The Making of a Television Series

Last week I spotted what I hoped would be a great book on eBay.

Published in 1982, it was called The Making of a Television Series, and goes behind the scenes on The Visitation.

It promised to cover just about all aspects about the making of the story, so I hoped it would give a decent insight to the costume department as it was in the 1980s.

I was a bit disappointed then to find that although there is a section on the costume design, it is very minimal, concentrating mainly on the creation of the Terileptil costumes.

A photograph on page 49 (see right) shows them working on one of these. Look very closely and you can see the Android’s head, hands and feet on a top shelf!

We then find that the rest of the costumes came from Bermans & Nathans, so very little else was custom made for the story.

Sadly there is nothing about any of the regulars costumes and no costume designs or sketches, which would have been nice.

Anyway, you can download a PDF file of the entire book here:

The Making of a Television Series

Bonhams auction - 29th June 2011

Being June, it’s time for the next bi-annual Entertainment Memorabilia sale at Bonhams.

As usual there are a scant few Doctor Who items on offer, some more interesting that others.

Sale 19036
(29th June 2011)
Entertainment Memorabilia

As usual I have separated the items by Doctor era, and you can see the rest of the items here:

Lot 113
1st Doctor (1963-1966)

Lots 111 & 111a
3rd Doctor (1970-1974) - plus 2nd Doctor (1966-1969)

Lot 114
4th Doctor (1975-1981)

Lot 112
7th Doctor (1987-1989)

Here are just the lots relating to the Fifth Doctor era

Lot 116
Dr. Who: costume from 'Resurrection Of The Daleks', 1984
Prison guard/prison ship uniforms, comprising a black fabric/vinyl Dalek trooper's cap; a white medical boiler suit, neck inscribed in ballpoint Robert Goodman, badge to right sleeve, with belt; a helmet, fibreglass/plastic, interior foam padding, mesh front; a khaki boiler suit with maching belt and felt cap, neck inscribed in ballpoint Mike Vinden, Operational badge (and old Bonhams label) to right sleeve

Estimate: £300 - 400
Sold for £1,320

Footnote:
Ex-part lots 49/50, Bonhams, May 1991.

Lot 117
Dr. Who: costume from 'Resurrection Of The Daleks', 1984
Prison guards/prison ship uniforms, comprising: a helmet, fibreglass/plastic with interior foam padding and mesh grill; an orange boiler suit, neck inscribed in ballpoint Kevin O'Brien, right sleeve with Maintenance badge to right sleeve, with belt and felt cap; two similar khaki boiler suits with Operational badge to sleeve, with belts, one inscribed John Adam Baker, the other Sneh Gupta; and a red, yellow, black and grey quilted vinyl jacket, shoulders with metal rings, with black belt

Estimate: £300 - 400
Sold for £1,140

Footnote:
Ex-part lots 49/50, Bonhams, May 1991.

Lot 115
A miniature TARDIS model, created for exhibition purposes, of painted board, with plastic paper-backed windows, and plastic casing to light, having internal electrical workings (plug removed), height 5ft, width 15 inches.

Estimate: £150 - 200
Sold for £900

Five trousers - le review

I recently made a pair of Five Trousers for Jonathan, who organised the City Of Death tour of Paris I went on last year.

He received the trousers this week, and promptly sent me the following review to share with you.

It’s not the first time I buy something from Steven, but it’s the first time I buy anything so big. Last thing I’ve bought was a Mcoy Hat Bandana replica, which was perfect. To be true, I was a little bit anxious, it’s a custom fit trouser and I wasn’t sure if the measurement I took were right. But once it arrived, I wasn’t anxious anymore.

The Trousers arrived in the morning, I wasn’t totally awake, but once I’ve seen FedEx, I knew it was the trousers. I couldn’t wait, I’ve put my signature on the little machine, and take the package. Open it rapidly, and take out the trousers.

I put them on right away, and also a white shirt to see the result. Well they fit perfectly and it’s really comfortable – I’ve rarelly feel that good in a trouser.

Planet Of Fire waistcoat - matching fabrics

Now I’ve done my fully worked test of the waistcoat, I need to find the right fabrics to make it from.

The back and the lining are nice and easy - just various linens and lightweight aged cottons.

It's the fronts that's gonna be the problem.

Before I saw the waistcoat at first-hand, I did find a similar fabric at one of my favouite Soho fabric shops (see left).
This is machine woven, which is not how the real waistcoat is made.

I’ll have to look a bit harder.

Guess WHO’s been to The Doctor Who Experience?

