During Troughton's tenure the look appeared unchanged. However, as time went on, there were subtle tweaks and additions along the way. This means like the trousers, shoes and bowtie, the jacket 1st worn, was very different to the one finally seen by the time Pat reached his last story, The War Games. Surprisingly, this part of the costume went through the most variations than any other, mainly down to the pocket design. But before I delve deep into the pockets(!), let's have a brief look at the coat itself...
The style of coat used was like a tail coat, or to give it its correct name a Cutaway Jacket, not a frock coat as it is sometimes called. The cutaway jacket was popular in the Edwardian era up to the 1930's. It had a curved lower front end, a Princess cut panelled back and a a top left breast pocket. A frock coat (as worn by 5th & 8th Doctor's) also has the Princess panelled cut at the back, however, it is the front that is different as it is as long as the back and has no curve. The original design of the cutaway jacket had, unlike the frock coat, no side pockets (OK... Fashion lesson over).
Depending on the coat worn by Troughton when playing The Doctor in his original run, the number of buttons varied from 3 or 4 up the front and 2 or 3 on the cuffs. Troughton himself said that he had two jacket, a lighter one for studio work and a heavier/thicker one for location. While this can be sometimes seen in episodes and publicity pictures, the truth is he wore several variants of both thickness as time went on. The giveaway is the width and style of lapels and size of the jacket. As each season progressed, his coats increased in size,. Finally ending up with a coat that was perhaps two sizes bigger than the actors own personal jackets. As to whether the ones Troughton wore were original or made for a film or TV production, is unknown. However the buttons seen are not material covered so it does suggest vintage Edwardian were not used.
Buttons and size aside, you will have noticed that Troughton's coats were a little different to the original cutaway jacket design. This is due to the addition of oversized patched pockets sewn onto the outside of each side. This addition, alongside the later oversized jackets, helped to create that familiar baggy & crumpled 'Cosmic Hobo' look that Sidney Newman was originally after. You will now see, as time went on, the pocket's design changed and for a number of years created some debate as to the design or adaptation of the jacket to create them.
With clearer photographs coming to light, I will now walk you through the five (Yep, FIVE) different style of pockets...
Style 1 - The Oblong Pocket
(As seen in Power of the Daleks)
This 1st jacket fitted Pat fairly well and was a lot shorter in the tail length. Along the way, it was decided that pockets needed to be created and so the shape chosen was oblong. With this design of pocket added it changed the shape and look the coat. Rather than being stitched and cut to follow the curve of the coat, these pockets hung down past the curve and cut of the jacket (Think Marty McFly pulling his pockets out of his jeans in the film Back To The Future - 2). This in turn created an almost frock coat appearance as the front and back looked equal in length. In-fact, for a while, some fans thought that this originally was a frockcoat that had the edges pulled up and folded back on itself. They theorised that with the insides now pinned up on the outside not only were pockets created but so was the sweeping curve for a tail coat look. It was further suggested that as the inner lining was now exposed, it was this that was creating the difference in the 'pocket' material. Not so, as these pictures can now reveal.
Strangely, looking at the publicity photos (below) of both sides of the jacket we can see that only a left hand oblong pocket was created. Not only that, but It appears that in the 1st few episodes of Power of the Daleks, that there was no right hand pocket at all, or if there was, it has matching coat material making it difficult to see.
Admittedly, it is still unknown at the time of writing what was or wasn't on the right hand side of the jacket as there is sadly limited clear reference photographs available for this story. Should I discover more, I will update when I can. What we can see currently though is that the 2nd Doctor's costume was still evolving, episode by episode and during this story the pockets on each side do not match in design... something that I will return to later.
By the time Troughton's debut story had ended and episode 1 location filming completed for the following story - The Highlanders, the jacket and the pockets were changed...
Style 2 - The Tight Shiny Ones.
(Highlanders- Faceless Ones)
As mentioned in a post before, the location filming for episode 1 & original ending of episode 4 of The Highlanders, took place on 14th and 15th November 1966 at Frensham Ponds. It was during this filming Troughton sported the new jacket for the 1st time, complete with new pockets that matched in size and shape on both sides. As the location filming took place during the week of rehearsing Power of The Daleks episode 5, the new jacket was also seen in that episode along with the new, but temporary, bow tie. (for details, please see my previous post 'A Knotty Question').
During the location filming of The Highlanders publicity photos were taken on location, as well as at an unknow location (see below). That photograph was later published in the inside pages of the 1967 Dr. Who Annual & another variant also featured in the children's comic that was running the Dr. Who strips - TV Comic, as a set of free 'Television Hero's' cards. Here you can see clearly see a pocket on the right hand side has been added, made from slightly shiny material. A matching one was also added on the left. Although still stiched onto the outside of the jacket these pockets are different in shape to the one seen in The Power of The Daleks. Rather than hang below in an oblong, the shape is almost a 'D' shape. This new design follows the curve of the jacket's tail.
