Press coverage - Radio Times 1st November 2014

For the third time this year, Peter Capaldi graces the cover of the Radio Times as The Doctor. (He previously appeared back in May and again at the launch of series 8 in August).

It’s a curious photoshoot - not sure what those red and black hemispheres are all about!
But the picture does confirm something for me about the construction of his coat - something I had suspected and can now confirm.

Like they did with the August edition, this week’s iPad version of the Radio Times has some exclusive bonus material in the form of a 30 page special.

It plunders the extensive Radio Times archive of special photoshoots, so has some choice images on offer.

The digital edition can be downloaded from the iTunes store.

Radio Times Magazine – on iTunes

BBC promo pics - Dark Water

I can’t believe we are already at the start of the season finale, which means it’s time to see the publicity still that accompany its screening.

There’s the usual fare of sanitised photoshopping, accompanied by a host of images from the London filming around St Paul’s Cathedral.

These scenes were shot on what proved to be the hottest day of 2014, so you gotta feel for those poor guys in the Cybermen suits - they must have been a stone or two lighter by the end of the shoot.

Being a hot sunny day, it means the lighting pulls out a lot of detail on The Doctor’s costume, where it would normal fall into a black mush of shadows.

For once you can clearly see the colour difference between the dark navy blue of the coat and the black of the waistcoat over the charcoal navy colour of his trousers.

You also get a tiny glimpse of the coat’s lining, which isn’t a consistent bright red you might think, but has a slight iridescent quality.

If you know what you are looking for, these are superb reference pictures.

BBC promo pictures - In The Forest Of The Night

Tuesday means the release of the latest batch of promo pictures for the upcoming episode, In The Forest Of The Night.

There is one quoffed photoshopped image, as well as a number of action stills from the episode.

As you can see, this is the third outing for the hideous Paul Smith jumper.

I find this picture interesting, as it shows the back of the coat and gives away a few secrets to its construction.

BBC promo pictures - Flatline

Unlike previous weeks, today we only have one single image of Peter from the upcoming episode, Flatline. Enough said.

BBC promo pictures - Mummy On The Orient Express

This is becoming a habit! After an initial run of publicity photos that (costume-wise) didn’t correspond with the episodes, this is the third week running where they do!

The Doctor wears a smart two-price double breasted black suit finished off with a handkerchief in the top pocket; with white shirt (I don’t think it is the Budd shirt); along with a grey waistcoat; and Wyatt Earp style black silk necktie.

There is one unfortunate photo showing The Doctor on the phone with a dangling cable not connected to anything! Lets hope that’s all part of the plot, otherwise it’s the Downton Abbey water bottle all over again!

Finally there is the obligatory heavily photoshopped composite image.

Polka-dot shirt - where did that come from?!

This week’s episode gave Doctor Who cosplayers a bit of a shock - The Doctor has another new shirt, but this time we didn’t get a heads up!

All the promo pics for Kill The Moon showed him wearing a SB6 space suit, so the polka dot shirt is a bit of a surprise to say the least.

The way I see it problem is twice-fold.

• Firstly, if the shirt was off-the-peg it would have been around at the time of filming, meaning it was at least last Spring/Summer 2014, if not Autumn/Winter 2013. So it likely it’s long gone.


• Secondly, the design although distinctive, is not unique. If you search online you can relatively easily find a black and white polka-dot shirt, but is it the right one? Who knows.

So, in the meantime I’ve been googling black and white polka-dot shirts, and one in particular shirt by Relco keeps coming up. 

I am not claiming it is THE shirt, or even screen accurate, but it certain create the necessary look.

Okay, the shirt has a button-down collar, and the buttons are whiter - but both of these are easy to change and/or remove without affecting the look too much.

The polka-dots are a bit larger but in the correct pattern, though the spacing is maybe a bit tighter than required.

I have come across the same shirt at a number of outlets, notably eBay and Amazon.

CXLondon.com
Men’s Polka Dot Casual Shirt

eBay - Men’s Polka Dot Casual Shirt

Amazon.co.uk
Men’s Polka Dot Casual Shirt

BBC promo pictures - Kill The Moon

For the second week running The Doctor will be wearing a very episode-specific costume, so the accompanying promo pics are again in sync with what we shall be seeing at the weekend.

