Doctor Who: The Main Inspiration Behind Each Doctor's Costume

11. The Third Doctor

Doctor Who David Tennant Tenth Doctor
BBC

The most suave and sophisticated Doctor of the lot, it's crystal-clear that the Third Doctor's era - which began in 1970 - took certain inspirations from the James Bond film series, which had exploded in popularity throughout the 1960s.

But the Third Doctor's costume? That was the brainchild of actor Jon Pertwee.

Before showing up to a 1969 photo-call hosted by The Radio Times, Pertwee slapped on an outfit that he thought was eccentric, memorable, and, well, quite Doctor-y! His choice of clothing impressed producer Barry Letts, and since costume designer Christine Rawlins had already been thinking along similar lines, the image stuck.

As a result, Pertwee's self-made photo-call costume became the basis of the Third Doctor's final look - flamboyant, yes, but at the same time, really damn cool.

In this post: 
Doctor Who
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.