With the announcement of Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor every fan out there had visions in their heads of what this incarnation might look like, but no one expected to see the pictures of the leather jacket, tee-shirt, and Doc Martens.
Few things in this world have set fans of Doctor Who into a rage more then the innocent kiss of the TV Movie, the revelation of the Doctor’s human mother and now to that list, the Leather Jacket.
Most of us have gotten over the kiss, and the half human element didn’t change anything that has happened in the past of the show, so why should it change things going forward?
Ok then, now we are left with the leather jacket and the ill feeling people have placed on it. But is the leather jacket so out of character? Should what the Doctor wears really effect how he saves the universe?
From day one of the series the Doctor has always expressed an interest in the planet Earth. From head to toe he was decked out in Earth style clothes and he was always well versed in our history. He even thought enough of Earth to have his granddaughter schooled on our little blue planet.
He enjoyed the company of humans throughout all of his lives.
For the most part the Doctor has always dressed in a suit with a tie, but “for the most part” is not always. To say that the Doctor’s traditional style of clothes were Victorian style outfits is also a bit unfair. While he did seem to favor the look of a Victorian gentleman during some of his lives, “some of his lives” is not all.
The Third Doctor favored frills and velvet smoking jackets and as I recall takes a lot of flack from some fans for this choice of dress sense as well.
The Fourth was rooted in the 1970’s before he dawned his Victorian style only to drop it again for a mixture of both the Victorian and modern day Earth.
The Seventh Doctor was very much a sign of the modern day man, looking like he just stepped out of a shopping mall in 1987. Did this make him any less the Doctor? No? He still had a tie right? Right.
But then the Fifth Doctor never wore a tie. In fact this Doctor could be more closely related to Christopher Eccleston then any other, he wore tennis shoes and a cricket outfit, very much a leisure suit made for some sort of comfort rather then the best social affair.
The Sixth Doctor’s suit was a totally new creation supposedly not even created on Earth. In fact, not to single out Colin Baker as it has been done to death, but his Doctor could arguably be the one Doctor who breaks the mold, as he didn’t even wear a suit from Earth. Earth style maybe, but not from Earth.
Really we all have a standard in our heads that the production team must fill for us to enjoy the Doctor and his adventures to their fullest potential. But then when you think about it every time a new actor came in to play the new Doctor, half of the fans thought that the new guy didn’t have what it took based on one thing or another.
Then, when given the chance, at least half of that half came around and realized that things weren’t so bad.
There will always be a few who don’t approve of the new look, or even a new idea that is brought forth. But to say that it is out of character isn’t quite fair, when everything that we have seen of the character in the past shows us that his tastes clearly change just as much as his face.
Again looking back on the series as a whole, even taking into account the Sixth Doctor’s alien suit, the Doctor has always dressed in the style of man from Earth so what’s so wrong with the leather jacket after all? It’s still in the tradition of his favorite Place.
No matter what fashion sense or what face the Doctor wears the most important part is that the man underneath them is the same old hero that captivated us as he saved the little people.
Personally I’m glad they had enough sense to let the pictures of the new outfit get leaked to the fan world. Now, no matter what everyone thinks of the new look, when we see the first episode of the new series our heads won’t be filled with thoughts about something as minor as a leather Jacket.
Doctor who is being taken into the new century in a new way, a new way very similar to the old series introduction last century. So looking at the bigger picture, nothing seems out of place.