Six Doctors' costumes included in high-profile auctionBookmark and Share

Monday, 29 January 2007 - Reported by Kenny Davidson
More than 400 outfits tailored by Angels, the pre-eminent costumier for films shot in the UK, will be auctioned by Bonhams of London. The collection includes costumes that were worn by some of Hollywood's biggest names, from Errol Flynn to Al Pacino, as well as outfits from classic British television shows, including Doctor Who.

Six Doctors are represented in the Doctor Who collection, including Jon Pertwee's jacket, which comes complete with a sonic screwdriver, which the auctioneers found in one of its pockets. The tool, which the Doctor used to open locks, is simply a pen glued to a toothpaste tube cap and sprayed silver.

Costumes worn by Pertwee, Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker are expected to fetch £20,000 each and Christopher Eccleston's leather jacket is estimated at £4,000.

Amongst the other costumes is Sir Alec Guinness's brown hooded cloak from Star Wars, which went missing for 30 years and was only discovered in 2005 when Angels made an inventory of its 1.5 million outfits which hang on six miles of rails in a warehouse in north London.

The auction, which takes place on 6th March, is expected to raise more than £1 million. Below are full details from Bonhams of the Doctor Who items included.
Costumes representing six of the Dr Who actors from the period of 1963 – present day will be sold.

A complete Patrick Troughton outfit (the second Dr. Who) comprising full-length fur coat, tailcoat, checked trousers, shirt, tie, handkerchief and bandana is estimated at £15,000-20,000. Known for his scruffy appearance, Troughton played a much quirkier Doctor. The producers and writers behind the programme wanted the Doctor's second incarnation to be a contrast to first Doctor, William Hartnell's 'Victorian Headmaster' mode of attire. Therefore Troughton was unveiled as, in his words, the "Cosmic Hobo," an eccentric exemplified by his unusual combination of garments, and in particular his long hair coat.

The third Doctor Who, John Pertwee, is represented through his black cape coat, burgundy velvet jacket, black cravat, and his sonic screwdriver (estimate of £15,000-20,000). Pertwee took the character of the doctor in a different direction from the ‘Cosmic Hobo' of before, Pertwee opting for being a dandy with a twist: he was a master of Venusian Karate and became a Doctor to rival James Bond with his ingenious gadgets and quick wit, Victorian tailcoats, deep purple velvet jackets, capes and scalloped shirtfronts.

Tom Baker, the fourth incarnation of the Doctor, exploded onto our television screens in 1974, unmistakable with his mass of teeth and curls. Baker came to resemble a comic hitchhiker, with his long overcoat, Victorian jackets and overlong woolly scarf.

The complete outfit for Tom Baker includes a maroon wool top coat, three pairs of trousers (tweed, grey wool and dark grey cotton), striped waistcoat, three felt hats and a striped scarf, and is estimated at £15,000-20,000. A wine coloured 3/4 length coat, complete with two large added pockets for the Doctor's jelly beans and sonic screwdriver used by Baker in various episodes of Dr Who (including some Dalek Episodes), is estimated at £8,000-10,000. The fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, is represented with a beige and orange-edged single breasted top coat, stripe trousers, cricket jumper, white shirt and straw hat, estimated at £8,000-10,000.

An outfit worn by Sylvester McCoy – the seventh Doctor Who – including a cream linen jacket, grey pinstripe trousers, shirt, tie, pullover, scarf, shoes, cravat and hat, is estimated at £5,000-7,000.

After a 16-year absence of the series, Christopher Eccleston returned as The Doctor. In the sale is his black leatherette jacket estimated at £3,000-4,000.




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