Bonhams FLASHBACK 24th November 1998 Entertainment Sale

Exactly twenty years ago TODAY there was a film and entertainment sale at Bonhams.

Being the wilderness years, Doctor Who wasn’t the commodity it is today and there was only one solitary item for sale.

Catalogues in those days were sparse on pictures, so I’ve illustrated it with an image from what I think the item was.
The text in the catalogue spells it Jacondon - it should be Jacondan.

Lot 209 Dr Who
A feathered head-dress of the ‘jacondon’ as worn in the Dr. Who Television series.
Estimate £250-350
UNSOLD

Bonhams FLASHBACK: 18th August 1999 Film, Entertainment & Celebrity Autographs

I found this old Bonhams catalogue from 1999 on eBay recently, and it’s got a good selection of costumes and props from a range of eras of Doctor Who.

There are some amazing costumes listed in this sale, many of which haven’t seen the light of day since. It would be amazing to know where they are!

As usual I have separated the items by Doctor era, and you can see the rest of the items here:

Lots 116-118, 127, 129
1st Doctor (1963-1966)

Lots 113, 125, 127, 129
2nd Doctor (1966-1969)

Lots 114-115, 127, 129-130
4th Doctor (1975-1981)

Lot 112, 119-122, 127, 129
5th Doctor (1982-1984)

Lots 124, 127, 129
7th Doctor (1987-1989)

Lots 128
8th Doctor (2005)

Here are just the lots relating to the Sixth Doctor era

Lot 113
Doctor Who
A blueprint for the complete floor plans for the story The Two Doctors (the last episode to feature Patrick Troughton as the Doctor) signed by the cast and producer, together with clipped signatures of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton framed with two publicity postcards of the two Doctors. (various sizes)
Estimate £500-800

Lot 123
Doctor Who
A CYBERMAN GUN from the 1985 episode Attack Of The Cybermen starring Colin Baker.
Estimate £500-600

Lot 126
Doctor Who
A VAROS commander uniform from the episode Vengeance On Varos.
Estimate £400—500

Lot 127
Doctor Who
A large collection of scripts for episodes from Hartnell to McCoy, some signed, episodes include, Shada, Tomb Of The Cybermen, Genesis Of The Daleles, The Daleles Master Plan and the complete four episodes of Planet The Giants. Approx 20.
Estimate £1000—1500

Lot 129
Doctor Who
A mounted display of autographs and corresponding pictures of seven actors Who have played the Doctor; Williain Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davidson, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy.
Estimate £200—300

Bonhams auction - 13th December 2017

It’s that time of year when Bonhams hold their Winter Entertainment auction, and there are a number of quite nice items for sale - IF you have deep pockets!!!

Bonhams sale 24241
(13th December 2017)
Entertainment Memorabilia

As usual I have separated the items by Doctor era, and you can see the rest of the items here:

Lot 44
1st Doctor (1963-1966)

Lots 37-38
4th Doctor (1975-1981)

Lots 38-40
5th Doctor (1982-1984)

Lots 42-43
7th Doctor (1987-1989)

Lot 44
12th Doctor (2013-2017)

Here are just the lots relating to the Sixth Doctor era

Lot 41
Varosian Guard Uniform
A Varosian guard uniform, from Vengeance On Varos, (Sixth Doctor),
1985.
Comprising tunic and trousers in grey, jacket with red epaulettes and red/black cuffs, leather belt with metal-effect 'V' logo buckle, trousers with red stripe and elasticated bottom straps, labelled Made In BBC Television Workroom and inscribed in blue ballpoint G. Cull, together with a matching cap and moulded and painted resin gorget.

FOOTNOTES
Graham Cull played the character 'Bax' in the production.
Estimate £800 - 1,000
Sold for £750

Bonhams FLASHBACK: 2nd September 1993 Entertainment sale

I came across this vintage Bonhams catalogue dating from 1993.

