Louise Page - School Project review

If you watched the recent Louise Page interview on my Tennant Coat Blog, where she revealed the background story to the development of the Tenth Doctor’s costume, you will have heard mention of her ‘School Project’.

This was a pitch document she put together to show Russell T Davies and Phil Collinson when she applied to be Doctor Who costume designer. It contained her initial thoughts and ideas for The Doctor’s new look, and gives a unique insight into that moment of development.

Louise kindly granted me special access to this document, and it makes very interesting reading.


It opens with her first impressions of The Doctor through the history of the series. She identifies the motifs that distinguished them and their clothing style.
She sees the incoming Doctor as being more funky and flamboyant, compared the the contemporary, tough style of the outgoing Christopher Eccleston.


To quantify her thoughts she created a word cloud with all the key aspects she wanted to bring together.

From here she breaks the possible looks for the new Doctor into three main design routes.

1. Military Inspired
The key points in the Military Inspired look include jackets and coats with good pocket and trim details; soft, worn in trousers; a sweater with texture; unusual buttons and pocket details; a mix of fabrics, colours and textures; great looking boots; a colour range of browns, fawns and sludge greens.

This puts me in mind of the plum coat of Tom Baker’s final season, apparently based on a Russian greatcoat.


2. Boho Romantic
The next look put forward, the Boho Romantic, is a eclectic mix of design and fabrics.
Louise outlines it as long coats or jackets in soft unstructured fabrics, possibly from suede, with unfinished raw edges.
The costume would comprise a shirt; a polo neck with a cravat type scarf; sort, worn in trousers; a waistcoat with unusual double breasted button details; boots.

The outfit was to have a sexy, grungy but romantic quality, coupled with a flamboyance and interesting detail, but keeping it very masculine. There would be a mix of textures, using a layered look.


3. Young Eccentric
Finally the Young Eccentric look brings the option of a much more colourful Doctor.
A mix of heavy checks (including tartans), as well as strong patterns. A tie or scarf would be a key accessory, suggesting a connection with previous Doctors. A waistcoats would round off the look, adding layers to create bulk and texture.

From the description I cannot get the colour-explosion costume worn by Colin Baker in the 1980s, though the magazine clipping show a more vintage clothing look, carefully selected but appearing to be thrown together.


The folder is rounded off with some footwear options cut from a catalogue.
At this stage it looks like thinking was a heavy military style boot, rather than the lightweight Converses screen worn.



To read the School Project in fill, click the headline below to view a PDF online.

Louise Page’s School Project

Ask Louise Page - episode ten

We’ve reached the final week of Ask Louise Page, and we have two interesting questions to finish on.

Firstly we get the inside story about the Tenth Doctor’s footwear.

I’m not quite sure where this myth came from, but it was rumoured he was due to wear Japanese army jump boots.
Louise answers this puzzler and reveals the truth about the Converse All Stars!

Then finally she gives succinct advice to any budding costume designer out there with aspirations of getting into the film or television industry.

Question 19

Question 20

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sparing the time to answer all your questions

Ask Louise Page - episode nine

We’ve reached the penultimate week of Ask Louise Page, and the questioning has turned to the background process of realising the costumes from the script descriptions. Louise explains to us the multiple episodes and meetings all taking place at once. How she kept sane, heaven only knows!

She also tells us about the Upper Boat studios where to date much of the new series of Doctor Who has been shot.
It recently closed so the production could move to new purpose-built facilities in Cardiff dock, and she looks back on her time there – though don’t expect to hear about the glamour lifestyle of film stars and directors!

Question 17

Question 18

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sparing the time to answer all your questions

Ask Louise Page - episode eight

We’ve reached week eight of Ask Louise Page, and this time we have a two questions regarding the accessories worn by the Tenth Doctor.

Firstly we wil hear about the shirts David Tennant wore and discover there was a distinct methodology to their choice of colour.

Then we will hear the definitive answer that been the casue of much debate amongst Tenth Doctor fans - where did the glasses come from?
Louise give us the full history and origins of the glasses used, revealing for the first time their maker, which until now has been a closely guarded secret...