These pockets are quite tight to the coat, making them, in certain lights, look invisible... especially when there is nothing in them. With the material in some photos highlighting the shiny material, this had added to to the myth of a frock coat being used and turned up, as mentioned above. However on closer inspection of good quality photos, the stitching around the edges of these pocket can be seen quite clearly, proving the jacket edges were not turned up on themselves. These pockets were retained until the location filming on The Evil of The Daleks.
Style 3 - The Big Baggy Ones
(Evil of The Daleks - Mind Robber)
The next set of pockets seemed to make their debut in Evil of the Daleks (studio) . The tops hang lower in a scoop to form the silhouette we associate with the 2nd Drs jacket. The material isn't as shiny and looks almost felt-like. In October 2022 a 'new' picture was discovered of Troughton in Fury From The Deep (see full colour photo the top of this post). It shows that the saggy scooped top was a deliberate design choice and not the previous ones being stretched over time as debated by some.
The photo of the right hand pocket (close-up above), clearly reveals that the tops are also pinched together and then stitched to hold and create the required 'scooped' baggy crumpled look. However, the pocket on the left is not only slightly different in design, its also sitting slightly higher. creating a slightly uneven look. This can be seen in the photo below, which was taken on 14th December 1967. Here Troughton met 8 year old Paul Worrall of Sheffield, the winner of a 'Dr Who Monster Competition' organised by the BBC's Blue Peter children's programme,
These style of pockets are the one mostly associated with the 2nd Doctors costume and would continue up until ep 5 of The Mind Robber... then it was all change again!
Style 4 - The Unmatched
(The Invasion - War Games)
By the time we get to the next story, The Invasion, the pockets have been replaced and redesigned. Now they are much larger in length and width (probably due to a larger jacket now being used).
The left hand pocket is similar in shape to the baggy pockets of style 3, but the right hand pocket is very different. In some scenes the pocket slopes downwards from the back to the front and resembles the previous pockets, but on closer inspection there seems to be no hem to keep its shape, or create a crumpled scooped look. The material on is now folded into the pocket itself. Finally the proof of this lack of hem reveals itself later in this story as the inside of this pocket is pulled out and the shiny lining is revealed. The excess material now flaps over the rest of the pocket like a large black hankie hanging out over the side, giving the illusion that the pocket is torn. Depending on the scenes, this pocket hem is either tucked in or out of the main pocket. after The Invasion, the preferred look is the latter with the pocket hem hanging out over itself.
Both pockets once again, as per Power of The Daleks, are of a completely different design. This can be seen in the photos below, taken from episode 2 of The Space Pirates.
There is one extra oddity... In location photographs taken during The Invasion, the left hand pocket is also different, this time higher at the back sloping down to the front. Perhaps this is one of the thicker coats for location shoots that Troughton had mentioned, or it could be that originally this new left hand pocket also had its hem folded inside to create the sloped shape and was stitched up, creating a higher pocket at some later date.
When I publish a post on story-by-story jackets Troughton used (revealed by the jacket buttons & lapel width), perhaps the mystery will be solved? That will be a lengthy bit of research, so don't expect it anytime soon!
Style 5 - The Wings
(The War Games)
Before Troughton original run of stories came to an end, there is one final change, and again its to the right hand pocket. The pocket now seems to have a stich in the middle to hold it up higher and to stop it hanging low. This created the look of a double pocket compartment that could be entered at either the front of back. The sides still hang down creating the look of a set of wings, revealing still the slight difference of material for the lining.
This pocket variant is 1st seen in episode 2 The War Games. Strangely, this new design echoes the looks of the original left had side pocket seen in The Power of The Daleks as it hang loose. Alongside the rip in the knee of the houndstooth trousers and an even bigger jacket this creates a much shabbier look for the 2nd Doctor, with only the Spotty Bowtie being sharp and smart.
As you can see, through out most of his run the pockets were either mismatched in design or height, apart from Style 2. I hope that above was of interest and helps in cosplaying the 2nd Doctor. Talking of cosplay, here's a thing to remember when buying a jacket for your 2nd Doctor look... most tail coats, or morning coats for sale today have a single button at the front with a slightly pointed bottom lapel. They are ideal and easy to adapt for cosplay purposes. The vintage ones like Troughton's are very hard to find...but trust me, they are out there as I have found 2 versions and at a reasonable price too! One having an interesting hidden pocket in the back of the tail!
Happy hunting!
THANKS
& ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
I just want to say a huge thanks here for the talented colourisation work of Clayton Hickman. I have used a few of his coloured photos to help highlight the differences in the pockets... & of course all other copywrite is the BBC's with no infringement intended.
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