In my research into sales of Doctor Who costumes and memorabilia at historical Bonhams auctions, I don’t think I’ve seen quite so many Who-related items in a general sale before - 75 items in total, most of which are costume.

Catalogues in those days were sparsely written, often containing typing errors and misattributions. Hence you will see Sontarin (not Sontaran) and Androzanni (instead of Androzani).
Other instances cite the wrong episode titles; wrong seasons; and occasional wrong aliens!

I have therefore NOT attempted to correct any of these as it is not always possible to fathom the ambiguous nature of some of the listings.

Where possible I have used the (few) photos from the catalogue to illustrate the items, but most I have sourced images from either episodes cited, or later Bonhams auctions where it would appear these items resurfaced for sale.

As usual I have separated the items by Doctor era, and you can see the rest of the items here:

Lots 498-503, 512, 514-517, 519-524
1st Doctor (1963-1966)

Lots 467, 480a, 498, 500, 512, 520, 522
2nd Doctor (1966-1969)

Lots 453, 501, 504-504a, 509-512, 516-519, 521-524
3rd Doctor (1970-1974)

Lots 454-455, 457-458, 496-498, 503-505a, 507-508, 512, 519, 521-524
4th Doctor (1975-1981)

Lot 459-465, 469-478, 498, 506-508, 512-513, 516-517, 520-521, 523
5th Doctor (1982-1984)

Lots 459, 468, 486-495, 498, 506-508, 513, 516-521
7th Doctor (1987-1989)

Here are just the lots relating to the Sixth Doctor era

Lot 466 ATTACK CYBERHEAD
An exact replica of an attack style Cybennan head.
Estimate £150 - 250

Lot 479 ‘VENGEANCE ON VAROS’
1984 (Colin Baker) The Technician’s (Stuart Fell), jumpsuit, belt and hat.
Estimate £30 - 50

Lot 480 ‘VENGEANCE OF VAROS’
1984 (Colin Baker) A guard helmet.
Estimate £100 - 200

Lot 480a ‘THE TWO DOCTORS’
1985 (Colin Baker) A replica Sontarin gun.
Estimate £60 - 80

Lot 481 ‘VENGEANCE ON VAROS’
1985 (Colin Baker) The chief ofiicer’s (Forbes Collins) necklace.
Estimate £30 - 50

Lot 482 ‘THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET’
1986 (Colin Baker) One of the sixth doctor’s trademark cat badges.
Estimate £30 - 50

Lot 483 ‘THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET’
1986 (Colin Baker) A multicoloured Drathro guard helmet.
Estimate £150 - 250

Lot 484 ‘TERROR OF THE VERVOIDS’
1986 (Colin Baker) A Hyperion III guard’s gun.
Estimate £100 - 150

Lot 485 ‘THE TRIAL OF A TIMELORD’
1986 (Colin Baker) A replica Magarian helmet complete with original costume (jumpsuit, gloves, belt/sash and boots).
Estimate £150 - 250

Lot 498 DR. WHO - THE AUCTION, CATALOGUE
From 11th May 1991 Sale of selected costumes from the wardrobe, 41 page catalogue with black and white illustrations, colour cover, together with a sheet of prices realised. (2)
Estimate £10 - 20

Lot 506 CYBERMAN
Complete replica Cyberman costume, consisting of silver jumpsuit, chestplate, silver moon boots, silver gloves and fibreglass helmet with tubing attached.
Estimate £400 - 600

Lot 507 A TARDIS ROUNDEL
(Doctor unknown) A transparent fibreglass disc.
Estimate £50 - 80

Lot 508 A TARDIS ROUNDEL
(Doctor unknown) A transparent fibreglass disc.
 Estimate £50 - 80

Lot 510 DR. WHO: ‘THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE’
1989 A bound Dr. Who playscript from this Mark Furness stageplay premiering at the Wimbledon Theatre, together with various stageplay production plans.
Estimate £50 - 80

