'You might be a Doctor, but I am the Doctor. The original you might say.'
Way back when, at the inception of Doctor Who, not even in the wildest pipe-dream of the most ardent fan could predict the enduring popularity of the show and its titular hero. William Hartnell became increasingly forgetful as the series progressed and once the show-runners came up with the concept of regeneration Patrick Troughton took over with a brand new look.
Little importance was placed upon original costumes from a kooky, low-budget, British science fiction show, meaning the original Doctor's outfit was almost immediately lost, never to be seen again. This has resulted in several new outfits having to be made over the years for the First Doctor's subsequent appearances, all of which are good imitations of the original's style but with their own unique appearance.
The original.
William Hartnell - Season 1 to 4:
Although there was a reasonable number of costume variants used throughout Bill's original run the one I'll be focusing on here is his classic, most distinctive look.
Hartnell's classic look.
Coat:
The coat is often described as a frock or morning coat, however this is inaccurate. Due to the lack of any waist or princess seams it would be more accurate to describe it as a moderately long double breasted (non functional) jacket made to look Edwardian. Each side features six silk damask buttons and keyhole buttonholes with a varying number of matching cuff buttons. The lapels are shawl type and the jacket features slanted side pockets. The shoulder seams are unusually angled back and curved.
This is a particularly high quality photo for the time.
Waistcoat:
The classic waistcoat is a woven upholstery type fabric made with an overall off white colour and vertical stripes. It features an off-white rear fabric and matte piping with six button closure and four double welt pockets. There is another waistcoat made with very similar fabric, having twice as many of the black woven stripes and a slightly thicker piping.
The second, near identical, waistcoat.
Trousers:
The most commonly worn trousers were a pair of high waisted grey and black houndstooth trousers with jeans style front/side pockets. I've seen this fabric used in other productions throughout the decades (notably for a scarf in Grandana's adaptation of 'The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual') so it's likely a moderately common pattern that's still available somewhere. Other houndstooth trousers were worn during certain episodes.
A rare colour photograph without the coat obstructing the finer details.
Shirt:
The shirt is a stud collar variety worn with collars of varying shape, some point forwards more than others. The cuffs are one button rounded barrel types.
Tie:
The tie is a navy blue piece of silk ribbon cut to length, the ends weren't hemmed leading to light fraying.
Other Items:
The footwear I'm a little vague on but he seemingly wears both Edwardian style ankle boots and regular black dress shoes depending on the story.
The outerwear sometimes donned by the Doctor includes a black cloak with chain fastening, Persian lamb fur hat and vertically striped scarf of varying shades of black and white.
Accessories include the blue crystal ring, monocle on a ribbon and twisted wooden walking stick.
William Hartnell - The Three Doctors:
Given Bill's failing health his appearance in this story was all too brief. Little of his new costume was visible during the episode however the Radio Times promotional pictures give a pretty good idea of the outfit save for the footwear.
The gang's back together.
Coat:
This time an authentic morning coat was used for the production, meaning it is likely longer than Bill's original long jacket. It features silk piping, a single front button and notch lapels, fairly unusual compared to the more common and formal peak lapels. The coat does not appear to have any exterior pockets and seems to have a lapel buttonhole.
This morning coat is a more authentic Edwardian style than the original coat.
Although a similar colour to the original, this waistcoat is made of a subtle check fabric rather than stripes. The cut is completely different too, it has a low rise with a fairly flat base and only four buttons to fasten. Although like the original there are four pockets, they are thicker single welt varieties.
This gives a good look at the lapels and waistcoat's fabric.
Trousers:
Although likely cut to a similar pattern than the originals the side pockets appear to be a more common vertical design. The fabric is a grey and black colour and is either a houndstooth or check design.
Shirt:
This appears more or less the same as the original. The cuffs aren't visible so they might be different however.
Tie:
This is pretty similar to the original but appears to be black rather than navy.
Other Items:
The monocle is the only accessory to make a return, albeit on a string rather than a ribbon.
Richard Hurndall - The Five Doctors:
Unfortunately by the time of this special episode William Hartnell had passed away, resulting in the casting of Richard Hurndall to take his place, who also passed away shortly after.
Please excuse the creepy waxwork Tom.
Coat:
Once again a morning coat is used in place of the oddly styled original jacket. It is pretty similar in pattern to the Three Doctors morning coat (notch lapels, no eternal pockets, etc) save for the three button front rather than just the one. It does however feature much thicker piping that is textured rather than satin, this piping does not appear on the sleeve like the previous morning coat.
Note the length of the morning coat.
Waistcoat:
The design of this waistcoat is much closer to the original than the one featured in the Three Doctors. The fabric is a cream colour with what appears to be a diamond texture and matching coloured matte piping. The exact shape is slightly different from the original and features seven buttons rather than six, unusually these ones appear to be a textured gold shank variety. I'm not sure about the pockets as there don't appear to be any clear shots of them.
The waistcoat texture is visible here.
Very similar to his previous trousers in cut, likely with more traditional vertical pockets like in the Three Doctors. The fabric is a plain grey wool, possibly flannel.
Shirt:
The collar of this shirt is significantly shorter than previous imaginings of the outfit, the collar points are also fairly forward pointing. In addition, double cuffs are used rather than the original barrel cuffs.
Tie:
As a result of the short collar this outfit's tie is considerably skinnier than usual. It is also black rather than the original navy.
Other Items:
The monocle returns for this outfit, on a string rather than the original ribbon.
Grey fingerless gloves are worn throughout the story marking a relative departure from tradition.
The walking stick is a plainer variety made of dark wood.
David Bradley - Christmas 2017:
After over three decades we finally get to see the return of the First Doctor. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. Given the current lack of clear shots of David Bradley's outfit I can't go into too much detail but will do what I can.
This is the only decent shot of the new outfit currently available.
Coat:
This appears more similar to the original outfit's coat than the subsequent morning coats due to the double breasted appearance and shawl lapels. Differences include black sleeve lining rather than the original's cream striped lining, more plain buttons rather than silk damask, and a noticeable cuff to the sleeves like found on more traditional frock/morning coats. The front buttons do not seem so close together so there may be fewer on this coat.
Waistcoat:
The distinctive look of the classic waistcoat has been well replicated here, though more through clever modification than custom weaving. It appears that the fabric started life as a plain striped design before being tactically embroidered to make it look more like the original design and give it a less smooth texture, kind of like a hand embellished Giclée. The buttons appear to be good matches to those found on Hartnell's original, unlike the original however it does not seem to have any piping.
Shirt:
The shirt is much like the more pointed collar one found in the original series, one noticeable difference being the presence of double cuffs.
Tie:
It appears much like the original in design although I believe is made more professionally as there is no visible fraying like when using a cut silk ribbon. It is also black rather than navy.
Other Items:
The monocle appears to be back on ribbon as per the original.
The outerwear (cloak, hat and scarf) makes a return, the only significant difference seems to be the scarf which is a plain off-white colour rather than striped.
Other Outfits:
There have been other official outfits but as they are not part of the main series I won't go into the differences.
David Bradley - An Adventure in Space and Time
Doctor Who Experience
