A Paisley scarf. A question mark tank top. The Seventh Doctor’s costume is iconic, but it has varied in many subtle (and not so subtle) ways over the years.
Even before Sylvester McCoy was cast as the Doctor, there were hints as to what the Seventh Doctor‘s costume would be like. During the actor’s audition (which, incidentally, he performed with Janet Fielding who had previously played the Fifth Doctor’s companion Tegan) the actor donned an outfit which wasn’t a million miles away from what ended up on screen. In the script, Fielding’s character described him as a “clown,” and certainly McCoy’s clothes match this description, with the actor wearing an oversized brown jacket, an unbuttoned waistcoat, a multi-coloured tie and a Paisley handkerchief tucked into his pocket.
It’s unclear whether Sylvester McCoy chose these clothes himself, or whether they were given to him by the BBC, but they doubtless laid the groundwork for the Seventh Doctor’s costume. The oversized jacket was retained for Season 24 (or, at least, a version of it) and whilst the brown variant didn’t appear until 1989, it had a similar shape and feel to the one from the audition. Then there was the Paisley handkerchief, and the tie – although McCoy was given a more subtle Paisley tie as opposed to the brasher, multi-coloured version from the audition.
Of course, the most striking element of the Seventh Doctor’s costume is the Time Lord’s famous question mark sweater, which was probably included at the request of John Nathan-Turner, who had a penchant for decorating the Doctor in question marks. Interestingly, the original design stipulated that the Seventh Doctor should wear this tucked tightly into his baggy brown trousers, high above the waistline, and indeed Sylvester McCoy wore it this way for ‘Time and the Rani.’ This was the last time that it would be tucked in, however, although it is interesting to note that the Seventh Doctor’s costume reverted to this form for its brief appearance in ‘The Power of the Doctor.’
But as the Seventh Doctor evolved, so too did the Seventh Doctor’s costume. Sylvester McCoy was keen to make his version of the Time Lord darker and more mysterious, and the actor switched to a brown jacket for Season 26, replacing the cream-coloured version that he’d worn for his previous two seasons. He also acquired a duffle coat for ‘The Curse of Fenric,’ which did in fact belong to McCoy himself and had been worn during the rehearsals. It was so liked by the production team that they decided to keep it for the entirety of the adventure.
Alas, there was little chance of the duffle coat’s return owing to Doctor Who‘s sudden cancellation in 1989, so we’ll never know if the production team planned to make any further changes.
Obviously, by the time the show returned for a single night in 1996, a whole new production team had taken over, and an American one at that. In this particular story, the Time Lord was now an old man, and the Seventh Doctor’s costume reflected the changes within him. McCoy’s outfit for the TV movie is completely different from the one that viewers had come to know in the main series, although it does retain the basic shape and ‘essence.’
This time, the Seventh Doctor’s costume comprises of a brown Tweed jacket with a white shirt, tie and red waistcoat. There is a faint checkerboard effect on his baggy trousers, and he still wears a white Panama hat (or, at least, something close to it.) And although this costume is different in many ways, it’s in-keeping with the Seventh Doctor’s persona. It’s not a complete overhaul; it’s more like a natural evolution, reflecting the maturity of the aging Doctor.
But the American producers weren’t the first ones to tinker with the Seventh Doctor’s costume. This process actually began on the front covers of the Virgin novels, which started to appear on bookshelves shortly after the TV series finished. Initially, the version of the Seventh Doctor on these covers wore the same costume as he had in the TV episodes, with the question mark tank top and oversized brown jacket.
However, over time, certain elements of this costume were tweaked. Gradually, the Doctor lost his sweater and began wearing a simple shirt and tie. His jacket also changed, and later in the run he reverted to a magnolia-coloured coat. It’s interesting to look at these covers in light of what the Doctor ended up wearing in the TV movie, and one has to wonder to what extent the American producers were influenced by Virgin.
It would also be interesting to know why Virgin decided to discreetly change the Seventh Doctor’s costume. Certainly, their stories were altogether more adult in tone and meant for a more mature audience, so perhaps they wanted the Time Lord’s clothes to reflect this tonal shift. Perhaps the question mark tank top was too light and jovial for adventures that were dealing with much darker themes.
But the Virgin outfits do, nonetheless, bridge the gap between the TV series and the TV movie, and over time the evolution of the Seventh Doctor’s costume is a logical one. It certainly isn’t as drastic as the change made to Tom Baker’s outfit in 1981, or indeed the many strikingly different costumes worn by the Eleventh and Fifteenth Doctors.
Who knows, maybe we will see many more versions of the Seventh Doctor’s costume as he continues his adventures through books, comics and Big Finish productions.
In the meantime, tell us: which is your favourite version of the Seventh Doctor’s costume? Let us know in the comments below.
Leave a Reply