Lot 511 DR. WHO: ‘THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE’
1989 A Tardis time rotor from the stageplay, a police box sign from the show, and several other props. (a lot)
Estimate £50 - 80



Lot 512 LONDON POLICE BOX (T.A.R.D.I.S.)
A blue London police box, complete with beacon on the top, built of wood, to the same dimensions and appearance of the B.B.C. TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions In Space) featured in regular episodes of Dr. Who.
Estimate £2,000 - 3,000

Lot 513 ASSORTED RUNNING ORDERS
Including those for ‘The Five Doctors’, ‘Rememberance’, ‘Nemesis’, ‘Ghostlight’, ‘Paradise Towers’ and others. (a lot)
Estimate £50 - 80

Lot 516 ‘ARTWORK: DR. WHO’
By Stuart J. Hunphreyes Featuring a plethora of creatures and characters from thirty years of Doctor Who.
Estimate £20 - 40

Lot 517 DR. WHO ARTWORK
Six pieces of original artwork by well known ‘Who’ artists (Dicky Howett and Lee Sullivan), including artwork previously featured in the Doctor Who Magazine. (6)
Estimate £100 - 150

Lot 519 DR. WHO AUTOGRAPHS
A superb collection of Dr. Who associated autographed photographs, postcards, letters and related ephemera, including Tom Baker, John Nathan-Turner, John Leeson, Anthony Ainlay, Tony Selby, David Troughton, John Levene, Christopher Ryan, Ian Marter, Jackie Lane, Michael Wisher, Honor Blackman, Colin Baker, Bonnie Langford and many others. (a lot) Estimate £100 - 200

Lot 520 VARIOUS DR. WHO AUTOGRAPHS
Including Sarah Sutton, Jessica Martin, William Russell, Richard Briers, Nicola Bryant, Frazer Hines, Dinsdale Landen, Sophie Aldred, and others.
Estimate £30 - 40

Lot 521 DR. WHO AUTOGRAPHS
Another similar collection of Dr. Who associated autographed photographs and postcards, including Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Bonnie Landford, Bernard Cribbins, Mark Strickson, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, William Russell, Hugh Lloyd, Richard Franklin, and several others.
(a lot)
Estimate £100 - 150

I guess I should be flattered!

Some cheeky bugger retouched Colin Baker's head onto my body!

I guess I should be flattered!

Sixth Doctor costumes in the making!

 Today I'm starting the process of retrospectively bringing my blogs up to date.

Over the past few years I have become increasingly busy and finding time to post has been limited, so I have defected to Instagram as my default site for sharing what I've been up to.

Here is some work I have been doing on various Sixth Doctor commissions.

Do get in touch if there's anything that catches your eye!

These were some trousers I made. Always nice to see my label inside!

I do love making the Frock Coat. I've made so many now I go on auto-pilot and it can be quite therapeutic and satisfying to see it coming together.

All done - ready to ship out to the client!

Also ordered were some spats!

My spats are patterned directly from a screen worn pair. Studying them closely it became apparent they were possibly done a little on the cheap as they don't entirely sit straight and some finer details of construction are a somewhat jarring to the eye of an experienced tailor.

I therefore took the view to tweak their cut a to improve how they sit and rectify the construction so they will last longer for day-to-day cosplay wear.

Bonhams FLASHBACK: - 19th December 1994 Entertainment Sale

In my researching into sales of Doctor Who costumes and memorabilia at historical Bonhams auctions, I came across the catalogue for an Entertainment Sale in late 1994.

There are a good dozen Who-related items right at there end of the sale.

