review of his Season 21 Trousers.
Here’s what he had to say.

The one thing that always surprised me when talking about the Fifth Doctor’s costume was that no-one seemed to be able to notice the difference between his first and last season costumes. To me it was blatent but to most it wasn’t. I had tried to commision other well known costume makers in the past to make the last season trousers but was either told that they were all the same material(!) or that there wasn’t enough interest in them to bother.

You can imagine how thrilled I was when I found Steve on-line who not only could see the difference in the materials but had produced an amazing replica material that looked spot on. Of course I had to have a pair!

Steve was amazing. He took time to keep me informed every step of the way. If there was going to be a small delay I would receive an email explaining why and I felt like I was never in the dark.
 The turn around time on the trousers was amazingly fast, especially for the quality of the finished pair! Feeling a bit like a kid at Christmas, I felt over excited when they arrived and once they were unwrapped, I couldn’t wait to put them on. I was slightly concerned whether they would fit (doing measurements over emails could go wrong I thought) but they were perfect.

Extremely well made and finished with a real professional eye for detail. As soon as I had them on, the DVDs and photos all came out and I can honestly say that they are as near to the originals in accuracy as I think it would be possible to get.

 It’s a pleasure to deal with Steve!

Analyzing the Five Doctor costume

Having now done Five Trousers, and being far into doing the Five Coat, it feels like I have done over half a full Davison costume, though there are a number of items to go to make it truly complete.

This got me thinking to write a list of the main costume items worn – though I cannot come close to Bob Mitsch’s excellent Five Breakdown, which is pretty damned definitive.

The list, though relatively short, is slightly complicated by the refresh the costume received for the 21st season. At first glance there is little difference, but when you look closer, not much didn’t change.
The two photographs below are a good comparison between the Season 19 (left) and Season 21 (right) versions.

When the original costume was made back in 1982, several shirts and pairs of trousers would have been made, allowing for spares being cleaned or repaired as well as for stunt doubles. These were used throughout Davison’s first two seasons.
When it came to season 21 in 1984, the wardrobe department completely refreshed The Doctor’s costume, trying (but failing) to match the original version.

Suits you, Sir

Recently I have had a number of enquires about the trousers I have been making based on the classic series costumes. I have therefore decided to make them available for commission.

If you are interested, please get in touch by emailing me at tennantcoat@me.com.

Five Trousers - season 19 design

Screen accurate copy of trousers as worn by Peter Davison in his first two seasons.

Fabric is bespoke printed by Spoonflower and has been designed to accurately match genuine garment. Although never seen in full on screen, pattern has been based as closely as possible to the trousers as seen in Planet Of Fire.

Trousers have high V-split back; zip and hook & eye fastenings; two side pockets; buttons ready for braces (braces not supplied!); lined from waistband to pockets.

£350

Five Trousers - season 21 design

Made to a pattern to match the trousers seen in Planet of Fire, these trousers are made with a fabric design not previously made available. This design of trouser was also seen recently in Time Crash, where Peter Davison wore the pair that had been let out for Colin Baker during the regeneration scene in Caves Of Androzani.

Trousers have high V-split back; zip and hook & eye fastenings; two side pockets; buttons ready for braces (braces not supplied!); lined from waistband to pockets.

£350

Six Trousers - season 22 design

Made from authentic woven pillow ticking and dyed to just the right colour as described in Making Phoenix Fabric.

NB: trousers shown are made directly from the California Pants pattern and are not strictly screen accurate. Trousers made will be to a revised screen accurate pattern.

Trousers have zip and hook & eye fastening; two side and two back pockets; buttons ready for braces (braces not supplied!); lined from waistband to pockets.

£300