Chicago - HERE I COME!

Earlier this year, on the spur of the moment, I followed the Ultimate Tennant Suit across the Atlantic to Gallifrey One, North America’s premier Doctor Who convention.

Well I guess I got a taste for conventions-American style, cos I’m off again - this time to Chicago TARDIS, a Mid-West and more low key affair.

Last time I left it to literally the last minute and gabbed a flight which got me there after the convention started. This time I'm heading out the day before and coming back the day after its all over. A more leisurely, and civilised way to do things.

The headline guest, until a few weeks prior, was Alex Kingston, who had to drop out after getting a part in the BBC’s revival series of Upstairs Downstairs.

Instead it is a Fifth Doctor FEST, with Peter Davison, and Janet Fielding (who’s always game for a laugh) AND Sarah Sutton. It’s a shame that Matthew Waterhouse isn’t there too, but is still means the complete post-Earthshock TARDIS crew will be reunited - which will be fun.

Visions From Behind The Sofa

Today I had a fantastic time – and for only £5!!!

It’s the 38th anniversary of the start of Doctor Who!

And to celebrate I went to a one-off special event at The University Of Hertfordshire, only a few miles north of where I live.

The university has a film studies department, and they regularly organise lecture days for their students to attend. Some of these are open to the public and his month was a Doctor Who day, the choice of scheduling date being no co-incidence.

Entitled Doctor Who: Visions From Behind The Sofa, it formed a serious study of the development and impact of Doctor Who through the years.

The campus is a very modern, and inspiring building.

It didn’t take me too long to find the Weston Auditorium, where the day took place. I quickly realised I was not only probably the oldest person attending – everyone were either wearing skinny jeans hanging off their hips, or had be any hats on – I was the only one in costume.

I had just completed my best ever Matt Smith Closing Time costume, so I had to give it a test run.

Luckily before we went in I did spot someone wearing a Tom Baker scarf, so I didn’t feel quite so out of place.

The venue was a cinema, with a stage in front of the screen. On stage was a classic series dalek to get us in the mood!

The day was hosted by Howard Berry, who is the Joint Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer in Post-Production for the undergraduate BA (Hons) degrees in Film and Television Documentary, Entertainment and Fiction at the University.

Although it was an all-day event, it only cost £5 to attend, so was an absolute bargain.

It was broken down into four main lectures, each followed by a panel discussion.

boots - Boots - BOOTS!

This week I picked up a number of pairs of the Season Six Matt Smith boots from the Bootmakers.

Having spent some time talking to them while getting my own boots made, they agreed, exclusively through me, to help a number of other cosplayers get the Holy Grail of Matt Smith footwear!

The shoes they made were very wide ranging in sizings a fit, and all were done to precision.

One pair were a size 13 – another much small, but for a very wide fitting (see right).

The bootmakers who kitted out The Doctor, although they are one of the most famous footwear makers for film and tv, they are a small company and deal exclusively with production companies or theatres, and are used to bulk orders for chorus lines or the requirements for the cast of a complete film.

As a result they are NOT happy to take calls from the public or make one-off items which occupy more of their time than it does to make them.

However, through negotiations I conducted with them, they are willing to make boots for Doctor Who fans, so long as the orders come exclusively through me.

This way I can answer all questions prior to making them; arrange for the foot tracings and measurements to be taken and passed on; payments to be made; and delivery globally via my personal FedEx shipping account.

As you can see, I have already arranged a number of pairs, and one of the buyers has posted about it in his blog, Very Well Dressed Hitchhiker.

UPDATE

This service has now been discontinued due to sharp increases in manufacturing costs, and declining quality of finished product. Sorry for any inconvenience

Children In Need - Doctor Who special

Tonight is the annual BBC Children In Need fund raising night, and the on-going connection to Doctor Who shows no signs of letting up.