As usual I have separated the items by Doctor era, and you can see the rest of the items here:

Lots 391, 394, 397 to 398
1st Doctor (1963-1966)

Lots 379, 395 & 398
2nd Doctor (1966-1969)

Lots 378, 380, 392 & 394
3rd Doctor (1970-1974)

Lots 377 to 378, 381 to 383, 392 to 394, 396, 399 to 400
4th Doctor (1975-1981)

Lot 376, 384, 387 & 394
5th Doctor (1982-1984)

Lots 385 to 386, 390 & 394
7th Doctor (1987-1989)

Here are just the lots relating to the Sixth Doctor era

NB: There are minimal photo illustrations in the catalogue. 
All colour images are internet sourced and as example only

Lot 386 DR. WHO
The pink doorman’s jacket and a painter’s overall with a large ‘N’ affixed to it, from The Happiness Patrol (1988, Sylvester McCoy), Dihber’s shirt and tunic from The Mysterious Planet (1986, Colin Baker), and two miscellaneous BBC Television costumes from Captain Zep and Galloping Galaxies. (6)
Estimate £80 - 120

Lot 387 DR. WHO
Season 21, Peter Davison Camera scripts for Frontios and The Twin Dilemma. (qty.)
Estimate £70 - 90

Lot 388 DR. WHO
Season 22, Colin Baker A selection of camera scripts, rehearsal scripts and running orders for The Two Doctors, The Mark of the Rani, Vengeance on Varos, Timelash, and some others. (qty.)
Estimate £120-160

Lot 389 DR. WHO
Season 23, Colin Baker Camera scripts, rehearsal script and recording orders for The Ultimate Foe (Terror of the Vervoids), Mindwarp, The Mysterious Planet, and some others. (qty.)
Estimate £150 - 250

Sixth Doctor - felt cats silhouettes

Any casual viewer of the Sixth Doctor will have picked up on his affection for cats, expressed through the various brooches he wore during his time in the TARDIS.

The cat-loving nature of his Doctor was all Colin’s idea - in fact, a couple of the brooches he wore were portraits of Colin’s own cats!

But unless you’re a die-hard Sixth Doctor fan, you might not know about the deeper, hidden secret about his costume.

On the inside of the yellow lapel, from time to time, you might get a glimpse of a small black silhouette of a cat, and depending which adventure you are watching, their number varies.

But there is a method behind this seeming random act. Like the notches on the nose of a WWII fighter pilot’s aircraft, Colin added a small felt cut-out of a cat for each adventure he had completed.

The list is as follows, and the images above reflect this.

The Twin Dilemma - no cats
Attack Of The Cybermen - one cat
Vengeance On Varos - two cats
Mark Of The Rani - three cats
The Two Doctors - four cats
Timelash - five cats
Revelation Of The Daleks - six cats

After the hiatus between season 22 and 23, the idea was dropped and the cats disappeared.

Of the maximum six cats that appear inside the coat, only three are known to have survived - and they had been removed form the coat so suffered some damage in the process.

A few years back I had access to the coat inside which they are now all sewn, and from this I have been able to lovingly recreate them.

I redrew them in Adobe illustrator, restoring much of their shape to how they would have looked freshly sewn into Colin’s costume (one of the cats had lost its tail, so this has been recreated to match the others).

I then took the artwork to a specialist, who laser cut in felt for me!

He cut as many as he could out of the piece of felt I provided, so I have a number of sets available for sale.

If you would like a set of felt cat silhouettes for your Sixth Doctor coat, one set of three cost GB£30. Two sets of three are GB£45.

FREE global shipping is included in the price!

Email me at tennantcoat@me.com 
and I can send you full details.

Sixth Doctor - ankle armour!

You may have read that I currently offer replicas of the Sixth Doctor’s boots, modelled directly on a pair worn during some of the later episodes.

These have proved quite popular and although they are not cheap, they do add the finishing touches to the perfect Sixth Doctor cosplay.

I’ve also been making the spats to go with the boots, but only by request as I wasn’t 100% happy with the pattern.

I modelled mine directly from a set of screen-worn spats, but to be honest I think the budget had run out by the time the spats were made. They really weren’t cut that well or made to last, unlike much of the rest of the costume.

