Feature by TIM WORTHINGTON
In 1958 Clive Murley of Warrington wrote to the TV Times, asking about the mysteriously shimmering suit worn by the host of ABC’s short-lived game show Can Do. It was made, the reply claimed, from “a special silk material imported from Italy”.
How true this was we don’t know, but it’s certainly true that Jon Pertwee – the host in question – had a lifelong love of stylish and unusual clothing. Eleven years after Can Do, he admitted to “raiding the family wardrobe” for his first Doctor Who photocall – after which his frilly shirts, capes and velvet smoking jackets were adopted as his costume. Pertwee owned dozens of the latter, and many of them found their way into Doctor Who. Here are five of the best…
The Doctor’s midnight-blue costume in Spearhead from Space.
First seen in Spearhead from Space (1970), the midnight-blue rolled-collar jacket was actually pinched from the unsuspecting Dr Beavis (Henry McCarthy) and apparently never returned. Possibly the most casual of all the Third Doctor’s jackets (and a sharp contrast to the tone of the storiesit featured in), this garment looks uncannily similar to the blazer sported by singer-songwriter Nick Drake on the cover of his 1969 album Five Leaves Left, which was released just a couple of months before Spearhead from Space went into production.