Only Peter Davison himself! And he had the opportunity to see his original costume, last worn in Time Crash.

Dafter Who

You wait for ages, then two real daft commercial cosplay items come out soon after each other!

This week sees the release of two Forbidden Planet Exclusive T-shirts depicting the costumes of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors.

They are quite witty in their design, making you look as though you are wearing the costumes yourself!

Available in Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large, they cost £15.99 each.

I haven’t seen them yet first-hand, but I gather the print quality isn’t all that.

As if that wasn’t enough (please make it stop . . .  ) mid-July will see the release of ‘official’ dressing up costumes for the Fourth and Fifth Doctors, Leela and Tegan!!!

Again these are available through Forbidden Planet, at £39.99 each.

I wouldn’t exceptions too high – not for £40. They look to be not much more than Halloween-style fancy dress costumes and definitely not day-to-day wear!

That said, they are good value for money if you need a quick and cheap costume for an up-coming convention of Who-related event.

Doctor Who Experience -Fifth Doctor incarnation

This weekend (Sunday 20th February) sees the official opening of the Doctor Who Experience exhibition at London’s Olympia.

Amongst the displays is a definitive collection of costumes worn by The Doctor through his regeneration (see left and right). Some out of necessity are replicas, but many are original and screen-used.

On Thursday I went to the first of the paid previews, following on from a couple of weeks of tester days to iron out teething troubles. While I was there I took a good set of photographs of all the costumes on show.

I have already written a Full Review of the exhibition itself, but here is a more targeted write-up focusing on the items of interest to a Fifth Doctor fan and giving them a more detailed look.

Looking back the Fifth Doctor has been dealt a poor hand, with few items on show.

Although the thrust of the exhibition focuses on the current Doctor, with Matt Smith providing some personal input, there are still a few things here of interest to a fan of the original series.

Planet Of Fire waistcoat -calico test: finished!

Just before Christmas I spent some time making a calico test for my Planet Of Fire waistcoat replica.

After cutting my Pattern, I showed how I made the Fronts, with their six welted pockets; and then the Back, with its complex pleated arrangement.
Finally, I had to hand-stitch all the jute piping on around the edges, which I did over Christmas, and now at last it is finished!

I’ve taken some side-by-side photos to compare how the test is looking and hanging.

The fronts have come out very well – I’m happy with those. Working with the embroidered curtain fabric wasn’t as bad as I had feared, which was a relief.

The back has come out quite well too, though I need to pay a little more attention tot he straps, which need to be a tad longer and not as wide. Otherwise all good.

Fifth Doctor costume transition

This week I’ve been taking a little look at an area of The Doctor’s costume that sometimes gets overlooked: The Costume Transition Scene!

I’m taking about that moment in the first episode of a new Doctor where the old skin is finally shaken off and a re-designed costume helps define the start of a new era in Doctor Who history.

When William Hartnell became Patrick Troughton, it wasn’t just his face that changed – his costume miraculously regenerated at the same time (see right).

Later, when Jon Pertwee took over, his new clothes were more realistically introduced by having The Doctor lift them from the changing room of the hospital where he is taken at the start of Spearhead From Space.

But it was Tom Baker’s transition scene that was the first to make some play on the anticipation of what The Doctor would be wearing.

Looking through the list of regenerations, I have realised there seems to be two dominant scenarios for these scenes:


The Hospital Changing Room scenario

The Third Doctor steals the clothes of a hospital consultant before stealing his car as well; after the Eighth Doctor emerges from the morgue, he takes the clothes of a surgeon, who is going to a fancy dress party; the latest regeneration sees the Eleventh Doctor lifting a the parts of his costume from the hospital locker room as he strides through.

The TARDIS Dressing-up Room scenario

Although we don’t see the dressing-up room, the Fourth Doctor keep popping out of the TARDIS dressed in unsuitable costumes; the Fifth Doctor finds his new clothes in the TARDIS, almost as if he was supposed to; the Sixth Doctor is the first to be seen in the dressing-up room to choose his new clothes; followed by the Seventh Doctor who goes through a similar selection; finally the Tenth Doctor makes his choice from a re-imagined dressing-up room, courtesy of The Mill’s special effects gurus!

Bonhams auction - 15th December 2010 - results

The Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia Sale was last week, and the scant three Doctor Who items all sold.

The solitary Jon Pertwee item went for pretty much on the money, selling for £3,240 having an estimate of £3,000 to £4,000.

I went along to the viewing to see for myself what it was all about and check it over.