It’s always a tricky tightrope to walk between being utterly screen accurate and making something that looks and fits well, plus lasts repeated use.

The BBC costume department was always on hand to make running repairs or remake parts of the costume when they wore out, but that’s not something my clients have the luxury of.

So when I was recently asked by two clients for spats,  I decided it was time to revisit the pattern and make a couple of very minor tweaks to sort out the things that were niggling me about the originals.

The main thing I wanted to do was adjust the centre front seam, which on the originals has the tendency to drift off towards one side. It just doesn’t sit nicely down the front of the boot, no matter how you poke it about.

Also, all the edges are overlocked with orange thread, which is a quick, easy and frankly lazy way to hem them. Although it tidies up the raw cut edges, it’s not very attractive to look at.

Finally the spats have a short length of black elastic to secure them under the heal. This is attached to the front part of the spats, which means you have to poke the toe of the boot through the hole making them somewhat awkward to put on and this can rough up the overlocked edges causing snags, so they can become tatty very quickly.

You can also see that the originals have faux buttonholes and buttons on the sides, under which was a strip of white velcro to make the actual closure.

What I have done is to realign the front seam so it now sits vertically down the front of the boots when worn and add a bit more to the section that goes around the heal.

I have faithfully replicated the faux buttonholes and buttons, along with the strip of velcro, but I have substituted it with a matching orange velcro instead to make it less obtrusive - in fact you have to look closely to see it at all!

I have also relocated the elastic to span the back part of the spats rather than the toe, making it easier to fit.
This seems a very minor point, but only if you try fitting them with the elastic in the old position do you realise what an improvement this is.

The last thing I did was to create a proper hem around all edges which is neatly turned up and topstitched to match the rest of the spats.

I have overlocked my raw edges, but these are now out of sight and the whole thing looks a lot smoother.

Now that I am much more happy with the result, I have made up a number of pairs, which are available for sale.

If you want to get a pair of spats to complete your Sixth Doctor cosplay, they are priced at GB£35 each.

FREE global shipping is included in the price!

Email me at tennantcoat@me.com 
and I can send you full details.

The Great Radio Times Sew Off

A couple of weeks ago saw the final of The Great British Sewing Bee - for those that don’t follow it, it’s basically Bake Off, but with sewing machines.




It’s always a talking point amongst sewers across the country and this discussion reached the feedback pages of the Radio Times over the last few weeks.

Last week a letter from Christine Bates contiued the ongoing debate, and added to the mix her Mother’s 1931 vintage Singer sewing machine - which is nice, but frankly a bit too modern even for me!

As a footnote the editor asked if anyone else had a working sewing machine that was older than Christine’s.

Well, if you know anything about how I work, you’d know the answer to that is YES!

So I wrote in, and low and behold they have published my letter, plus two others, along with the photo I sent them!

As it happened, I was working on a Colin Baker coat when I needed to take the picture, so I sneaked it in there!

Here is my letter, which has been published near in full, even down to my cheeky sign-off address!

Original 6th Doctor items on eBay - July 2016

No sooner has the echo of the gavel faded in the Bonhams sale room, then items sold there start appearing on eBay.

Revelation of the Daleks -
Blue Mortuary Tunic

This auction is for an original, screen used Doctor Who costume from the 1985 serial 'Revelation of the Daleks', starring Colin Baker as the Doctor.

The story is set on the planet Necros, the location of the funeral home named Tranquil Repose. This costume was worn by one of the various cast members playing a mortuary attendant, and can be clearly seen in various scenes throughout the story.

The costume itself consists of a light blue tunic with buttons down the left hand side and a pair of light blue trousers. The costume parts are in good, screen used condition and come from a smoke and pet-free home.

The price for this auction is set at just £250.00 (buy it now or best offer), representing an excellent opportunity to purchase an affordable, original, screen used costume from a well respected classic Doctor Who serial, from over 30 years ago.

