Jodie Whittaker reveals the inspiration behind her Doctor Who costume
The first female Time Lord took inspiration from Google and Coldplay album covers
Jodie Whittaker has revealed the inspiration behind her "timeless" Doctor Who costume, which she co-created with costume designer Ray Holman.
Whittaker, the first female Doctor in the franchise's history, brought Holman "lots of images and bits and pieces" she'd seen online to their initial meeting, including Coldplay album covers and an image of a "non-gender specific" woman in a T-shirt, cropped trousers and boots (sound familiar?).
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"I found an old black-and-white image on Google that spoke to me," she said during an interview with Radio Times. "It's of a woman walking with purpose in crop trousers, boots, braces and a T-shirt, and she just looks so comfortable and non-gender specific — that was my style point."
Her already-iconic rainbow T-shirt was partly inspired by Coldplay's cover artwork.
"I need it [the costume] to have colour because I respond to colour," Whittaker revealed. "I really love the use of colour on Coldplay album covers, which I also showed to Ray.
"Which is where the rainbow came in — nothing evokes a sense of hope in me more than hundreds of rainbows!"
Whittaker, who previously worked with Holman during Broadchurch, said she wanted her costume to be "comfortable" and "practical" — "I certainly needed pockets" — and revealed the hidden message behind her long blue coat.
"Ray [Holman] had the idea of my coat representing the sky — so the exterior is day but the lining is dark blue for space," she said.
However, it seems that there's still a secret message behind the costume.
"One day I might be able to tell you what it all means," she teased, "but for now everything is a secret between me and Ray, so I'm not allowed to say."
Doctor Who returns to BBC1 on Sunday 7th October at 6.45pm
