References for The 8th Doctor's Costume

[greatwazoo42]

Some of the biggest arguements in the Doctor Who community come from the 1996 movie.  It is like opera in that people love or hate it.  The redesigned Tardis Interior, the "half human" thing, interspecies smooching, the campy moments, etc.  One thing that most people do agree upon (either from the film or from his later performances for Big Finish or the novels) is that Paul McGann's Doctor is very memorable.  

High on the list of arguements is the color of his velvet coat, the liner, the lapels, the buttons, all of it.  Because all the promotional images were shot with color filters to give them a slight sepia tone AND done on the Tardis Console Room set with its complex color pattern of lighting people have assumed the coat is black, blue, brown, puce, fuschia...OK; maybe not puce or fuschia.  Currently the color most people consider correct is a deep dark (sometimes called bottle or forrest) green silk or cotton velvet.  The actual coat (or coats) is/are in the hand(s) of private collectors who aren't parading them around much.  The replica made for the Doctor Who Museum and also the action figure are both done in a dark green.  Considering the sheen of certain velvets pick up the colors around them, the use of color filters in the images and in the film and the film being shot in the mild soft focus popular in the mid 1990's it is understandable why here would be so much confusion.  

With the DVD of the film now available the two scenes I recommend to watch fo get a better idea of the real colors of the outfit are:

1) the scene shortly after the Doctor has discovered his new outfit and is in the waiting room.  This is one of the only scenes where white light is used and the colors are slightly washed to give an impression of the post regeneration hang over the Doctor is suffering.  Here you can see the coat is green...unless you're red/green color blind.

2) also shortly after that where the Doctor is harrasing Grace in the parking garage there are moments where the Doctor is equally lit by the white garage lighting and sunlight.  You can get a comparison of the way the fabric of the coat reacts to different colored light as well as differring amounts of light there.

In an effort to aid the seamstress I hired to make me my new and more accurate coat I screen capped as much of the film as I could where the Doctor's outfit was shown in detail and in good light.  Attached are those unedited screen samples.  I apologize that some of them aren't perfect but I was trying to get this info together for her fast and get it out to her.

With the following shots I can understand why so many people assume the velvet is black.  Keep in mind most of the out door shots of the film were done at night so, despite the movie lighting, the velvet would still appear dark:







Here you can see the different light source bring out the green in the jacket:

[greatwazoo42]

[greatwazoo42]

Despite the predominant blue lighting there are pure white spot lights shooting straight down.  As the Doctor walks through one you can see the coat turn green:

[greatwazoo42]

Here you can see the sheen of the velvet reflecting the blues from the time rotor, the brown and amber lighting and reflected wood tones but you can also see as the Doctor passes through one of the white spots the green comes out bold as brass:





The cuffs of the coat aren't folded back cuffs but an added extension of the sleeve sown on at the piping.



Green, green, green, green...or am I imagining that the velvet is green?  




A good shot of the liner material for the skirting:

[greatwazoo42]

[greatwazoo42]

Here are other source images I've found from around the web.  Keep in mind many of them are color altered to have a slight sepia tone look or shot in light sources other than the white or yellow our eyes are used to guaging colors in.  

[greatwazoo42]

[greatwazoo42]

[greatwazoo42]

[greatwazoo42]

These shots are from the DW Museum that opened recently.  A lot of people have disowned this outfit as not accurate to the filmed one but it still is useful for comparison and reference.  You also get a better idea of color and reflectivity of the fabric:

[greatwazoo42]

Please feel free to add observations or additional details to this thread.  If they are about a specific picture or set of pictures and make sense I'll add them inline with the pictures.

[meantimebob]

Personally I always thought the coat was green and that has been confirmed by both McGann and Segal.

[lswl]

Wow! That's a lot of shots of the coat! I thought it was green too, but guess not.

[greatwazoo42]

Until I see the actual coat in good light in person I'm going to hold to my assertion that it is, indeed, green.  Anyone that feels otherwise is welcome to and also welcome to make their replica coat in what ever color they want.  Me; I like green.   

[Rassilons Rod]

I think that's fair, it does look very green in all those shots. It's not like any of them are lit the same way, so I would go for it