I thought it worth championing the occasions down the years that The Doctor has helped this worthy cause, and it creates quite a list.
Having written the follow list, I realise the impact Children In Need has had on Doctor Who cannot be overlooked, and we sometimes forget how it was almost a testing ground for ideas and formats we still see today.

1983

The late November timing of Children In Need has made it the stable-mate for Doctor Who and the support the Doctor Who production team have given dates back to the near start of Children In Need in the 1980s.
What we sometimes forget is that the 20th anniversary story, The Five Doctors, was shown as part of that year’s fund raising night.



After the episode Peter Davison landed his TARDIS alongside Terry Wogan and offer the coat off his back to auction off to raise funds.

Bonhams auction - 15th December 2011

Doesn’t time fly!
It doesn’t seem that long since the last Bonhams auction, and the next in December is soon upon us.

The online catalogue has been posted and there 23 Doctor Who items, mainly from the Tennant era, but there are a few from Matt’s first season as The Doctor.

Bonhams sale 19073
(15th December 2011)
Entertainment Memorabilia

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

Lots 154
1st Doctor (1963-1966)

Lots 154a
Seventh Doctor (1987-1989)

Lots 155 - 156
Ninth Doctor (2005)

Lots 157 - 184
Tenth Doctor (2005-2010)

Here are just the lots relating to the Eleventh Doctor

Lot 185
Doctor Who - The Beast Below, 2010
The Smilers: Four costumes, comprising: four purple coloured cotton robes (colours slightly varying), each together with a blue buttoned robe with white collar, together with a pair of blue trousers with braces (9)

Estimate: £400 − 500
Sold for £1,500








Lot 186
Doctor Who - The Beast Below, 2010
The Winders: Four part costumes, comprising: four long waistcoats, with silver buttons, together with four black cotton shirts one with ‘BBC Costume Store’ printed to inside collar and four leather belts (12)

Estimate: £250 − 350
Sold for £813

Lot 187
Doctor Who - The Vampires of Venice, 2010
Lucian Msamati (aka Wiina Msamati) as Guido: A complete costume, comprising: a doublet and hose, the hose brown velvet, with brocade and stud detail, the doublet with suede and leather effect trim bodice and heavy cotton sleeves, together with a beige coloured cotton shirt and matching ruff, a checked scarf, a brown suede effect tunic, a pair of brown suede gloves, a belt with satchel and dagger/ scabbard, a pair of theatrical tights, a brown suede flat hat and a pair of boots (12)

Estimate: £600 − 700
Unsold

Lot 188
Doctor Who - Vincent And The Doctor, 2010
Tony Curran as Vincent van Gogh: A partial costume, comprising: a woven straw hat, with beige/green-coloured fabric band; a blue-coloured cotton checked shirt; a pair of blue and grey pinstriped trousers and a brown and blue checked wool coat (4)

Estimate: £350 − 450
Sold for £1,250



Lot 189
Doctor Who - The Pandorica Opens, 2010
Simon Fisher-Becker as Dorium Maldovar: A complete costume, comprising: a burgundy coloured robe, with gold coloured braid seams, a heavily paisley patterned brocade smoking type jacket with quilted lining and shaped metal crescents applied to cuffs and silver metal and gold braid detail to collar with frog and toggle fastening together with a pink and gold stripe silk shirt, and a gold coloured necklace with crescent shaped discs

Estimate: £250 − 350
Sold for £1,375

Lot 190
Doctor Who - The Big Bang, 2010
Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams: A complete Groom’s wedding outfit, comprising: a grey coloured tailcoat, of wool; a pair of black and grey pinstriped trousers, a BHS labelled cream coloured silk effect waistcoat, with label inside ‘Rory’, together with a matching tie (not screen used), a grey coloured top hat and a pair of elasticated grey coloured gloves, and a pair of black leather shoes, in bag detailing return number