Question 15

Question 16

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sparing the time to answer all your questions

Ask Louise Page - episode seven

We’ve reached week seven of Ask Louise Page, and we have a very interesting question and answer relating to James Bond appearing in Doctor Who . . .

Question 13

Question 14

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sparing the time to answer all your questions

Ask Louise Page - episode six

We’ve reached week six of Ask Louise Page, and some interesting questions are starting to come though.

The first is something that was hotly debated on the forums a few years back, when someone noticed Tie Ten from my Tie Index was worn by John Simms in the popular series Life On Mars.
Was it deliberate? After all, the tie concerned only appeared in the Master story arc that Simms starred in.
Or was it just a co-incidence?

Time to find out...

Question 11

Question 12

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sparing the time to answer all your questions

Ask Louise Page - episode five

We’ve reached week five of Ask Louise Page, marking the halfway point in our questions.

Today I’ve pulled a question from a thread on Gallifrey Base which was the subject of much debate. Since Louise was open to being asked questions I thought it the perfect opportunity to find out the definitive answer . . .

Question 9

Question 10

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sparing the time to answer all your questions

Ask Louise Page - episode four

As we enter week four of Ask Louise Page, we have two quite probing questions!

Louise talks candidly about inheriting the Doctor Who costume department, dispelling any illusions you may have about its grandure or significance.

But first she give us an insight into what might have been if money and time had been no object and reflects on some of her less proud moments.

Question 7

Question 8

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sparing the time to answer all your questions

Ask Louise Page - episode three

It’s week three of Ask Louise Page, and our next question comes from Russia - showing how far Doctor Who’s reach extends across the globe.

Our second question today touches on an area of Louise’s costume work that is often overlooked: dressing the monsters. Here she talks at length about a number of her favourite collaborations, and her less successful moments . . .

Question 5

Question 6

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sparing the time to answer all your questions

Ask Louise Page - episode two

This week on Ask Louise Page we come to two interesting questions.

Thank you to the contributors who sent these in.

Question 3

Question 4

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sparing the time to answer all your questions

Ask Louise Page - episode one

Today, and every Wednesday for the next ten weeks, I am proud to bring you an episode of Ask Louise Page.

Following on from my extensive interviews on the Tenth Doctor’s ties, she kindly agreed to answer twenty questions from you, my readers.

In late May I was able to put them to her, and now I can bring you the answers she gave.

First up is an unusual question about Wilf Mott, played by Bernard Cribbins.

Question 1

Question 2

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sparing the time to answer all your questions

Spoilers!

Louise Page has been back to visit me this week, this time to answer all your questions submitted for the Ask Louise Page competition.

We had lots of great questions, and I took the opportunity to get a few more of my own answered, as well as a couple I spotted which were being debated on the forums.

She gave some great and interesting replies, plus identified some previously unknown Tenth Doctor costume accessories . . . . but you’ll have to wait a little while before we prepare the videos for posting.

In the meantime, Louise is keeping those spoilers tightly under wraps!

Louise Page - SB6 Space suit special

As well as talking to costume designer Louise Page at length about the ties worn by David Tennant during his time as The Doctor, I also had the chance to discuss he work on a number of other items for his wardrobe.

We chatted about the suit and over coat, but first I thought we’d look an increasing popular focus for cosplayers - the Sanctuary Base Space Suit.

Louise tells us the background story to how the suits were made and assembled.

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sharing her memories of dressing the Tenth Doctor with us all

Louise Page - Time Crash special

If you’ve been following the Louise Page interviews on my suit recently, you will have heard all about ties David Tennant wore.

I’ve been limiting my questioning to the costumes worn by The Doctor, and there are still some more interview bites to come, so watch out for those.
But before we hear more about David Tennant costume, I thought we’d discover the full story behind the dressing of another Doctor: the Fifth, played by Peter Davison.

In 2008 when Doctor Who participated in that year’s Children In Need of appeal, they approached Peter Davison to return to the role of The Doctor.

At first glance assembling the original costume was a relatively easy job, but Louise found nothing is ever really that simple.

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sharing her memories of dressing the Tenth Doctor with us all

Louise Page - The Tie Twelve story

Today is the last time we will hear from costume designer Louise Page on her choices of ties worn by David Tennant.

