Twelfth Doctor Dinner Suit Breakdown

‘The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean, you turned up on my doorstep, with a new haircut and a suit.’

      Professor River Song - Forest of the Dead (2008)

‘Now that, my dear, is a suit.’

      Professor River Song - The Husbands of River Song (2015)

It could, in one sense, be argued that this particular costume holds immense significance despite only having two appearances so far, in ‘Mummy on the Orient Express’ and ‘The Husbands of River Song’. Not only was this suit first mentioned six years before its first physical appearance on the Orient Express, but it’s the outfit that the Doctor picked (from his near infinite wardrobe) to wear for River in their last night together on Darillium.

Aren't they sweet?

Note that there are some subtle variations between the outfits worn in these two episodes; however I believe that this is due to the change in costume designer and that they are basically meant to be the same outfit. In this breakdown I’ve prioritised the description of the Mummy version but then attempted to highlight the differences in the Darillium outfit afterwards. 

My outfit

Jacket:

The dinner jacket that Capaldi wears with this outfit is a 4x1 double breasted example; this particular style is quite dated (though a revival is being attempted by Paul Smith and similar brands) and reached peak popularity in the 80’s so finding a second hand one is probably the best option. There’s a fair amount of variation in terms of the shape of the lapel and collar as well as button placement with 4x1 jackets, so be aware of this when hunting for one. Due to the 4x1 style being out of fashion I managed to get mine for next to nothing from eBay, all things considered it's pretty close to the original and ended up being the cheapest part of the whole outfit.

High resolution promo picture

The Mummy version has only two buttons on the cuffs, however the Darillium version seems to have three or four. There may be some other minor differences but the jackets are virtually identical, the main difference is that it is worn unbuttoned on the Orient Express and buttoned on Darillium.

My outfit uses a Centaur dinner jacket

Waistcoat:

Throughout the episode there are no direct, clear shots of the whole waistcoat on show, there are however enough brief glimpses to piece together the details. It is a black single breasted dinner waistcoat with a deep U-shape opening, shawl lapels, flat base, two welt pockets and four buttons. It has been mistaken as being double breasted in the past however if you watch closely it is clear that this is not the case.

My outfit as seen the jacket removed

It seems that there is a fair amount of variation in dinner waistcoats, meaning finding a close match is more difficult than one would imagine. On the flip side, due to this variation it made identifying the screen accurate waistcoat significantly easier, details such as the unusually thick welt pockets gave it away. Based on my observations I am pretty sure the screen accurate waistcoat is from Charles Tyrwhitt, fortunately it is still available for £70.

The screen accurate waistcoat on the Charles Tyrwitt website

It is impossible to tell if the waistcoat is worn at Darillium as the jacket is kept buttoned up for the outfit’s brief appearance. If you’re going for the Darillium look then the waistcoat’s optional, just keep the jacket buttoned.

Shirt:

This is a relatively easy and cheap piece to obtain; the shirt is an off-the-peg Marcella dress shirt with French cuffs, standard buttons and a front placket. Marcella shirts feature their collar, cuffs and front bib made out of a diamond weave cotton, the rest is poplin. The actual shirt was probably purchased along with some of Twelve’s other clothes, the Marcella shirts from Budd and Charles Tyrwhitt are likely candidates for screen accuracy. My shirt is a slightly less accurate one from T.M. Lewin but was an absolute bargain at only £20 in one of their semi-regular sales.

Budd's Marcella shirt, possibly the screen accurate one

I think the Doctor wears his standard Budd soyella shirt (with the collar stays removed) on Darillium. If you’ve already got a similar shirt this is an easier look to do. Strangely the soyella shirt seems to be lacking cufflinks with this outfit, leaving the cuffs loose and open.

Trousers:

Series 8 used slim fitting Paul Smith trousers with forward pleats and cuffs, though there had been a little confusion over the exact colour in the past. It is accepted now that the trousers are a very dark navy although distinctly black trousers seem to have been used at the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, this however wouldn’t be the first time they’ve used inaccurate items.

Close up of the Mummy trousers

Given the lighting used in the episode it isn’t really possible to tell if the trousers are dark navy or black, although they do seem to be a good colour match to the jacket. It is possible that the trousers used in the episode were black and custom made using the Paul Smith pattern as a guide or simply an off-the-shelf pair by Paul Smith simply in black. This would make it look more like a matching suit, and it's possible the black ones ended up at the Experience as they'd not be so in demand for filming by the costume crew. Although hard to tell for sure, the pleats on these trousers seem to be slightly closer together than the navy trousers, whose pleats seem to line up with the belt loops whereas these do not. My outfit uses iTailor trousers (with specially requested forward pleats) in black purely because that colour fits the look better to my eye and looks more like a matching suit, technically if the jacket and trousers are made of different fabrics it's not really a suit.

Boots:

Capaldi consistently wears the Loake brogue boots throughout all of Series 8, they aren’t cheap but are available online. The Darillium boots aren’t identifiable but are likely the Doc Marten Affleck’s as the Loake boots seem to be being phased out of the series.

Screen accurate Loake brogue boots

Neckwear:

This is a bit of an unusual one; the Doctor wears a long floppy bow tie that is reminiscent of John Pertwee’s first costume and usually associated with the Wild West. If you’re crafty it shouldn’t be too difficult to make one of these out of a little black satin. Mine was obtained from an Etsy seller who makes custom period neckwear, it’s not hugely accurate but is sufficient for my needs. Ideally it should be made of a shinier silk satin and the ends should be V and I/ shaped as opposed to two V ends.

Mummy version

On Darillium the tie is worn looser, resulting in larger loops that hang down rather than standing like a more modern bow tie. I suspect this tie is actually a little different from the Mummy one, but the changed appearance is mostly down to how it has been tied.

Darillium version

Handkerchief:

Capaldi wears a pretty standard white cotton pocket handkerchief folded two point style. The Darillium version abandons this and features no pocket accessory.

My outfit's handkerchief

Belt:

Series 8 used two varieties of belt, but the belt used in this episode is the same one used in Robots of Sherwood and Time Heist. Not sure what the original’s brand was, but I managed to find a great match made by Osprey. The Darillium outfit probably used one of the two M&S belts that were favoured in Series 9.

My outfit's Osprey belt

Cufflinks:

Chain link torpedo cufflinks in white metal, Magnoli sell some but aren’t that accurate as they do not have a spherical cross section. These are a fairly uncommon style but can usually be found on places like eBay if you look closely. As previously mentioned, the Darillium outfit uses no cufflinks leaving the cuffs loose, a precursor to the way his red floral shirt is worn in Series 10.

My outfit's cuffs

Ring:

As always, Twelve wears his ring featuring a gold double band (unconnected) and green amber gem, this was made by Rowley’s Jewellers in Penarth. Magnoli do a nice, reasonably priced replica although purists may want to go down the Celestial Toystore or Rowley’s route.

Capaldi's rings seen during filming

Sonic:

On the Orient Express the Doctor is still using the old sonic inherited from Eleven. By the time he reached Darillium however he had swapped this for his updated blue sonic and sonic shades (Ray Ban Wayfarers).

Mummy sonic (left), Darillium sonic (right)

There are various options for both of these sonics to suit any budget, from £10 plastic toys to the various metal collector's pieces fetching many hundreds of pounds. The general Wayfarer glasses design is quite common and many other brands make cheaper sunglasses that are near-identical in appearance for those with smaller budgets.

Ray Ban Wayfarers (sonic shades)