Estimate: £400 − 600
Sold for £688




Lot 191
Doctor Who - The Big Bang, 2010
Matt Smith as The Eleventh Doctor: A complete Wedding guest outfit, comprising: a black satin ‘Opera’ type collapsible top hat, in original box, with black ribbon trim; a black tail coat, of wool with satin effect collar; a white waffle type waistcoat; a white shirt with waffle type front together with matching collar and bow-tie; a cream coloured silk scarf with tasselled edge; a pair of black tuxedo trousers, with matching braces and a pair of black size 10 men’s shoes, together with the original costume returns bag

Estimate: £1,200 − 1,800
Sold for £2,625

ULTIMATE Matt Smith costume - on eBay

This morning the jaw-dropping news that one of Matt Smith’s complete screen-worn costumes, including tweed jacket, shirt, trousers, boots, braces, watch and bow tie would be auctioned to raise funds for Children In Need!!!!

This is an unbelievable chance to acquire what is reap idly becoming an iconic costume.

Matt Smith has been quoted regarding the sale. He said:

I'd say the tweed jacket or the bow-tie are the most iconic - although the boots are my personal favourite. I hope people donate generously for BBC Children in Need because it's a wonderful cause - and we've got to beat last year's total.

Although the starting price was 99p, with only five days for the auction, things quickly accelerated into a frantic bidding war!

Here’s how things played out.

17th November 2011

Listing posted with a 99p start price.
After 13 bids, five bidders had reached £800.

Conventions are cool! (Or are they?)

So this morning was the release of the tickets to the OFFICIAL Doctor Who convention due to be held in March 2012 at the Cardiff Millennium Centre.

Just like the stampeed for the BBC Prom tickets last year, I was waiting - poised - to get my order in.

Prior to the release, the BOOK TICKETS page simply read:

Tickets will go on sale 9am Monday 14th November.

It got to 9am – and it still said it. Okay, I thought, maybe they are just getting geared up for the rush. 9.15am – still says the same thing – and again at 9.30am.

This was in-between the occasional Server Connection Failure and my browser not even being able to connect to the host domain.

It made one of the menus on the site take on a whole new meaning . . .  WHAT’S GOING ON?!

It wasn’t until 10.30am that suddenly I go the connection needed and I was in. AT LAST!

T-shirts are cool

Over the past months Forbidden Planet have been progressively releasing t-shirts of The Doctor’s iconic costumes.

So far One, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and Ten have been released (see above).

They’ve even done an classic series Cyberman shirt! (see right)

Later this month finally sees the release of their Eleventh Doctor Shirt!!

They’ve gone for the series five Donegal tweed with a burgundy Paul Smith shirt and matching bow tie.

Bow ties are cool!

Prototype Green great coat FOR SALE

This coat is now SOLD!

I’ve made a couple of Greatcoats now, including a new one for myself, so I am looking to sell my original prototype.

Made from top quality dark olive moleskin, it is a sturdy winter coat and would keep you warm as we head into the darker, colder nights.

The sizing is as follows:

Chest
40 to 42 inches

Sleeve Length
25 inches

Overall length
44 inches

Across shoulders
21 inches

If you are interested in putting in an offer, drop me an email to tennantcoat@me.com

Series Six Part Two costume index

Sorry that part two of my Series Six Costume Index has taken a while to appear, but there are a LOT of costume changes for these half-dozen episodes, and they all needs careful documentation! Enjoy.

Let’s Kill Hitler prequel

On complete Series Six DVDs disc 4

This brief scene which acts as a prequel to Let’s Kill Hitler, keeps continuity with the start of the episode, bar the Greatcoat he is then seen wearing.