Revelation of the Daleks -
Green Mortuary tunic

This auction is for an original, screen used Doctor Who costume from the 1985 serial 'Revelation of the Daleks', starring Colin Baker as the Doctor.

The story is set on the planet Necros, the location of the funeral home named Tranquil Repose. This costume was likely worn by one of the various cast members playing a Tranquil Repose guard, who can be clearly seen in various scenes throughout the story, particularly in the catacombs with Davros.

The costume itself consists of a green tunic with buttons down the left hand side with a couple of pockets at the front. There is a label at the top from 'Garroulds of London' who provided the tunics for this story; there is also "DW" inscribed on the label (see third photo). The tunic is in good, screen used condition and comes from a smoke and pet-free home.

The item has been checked by Bonhams auctioneers having been sold as part of lot 82 in the 1991 Bonhams Doctor Who auction, as well as part of lot 80 in the more recent Entertainment memorabilia auction in 2016.

The price for this auction is set at just £195.00 (buy it now or best offer), representing an excellent opportunity to purchase an affordable, original, screen used costume from a well respected classic Doctor Who serial, from over 30 years ago.

Bonham auction - 29th June 2016

After Bamfords nipped in earlier this month an stole Bonhams thunder, it’s now time for the summer Film and Entertainment auction at Bonhams in Knightsbridge.

There is a mix of new items; some items previously sold; and some items from previous sales that went unsold, now listed with lower estimates.

For the Sixth Doctor it’s an item previously sold at a Bonhams auction some 25 years ago!

As usual I have separated the items by Doctor era, and you can see the rest of the items here:

Lots 86 to 87
1st Doctor (1963-1966)

Lots 84, 88 to 91
2nd Doctor (1966-1969)

Lot 81
4th Doctor (1975-1981)

Lot 82 to 83, 85
5th Doctor (1982-1984)

Lot 79
9th Doctor (2005)

Lot 75
10th Doctor (2005-2010)

Lot 75
11th Doctor (2010-2013)

Lot 60
Torchwood

Lot 61
Sarah Jane Adventures

Bonhams Sale 23239
29th June 2016
Entertainment Memorabilia

Here are just the lots relating to the Sixth Doctor era

Lot 80
Doctor Who: Revelation Of The Daleks, 1985: Mortuary Attendant costumes,

comprising five pairs of light blue or green cotton trousers and six tunics, with eight light blue vinyl belts, one tunic with embroidered black chain-link insignia, as seen onscreen worn by various cast members, several tunics and trousers labelled Garroulds of London, some inscribed DW in ballpoint, various sizes

FOOTNOTES
Purchased at a Bonhams auction in 1991 (lot 82).
Estimate £500 - 700

Sold for £400

Bamfords Entertainment Auction - 8th June 2016

The summer Film and Entertainment auction at Bonhams is at the end of this month, but before then there is a bonus auction at Bamfords.

I’m not aware of Bamfords selling Doctor Who items before, but their sale next week has twenty-one lots - rivalling any Bonhams auction in recent years.

As usual I have separated the items by Doctor era, and you can see the rest of the items here:

Lots 4012, 4017 & 4031
1st Doctor (1963-1966)

Lots 4016, 4021 & 4029 to 4030
3rd Doctor (1970-1974)

Lots 4014, 4020, 4027 to 4028 & 4032
4th Doctor (1975-1981)

Lots 4018 to 4019, 4022 to 4023 & 4025 to 4026
5th Doctor (1982-1984)

Lots 4013 & 4015
7th Doctor (1987-1989)

Here are just the lots relating to the Sixth Doctor era

Bamfords Sale
8th June 2016
Film & Memoralilia

Lot 4024 - Doctor Who - Terror of the Vervoids - a Grenville costume
Doctor Who - Terror of the Vervoids - a Grenville costume, worn by Tony Scoggo, 23rd season, first broadcast 1st - 22nd November 1986, comprising shiny green jacket and trousers

Sold for £650