Peter Capaldi’s Doctor Who Costume Revealed

The dashing Doctor's new duds.

By David Wharton | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

WhoIt’s one of the great traditions of Doctor Who fandom: meeting a new Doctor, and a new actor portraying him. But as the old saying goes, the clothes make the man, and each Doctor’s wardrobe has played an important and iconic part in establishing the character. We’ve had Tom Baker’s scarf, Peter Davison’s lapel celery, and Matt Smith’s bowtie. While we’d previously seen shots of new Doctor actor Peter Capaldi filming his episodes, we hadn’t gotten a glimpse at his defining duds. Now the official Doctor Who Twitter has finally revealed the Twelfth Doctor’s costume. a sleek black outfit that definitely suits the actor well. You gotta love that snazzy red lining. And Doc Martens, no less! My high school self heartily approves.

Here’s the full press release:

The Doctor has a new look as Peter Capaldi’s era officially begins. In a picture released today by the BBC, Capaldi can be seen in the costume that will define his time as the Twelfth Time Lord in one of TV’s biggest roles. Sporting a dark blue Crombie coat with red lining, dark blue trousers, a white shirt as well as black Dr. Marten shoes, the look was created by Doctor Who costume designer Howard Burden.

Commenting on his costume, Peter Capaldi said: ‘He’s woven the future from the cloth of the past. Simple, stark, and back to basics. No frills, no scarf, no messing, just 100 per cent Rebel Time Lord.’ While lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat added: ‘New Doctor, new era, and of course new clothes. Monsters of the universe, the vacation is over — Capaldi is suited and booted and coming to get you!’

Filming for episode one of series 8 began earlier this month, after 10.2 million tuned-in on Christmas Day to get their first much-anticipated glimpse of Capaldi’s Doctor. Charlotte Moore, Controller of BBC One, commented: ‘Peter Capaldi’s Doctor is officially recorded in history today with the unveiling of his new costume. It’s sharp, smart and stylish — The Twelfth Time Lord means business.’

It’s definitely less whimsical than some of the Doctor’s earlier outfits, but even though he’s older than Matt Smith, this new outfit still comes off a bit less grandfather-y than Smith’s initial bowtie, button-up, and jacket look. It also lends itself well to the Doctor’s more intimidating and dangerous side, something I expect to be played up a lot, given how Capaldi excels in that area — just watch In the Loop/The Thick of It. Hell, he was intimidating in “The Day of the Doctor” using nothing but his eyes and formidable eyebrows.

Eyes

It’ll be interesting to see what Capaldi’s Doctor is like. After all, this is a guy who’s gone through some major events of late, from saving his homeworld to getting granted a new lease on life courtesy of a brand-new cycle of regenerations. With his biggest regret now reconciled and him in a more mature body, I have no doubt this will be a Doctor to take seriously. (But still with a funny side, of course — “I’ve got new kidneys! I don’t like the color.”)

In the meantime, we have seen a few brief looks at Capaldi’s Doctor in action. More specifically, we’ve seen the rather surreal video below, featuring the actor riding a fake horse while wearing a baptismal gown, or something. Isn’t making TV glamorous?

And then there’s this set pic of Capaldi and Jenna Coleman (Clara), still fresh from regeneration in the Eleventh Doctor’s duds.

CapaldiSet

What do you think of the Doctor’s new look? Vote in the poll below!

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