The general rule of thumb for Jack is that he typically goes for a pair of golden brown ankle high Caterpillar work boots, a very practical choice for his character. Caterpillar was chosen by Barrowman due to the fact that his father worked for them for many years. This brand loyalty remained even into the Whittaker era. However there are some interesting exceptions to this trend that are covered below.
For Captain Jack’s introductory appearance during the London Blitz, Barrowman wore a pair of fairly nondescript black leather Oxfords. These shoes are in keeping with what an R.A.F. Officer would wear, and this style can easily be picked up cheaply from military surplus, normally called parade shoes. The only mildly distinctive thing about John’s shoes is that the toe area is moderately pointed.
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| Left: The Doctor Dances Middle: Captain Jack Harkness Right: Captain Jack Harkness (behind the scenes) |
These shoes return for the first series of Torchwood, but as far as I can tell only for the episode Captain Jack Harkness. Given the nature of that story, this may have been to make Jack visually fit in more with the other characters who were all in full uniform. His usual brown boots would’ve stood out. It’s probable that these ones weren’t the exact same pair of shoes from 2005 but they’re similar enough to group together into one. Presumably he would’ve worn these sort of shoes for his 2008 Torchwood card game photoshoot.
2.2. Unknown brown biker boots:
The very first pair of boots John wears for Torchwood are unfortunately unidentified. Very little is seen of them, with the only truly decent shots occurring when Jack first shows Gwen the invisible lift out of the base.
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| Shots from the invisible lift scene of Everything Changes. Note how wide Barrowman's trousers are. |
What is visible however, indicates that they are a medium brown leather, with some sort of strap on the top over the wearer’s metatarsals, a seemingly lace-less design (presumably they zip up), and a fairly thin synthetic sole. The only style of footwear that I’m aware of that has these sort of strap looking things on the top are certain types of motorbike boots, the straps act as a reinforcement against the kick starter. If anyone out there has more information about these then please get in touch.
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| Left: Children of Earth (1965 flashback scene) Right: Fragments (1999 flashback scene) |
These boots appear throughout the very first two episodes of Torchwood, though return in flashbacks for the next two series via the 1999 scene in Fragments and 1965 scene in Children of Earth. So canonically Jack must have owned these for over forty years.
2.3. Caterpillar Luke:
Of all his footwear, the ones that get the most screen-time are his Caterpillar Luke boots. These were introduced a few episodes into Torchwood’s first series, and became his boot of choice during the Cardiff era.
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| John never puts the laces through the top holes, allowing the boots to be taken on and off more quickly via the speed hooks. |
Caterpillar made three versions of this boot, the screen accurate variant is the tan coloured leather with dark grey sole, officially called golden brown on the box. A version using chocolate brown leather also exists, as well as one in a slightly lighter tan with a tan coloured sole. The latter can be made to look more accurate by slightly darkening the leather with boot polish, and dyeing the rubber of the sole.
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| Jack's more pristine Luke boots compared to a new old stock example in the bottom right. |
It is worth noting that his Luke boots do change colour a bit depending on the episode. Sometimes they appear as darker saddle brown kind of colour. At first I believed that these were the chocolate brown variant, but none are quite that dark. I don’t know if this was done on purpose but presumably some boots were darkened from boot polish. These ones actually pair better with his chocolate brown belt, as ideally one should closely match belt and footwear colour.
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| Examples of Jack's darker Luke boots. |
2.4. Caterpillar Akon:
Another model of Caterpillar, the Akon boots are easily distinguishable from his other footwear from the light coloured contrasting section on the heel. This model was made in a few different colours and leather finishes (such as nubuck), Jack’s are a medium to dark brown smooth leather version.
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| Shots from the episodes Adam and To the Last Man compared to a pair of Akon boots, either in the exact screen worn colourway or one very similar. |
These boots have confirmed appearances in the series two episodes To the Last Man and Adam, though may have been used in others.
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| Another shot from Adam showing off the frontal design. |
2.5. Wolverine Saturn:
With the coming of Miracle Day, Captain Jack swapped out his usual Caterpillars for a pair of steel toed brown Wolverine Saturn boots. These were used throughout this fourth series, even anachronistically for the 1920’s scenes in Immortal Sins.
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| Various shots from Miracle Day compared to a stock photo of this model. |
VERY IMPORTANT: This model of boots suffers from hydrolysis, meaning that if they go into storage for extended periods without the sole being flexed through everyday usage then the polyurethane begins to perish. I would imagine virtually all pairs of these boots have been affected by this chemical breakdown by now, so if you find a pair for your collection it’s probably best to keep them as display only, otherwise the sole will in all probability just fall apart immediately. If you’ve got a pair that hasn’t suffered this fate then be sure to keep them in your footwear rotation to extend their lifespan.
2.6. Caterpillar Deplete:
For his long awaited return to the role, Barrowman once again donned brown Caterpillar boots, this time the Deplete model. Although these have a noticeably different top to the Luke boots, they channel much the same look and are very in keeping for his character.
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| The Deplete model has been confirmed to be accurate based on behind the scenes photos showing the top. |
These boots were used in both of Barrowman’s on-screen return era appearance, and presumably were used in Time Fracture too, although footage from that is too limited to confirm.
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