The final tie is by Massimo Dutti, and was only ever seen in one episode, The Doctor’s Daughter.
It does briefly appear in the closing scene of the previous episode The Poison Sky which runs directly into the next adventure, thus keeping continuity between the scenes.

Louise tell us about this final tie.

This was Louise’s final interview about the Tenth Doctor’s ties. But never fear, she will return very soon to tell us about several other aspects of The Doctor’s wardrobe, including his suit, overcoat and space suit!

Check back so to hear what she has to say.

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sharing her memories of dressing the Tenth Doctor with us all

Louise Page - The Tie Eleven story

The penultimate tie in The Doctor’s wardrobe is a bit of an odd-ball in my mind.

It is made by Massimo Dutti, and features predominately in The Next Doctor, the 2008 Christmas Special (see left).

However, it had first appeared back in Partners In Crime, the series four opener, although it shared screen time with Tie Two, the Daniel Hechter tie, making it less memorable.

Costume designer Louise Page remembers the tie.

Check back VERY soon to see Louise Page talk about the final Tenth Doctor tie - and in an EXCLUSIVE - she reveals the label behind the tie . . .

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sharing her memories of dressing the Tenth Doctor with us all

Louise Page - The Tie Ten story

We are getting down to the last few ties in my tie index, and costume designer Louise Page is on hand today to tell us about Tie Ten, the St George by Duffer.

It was first seen in Utopia, and the subsequent episodes The Sound Of Drums and The Last Of The Time Lords.

Louise had explained to us that for the series two double episode, The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit, she had chosen a new tie (Tie Six) for a one-off use in that story, thus reducing the the chance of over exposure of her more favourite ties.

So when it came to the season finale story arc to series three, she put the same principle into practice, using a brand new tie that after this story was never seen again.

Louise explains the background to this unique tie.

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sharing her memories of dressing the Tenth Doctor with us all

Louise Page - The Tie Nine story

The second tie to be worn with the blue suit was made by Japanese label, Kenzo.

With its appearances in lots of publicity stills, as well as being seen on display at exhibitions, you would be forgiven for thinking the previous Nina Ricci tie was worn more, but you’d be wrong.

The Kenzo tie was first worn in the two part story Daleks In Manhattan and Evolution Of The Daleks, but it went on to crop up extensively in The Lazarus Experiment, The Last Of The Time Lords, Time Crash, Voyage Of The Damned, The Unicorn And The Wasp, Silence In The Library, Forest Of The Dead, The Waters Of Mars – that’s almost triple the appearances of the Nina Ricci!

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sharing her memories of dressing the Tenth Doctor with us all

Louise Page - The Tie Eight story

The next tie costume designer Louise Page will tell us about is the first to be worn with the blue suit, introduced in series three.

This beautiful tie, by designer Nina Ricci, was first seen in season opener Smith And Jones (see right), and cropped up again for the later two part story The Sontaran Stratagem and The Poison Sky.

It was notably worn in the Sarah Jane Adventures cross-over story The Wedding Of Sarah Jane Smith (see below).

This was the last time David Tennant went before the cameras as the Tenth Doctor.

Although it was shown before his departure in The End Of Time, due to the shooting schedules on the two series, it was actually shot after the regeneration scene had been filmed.

Louise explains her colour palette for the blue suit, as well as how it was decided which episodes it would specifically appear in.

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sharing her memories of dressing the Tenth Doctor with us all

Louise Page - The Tie Seven story

We are now just over halfway through the Tenth Doctor’s tie wardrobe, and we come to Tie Seven, the Giorgio Armani tie.

It first appeared briefly in Love And Monsters, but had been featured extensively in Army Of Ghosts (see right) and Doomsday, which were shot first.

It also was seen in Smith And Jones, The Shakespeare Code, Gridlock, Fires of Pompeii (see left), The Family Of Blood, Turn Left, The Stolen Earth, Journey’s End and Planet Of The Dead.

Louise tells us about one of her favourite ties, and listen out for the nickname given it by her staff.

Thanks to Kevin Coppa for giving the interview clips the polished look, and enormous thanks to Louise Page for sharing her memories of dressing the Tenth Doctor with us all