In the early 1970s rookie UNIT agent Jo Grant was bang on trend, says actress Katy Manning.

Interview by SIMON GUERRIER

When Jo Grant first walks into the Doctor’s laboratory at UNIT, she immediately wrecks an experiment. The Doctor is horrified to discover that she’s his new assistant. But she’s also an agent qualified in cryptology, safe breaking and explosives – all that, and trendy too.

“I’m wearing Biba in that scene,” says Katy Manning. “I was already strongly with them, way before Doctor Who.”

Barbara Hulanicki’s fashion store Biba opened on Kensington’s Abingdon Road in 1964. “In what had been this old chemist’s shop,” says Katy. “They were desperate to find tiny people to model their clothes, which I was. My sister was a model and she told them I’d do it. I wasn’t out of my teens.”

In 1965, Biba opened a larger store on Kensington High Street and was still doing roaring trade in bright, fun clothes when Katy joined Doctor Who.

“That kind of floor-length maxi had just come in at the time,” she says of her initial outfit. “It was one of the hottest things from Biba just then.” Was it what she herself wore? “No, it’s what I chose for the character of Jo. She had to be a teen of her moment – I thought she was about 19 or so. But she also had this new job and was trying to look smart. The choker I made, and the rings and boots were mine.”

Later in that first story, Terror of the Autons (1971), Jo changes into corduroy trousers, a pink jumper and a leather waistcoat. “For running around on assignment,” says Katy. “That outfit was picked for me by Ken Trew, the costume designer, but I happily wore it as what Jo would wear. It’s practical for the job.”

The costumes in the next story, The Mind of Evil (1971), were designed by Bobi Bartlett. “I loved that look. Jo got quite tough in that story – taking on an entire men’s prison!” She chuckles. “The jacket was made especially for me, with suede trousers underneath. I liked the fact Jo had those two aspects to her character: she could look boyish, and also feminine and girly.”