Shirt Window pane dress shirt with mitred cuffs and tabbed collar

Bow Tie Self-tied blue with aztec key design

Let’s Kill Hitler

Coat Olive green moleskin double breasted greatcoat

Closing scene only Jacket Shetland Tweed jacket, with three-button fastening

Shirt Window pane dress shirt with mitred cuffs and tabbed collar

Trousers G-Star RAW Blade jeans in Spark Denim (waxy look)

Bow Tie Self-tied blue with aztec key design
Closing scene only Self-tied burgundy plain silk

Boots Black, custom made

Also seen wearing For part of the episode, The Doctor dons his top hat and tails last seen in The Big Bang

Boots - a good alternative

After spotting a good alternative to the Blue Shirt, my eagle-eyed friend has found another good budget option for the Season Six boots.

Marks & Spencer currently have a ankle boot that’s a dead ringer for Matt Smith’s latest boot of choice - and for a shade under £70!

M&S - Leather Ankle High Toe Cap Boot

Knowing what the real boot is like, I’d say it’s a pretty good alternative, ticking a lot of the boxes.

However it is 7-hole rather than 11-hole; has a plain rather than fret stitched bridge seam; and is a bit clunky.

Still, not bad for £70!

Blue shirt - a good alternative

A friend of mine has found a really good alternative to the blue shirt Matt has been wearing in season six, which is well worth sharing.

The shirt is by designer Jeff Banks, and can be found on the Debenhams website, currently at a discount.

Debenhams -
blue basket weave formal shirt

It even has the mitred cuffs, something Matt has been seen wearing a lot this year.
Sadly it doesn’t have the tabbed collar, but it does tick a lot of other boxes, so that can be forgiven.

The thing that makes the shirt worth a look is the fabric it is made from.

There was a neat close up of the shirt in Closing Time, when The Doctor points out his here to help badge (see below).

Biker-boy Doctor?

It would appear Matt Smith is getting itchy feet when it comes to his costume.

It's widely known that he had a personal input into the tweed jacket, bow tie and All Saints boots combo that kicked off his era as The Doctor. This look has been refined by veteran costume designer Barbara Kidd and further added to by Matt with his penchant for long military coats.

Well it seems that look was very last season and he is hinting The Doctor may find something hidden a the back of his wardrobe to refresh his appearance - leather!

A brief interview given by Matt at a Mayfiar fashion viewing has been quoted by The Telegraph on their website.

Telegraph -
Matt Smith wants a new uniform

To flesh this out, Brian Terranova at Kasterborous.com has had some fun with photoshop and produced a visualisation of what could be in store next season . . . .

Nice work Brian!

No smoking in time and space!

This is a little off topic, but I saw this in this week’s Radio Times and just had to share it with you.

For those who don’t know, the main headquarters of the BBC is Television Centre in west London (see right).
Opened in 1960, it has been the home for the corporation ever since, but is due to be old off as part of the cost-saving drive which has seen Doctor Who Confidential being axed.

Anyway, the building is in a curious round shape, and looks like a question mark form the air! (see below)

In the centre of the ‘doughnut’ is a fountain and open space. It is here that a TARDIS is on permanent display! (see left)

The UK has a ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, so office workers have to go outside the buildings they work in to get their nicotine fix, and BBC tv Centre is no exception.

Apparently there is a sign indicating where the designated smoking area is located - and where it is NOT . . . .

Entertainment & Media Show -London 2011

Today was The Entertainment and Media Show at London’s Earls Court. It’s in the exhibition centre above where the infamous Doctor Who exhibition was held during 2008-2009.

Despite being the start of October when it should be cold and wet, it’s instead expected to hit 29 or even 30 degrees, hotter than a good summers day! It ended up being hotter than Athens, Los Angeles and The Bahamas.

My tweed jacket will be too warm to wear, but in for a penny in for a pound, I’m determined to wear my green Greatcoat regardless! If I’m gonna sweat it may as well be in something worth being seen in - and tweeds are so last season! Hehehehe

Well it seems to have been worth it as I was not even halfway there when I spotted someone in a tweed jacket and bow tie down the end of a platform.

He gave me a nod and a smile, and then couldn't resist coming over to ask where I got my coat! A handy business card soon helped him out.