The two other Peter Davison related items also sold, again right on their estimates.

First was the Script from Ressuraction Of The Daleks, which contained a extensive amount of camera postion notes (see left) as well as general comments and notations.

This sold for £240, having an estimate of £200 to £300.

The other item, a near complete Sea Devil costume from Warriors Of The Deep, was a mixed bag.

The helmet and tunic are still in pretty good nick, but the rubber mask was very perished and looked like it was about to fall apart. This is typical of items such as this, since they are only really made for appearance on that week’s episode and not expected to last any longer.

This sold for £2,280, almost double its estimate of £800 to £1,200.

Merry Christmas to all my readers!

I can’t believe a year has flown by since I last wished everyone a Happy Christmas.

Looking back though, a lot has happened and I’ve completed or started a number of amazing projects.

From updating my Tennant Coat; making a Five Coat or two; starting a replica Tennant suit jacket using original GAP Trousers; making a couple of Inverness Capes (must get round to writing that up!); as well as some smaller item such as Five Hatbands, Six Cravats and Seven Hankies.
However, I think the most exciting has been starting work on a replica Six Frock Coat, which I am so looking forward to getting done next year.

I hope you’ll join me in the following months as it starts to come together.

Planet Of Fire waistcoat - calico test: back

So far I have made the front panels of the waistcoat (see right); now I need to concentrate on the back and then bringing everything together.

The back is made from a linen fabric lined with cotton. For the purposes of my test garment I am using washed calico for the outside, lined with a cheap cotton to give me a feel for the contrast between the two in the finished thing.

Back

The centre of the back is remarkably similar to that of a Tennant Coat, and it’s construction is near identical.

The two halves of the back are sewn together (see left) and the seam allowance pressed flat (see below, left); it is then folded in halve along the seam, and two vertical lines of stitch, one above and below the vent, are sewn to form the visible back centre seam; this is then pressed flat, create the capacity vent (see below, right).

Planet Of Fire waistcoat - calico test: fronts

So far I have Pattern Traced and Cut the design of the waistcoat.

I will now make a calico test garment to a high standard of finish, so I can troubleshoot any issue I might have in making the real thing.

The waistcoat is literally, a garment of two halves with the multi-pocketed tapestry fronts; and the tailored & pleated back.

Today I am going to tackle the fronts, with their six pockets.

Fronts
The tapestry fabric is quite a loose-weave and the hand-stitched flowers are raised and quite bulky. I’ve decided to stabilise the edges I am overlocking them, so I allowed a bit extra on the seam allowance when cutting.

I now need to set the pockets - something I am not looking forward to.
So before steaming in and messing things up, I quickly did a little test welt to see how difficult the fabric can be to handle (see left). To my surprise it want too bad, partly due I think to my experience in setting welts, so I was able to concentrate on the fabric rather than the sewing as that is now second nature.

Planet Of Fire waistcoat - pattern cutting

I’ve worked on a nice little project this week, taking it from nothing to a finished (abet test) garment in only six days!

Back in May I went to the Cameo Auction and acquired the original tapestry waistcoat worn by Peter Davison in Planet Of Fire (see left).

It is my first piece of screen used proper costume I have bought, though it is only worn briefly in a couple of episodes. That said it is very distinctive and quite striking (see below).

Bonhams auction - 15th December 2010

Bonhams December Film and Entertainment Memorabilia sale is upon us soon, and again there are a few Doctor Who items on offer - and a few is all it is!

There are only three items, one of which, a jacket worn by Jon Pertwee, wasn't even screen used.
It feels like the left overs from a car boot sale - very disappointing.

Anyway, there are two Fifth Doctor related items, listed below.

Sale 17974
(15th December 2010)
Entertainment Memorabilia

I have separated the items by Doctor era, and you can see the rest of the items here:

Lot 101
Third Doctor (1970-1974)

Here are just the lots relating to the Fifth Doctor era

Lot 102
Resurrection Of The Daleks, 1984
A script, contained within a folder labelled 'Warehouse, Space Ship (Dalek) Composite', with detailed notes in an unknown hand, and stage directions, the scenes of the script separated by BBC Internal Mail envelopes

Estimate: £200 - 300
Sold for £240

Lot 103
Doctor Who - Warriors of the Deep, 1984
A sea devil costume, of foam latex, fibreglass and vinyl, including, a tunic with applied scale effect and chest piece and shoulder piece, a pair of matching trousers (as suit), together with head cowl of latex, fibreglass helmet and foam latex feet

Estimate: £800 - 1,200
Sold for £2,280