Saturday 17 May 2014

Radio Times - first Peter Capaldi cover

It’s literally MONTHS to go until the Twelfth Doctor hits our screen, but in a surprise move, this week the Radio Times has put Peter Capaldi on the cover!


Sadly it’s not a new shot - it’s just the one and only picture of Peter in costume - but it’s still a cover!

Friday 16 May 2014

Fabric Friday - Crombie coat lining

Last week on Fabric Friday I showed you THE midnight blue wool fabric used to make Peter Capaldi’s Crombie-style coat.

Well this week I bring you the rest of the coat!

And if last week I shook things up a little - this week I’m gonna rock it!

This is the lining to the coat.

No - really - this IS the lining. Instead of being a plain red silk as it might appear, it actually has a subtly woven pattern in red and NAVY BLUE.

If you look VERY closely on the official publicity still of the costume you can just see that there is a grid pattern in the fabric.


From what I have established, the lining is pure silk, woven in Italy and is long discontinued. The bolt of fabric bought by the BBC was the last available from the supplier used. It may still be in stock at other suppliers, but as yet I haven’t found anywhere that carries it.


My friend James would SO love to get his hands on this!

Friday 9 May 2014

Fabric Friday - the Crombie coat

The past few weeks over on my Eleventh Doctor Blog, I have been running a series called Fabric Friday where I showcase the screen-worn materials used to make Matt Smith’s costumes.

This week my attentions turn for the first time to the Twelfth Doctor’s costume - and this posting will shake things up a bit!

As well as showing you a fabric, I first have a little tale of serendipity to share with you. It’s worth hearing, so stick with me.

When news came out that W Bills, the supplier of the Matt Smith tweeds was closing, I went in and panic-bought the last of their stock of Shetland tweed!

A week or so later, with only a day left, I dropped by again to say goodbye to Ray Hammett, who I had been dealing with for a number of years.
While I was there someone else was panic-buying the last of W Bill stock - this time it was none other than Howard Burden THE Doctor Who costume designer!

He was there to do a deal and buy the last of a dark navy blue wool coating fabric. Yes, this is the fabric for Peter Capaldi’s Crombie-style coat.

Talking to him about it, he revealed that Crombie (the company) did NOT make the screen-worn coats - they were actually made by a bespoke tailor, and this was the stuff used.

So not only can I definitively say the coat is not a off the peg, or even bespoke made Crombie, the fabric used, yet again, came from W Bill.


Since the take over of W Bill by Harrisons, I have now found out a bit more about this particular cloth.

Unlike the preceding Doctor Who tweeds, this fabric was not a W Bill exclusive.

The mill weaves it as part of a basic range of cloth for coat making, and provide it to a number fabric merchants, such as W Bill. Each have their corporate name woven into the selvage.

Harrisons also stocked the very same cloth, with their own branding in the selvage.
This means that although the W Bill stock was bought out by Howard, the fabric is still easily available through Harrisons.