The episode sees the return of the Sanctuary Base Six space suits, first seen way back in series two’s The Impossible Planet.

Back then The Doctor liberated two suits (if I remember right), but strangely he has three to hand for his trip to the moon this week. How handy.

Now, you’d be forgiven for thinking the BBC just put the old suits back to good use and dug them out of the archive for filming, but I happen to know for certain that these suits have been totally remade from scratch.

I know there are fans out there who are more expert on the ins and outs of this costume than me, so I invite them to see if there are points of difference between the originals and what we see here.
Be open-minded, as these ARE different.

At last - a cosplay on a BUDGET!

This week’s episode saw The Doctor incognito as The Caretaker.

In typical Time Lord style, his disguise extended to only wearing a brown warehouse-style coat over his usual costume, last seen in Listen.

So far his entire costume has either been custom made (the Crombie), or hideously expensive to buy (the John Smedley cardigan, Loakes boots, Budd shirt, Paul Smith trousers etc) - and that was if you could find them.

But the warehouse coat is something that for once IS within a cosplayers budget, and can be found online for as little as £20!

Here is a good source where you can order one.

Fruugo -
Mens Warehouse Coat - CT01K

As far as I can see it ticks all the boxes - the mustard colour (refer to the image above rather then the heavily photoshopped promo pictures); two patch outer pockets; a breast patch pocket; and press-stud rather than button fastening.

They also come in a good range of sizes from chest 34 right up to chest 50, something a lot of cosplay costumes don’t always seem to do.

So whatever your size, you can grab yourself a “screen accurate” Twelfth Doctor costume - and NOT break the bank for once!

FOOTNOTE
While on Fruugo’s site I also noticed they stock a Fixed Beam LED Pen Torch - something that is not dissimilar to the very first sonic screwdriver used by Patrick Troughton back in the late 1960s!

It’s not strictly screen accurate, but a cool little addition to a Time Lord’s pocket for a bit of old school Who cosplay!

Fruugo - Fixed Beam LED Pen Torch

BBC promo pictures - The Caretaker

This week’s episode sees The Doctor donning a disguise while he goes undercover at the Coal Hill School.

He’s wearing the hideous black Paul Smith holey jumper, with a mustard coloured warehouse-style court over the top.

And for the FIRST TIME the promo pictures actually match the screen worn costume for the week!

The BBC have issued two top quality images of The Doctor in costume, plus a couple from scenes in the episode.

BBC promo pictures - Time Heist

The BBC have issued the usual round of publicity stills for this weeks episode, Time Heist.

I say usual in a pointed way as yet again the main portrait of The Doctor is another random photo of Peter in the white Budd shirt and waistcoat, rather than what he will actually be wearing on screen.

The rest of the images issued are actually stills from the episode, and show Peter in the navy blue Paul Smith shirt.

BBC promo pictures - Listen

It’s that time of the week, and the official BBC promo pictures for the next episode have been released.

Publicising Listen, there are two shots of Peter in front of his blackboard, each with a portrait and landscape option.

Yet again these images simply do not match the costume that will be seen on screen.

It’s widely known Peter wears his own Paul Smith jumper with knitted holes in it, not the white Budd shirt as shown here.

He first wore the jumper during the read through for Deep Breath.



The first set-up shows the wiped board with simply the word LISTEN written on it.

The second version is more akin to the blackboard as seen in the episodes.

This image isn’t entirely new, and appeared a couple on months back on the cover of Short List magazine (7th August issue).







Aside from these two sparse images, I haven’t as yet seen any others to publicise Listen.

Drop me a line if you come across any others.

Robot Of Sherwood - Paul Smith Shirt

This week’s episode, Robot Of Sherwood, sees The Doctor’s first major costume variation.

He’s dropped the bespoke-cut white Budd shirt and John Smedley cardigan in favour of a burgundy shirt.

If you’re looking for the shirt you don't need to look very far.

Peter Capaldi seems to have a charge account at Paul Smith, as it seems to be his favourite label, both on and off screen.

If you look closely at this candid photo from the filming, you can see there is wording etched into the buttons, something Paul Smith often does.

Paul Smith Classic Formal Shirt in Purple

If you look at the detail shots of the shirt, you can just make out that the buttons have writing etched into them, and they are the same steely grey colour. You can also see the edge-stitch detailing around the collar and button stand.

That will be the shirt then!