Dressed By Angels - the full tour

This week I took a little bit of well earned time off to go and visit an exhibition in London’s East End.

It was a display of costumes made by Angels Costumiers, the world’s largest single costume maker and supplier to film and tv in the UK, as well as around the globe.


Through the years, and a series of take-overs, they have amassed an archive of costume from some truly great films, so I knew this exhibition would be worth the trip.

It goes without saying there is a bit of Doctor Who on show, so I not entirely off duty!

I will do a separate posting about the Doctor Who display to do it justice, so what I have written about below excludes this, plus some stuff I am not personally interested in.

When I bought my ticket online I noticed there was also an opportunity to go with a tour guide to show you around and give some background information on the displays. I therefore booked for today’s 11am tour.

The venue was somewhat hard to find - in fact it is hidden away in an alley off Brick Lane, then down stairs into a basement of what was once a brewery.

I guessed it would be a bit tricky to locate, so I did allow some extra time for my journey, which actually meant I had time before the official tour to have a nose round on my own to see what was on show.

As we moved past the early days of costme for Victorian music halls, we came to a display of 1930s usherette costumes.

These were made by Angels for the cinemas sprouting up across the UK at the time, making visiting them a more eventful and special experience.

Moving on we came to the early days of film, with the cape, hat and scarf from The Lodger, one of Alfred Hitchcock’s earliest silent movies.

Film adaptations of Dicken’s Novels on show included A Tale Of Two Cities, Oliver! and Great Expectations.

I was amused to see the trousers of the Artful Dodger were made from pillow ticket, in just the same way The Sixth Doctor’s were.


We then came to the first of my childhood influences - The Red Shoes.

It was stunning to see the actual shoes and ballet dress on show. I had never seen them before.

Next to The Red Shoes was another Powell and Pressburger classic, A Matter Of Life And Death. This time the RAF uniform worn by David Niven for the film.

Moving to the 1950s, we then saw costumes from the classic St Trinian’s films, always a favourite of mine.

Alongside this was a display of various armed forces uniforms from the likes of Band Of Brothers etc.


Not far away was a composited Sherlock Holmes costume, made up in part of an Inverness cape worn by Peter Cushing in the Hammer Hound Of The Baskervilles, as well as a suit underneath from the 1968 BBC version.

This was next to a glass cabinet containing Peter Sellers’ tweed hat and moustache from his Pink Panther films of the 1960s and 70s.

I was then stopped in my tracks to see costumes from The Boyfriend - a Ken Russell film of the early 1970s which inspired much of my love the how film is made.

These costumes were worn by lead stars Twiggy and Christopher Gable (of Caves Of Androzani Fame).


Next was Heath Ledger’s last costume as he worn in The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus.

Followed by Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford from the biopic Mommie Dearest.


Sitting in a chair opposite was Ernst Stavro Blofeld as depicted in You Only Live Twice, complete with white cat.

That particular bond film was screenplay by Roald Dahl, as was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, another Broccoli adaptation of a Ian Fleming novel.

On display here was the Childcatcher, as played by Robert Helpmann, and Truly Scrumptious, as played by Sally Ann Howes.
the Childcatcher scared the life out of me, as I’m sure it did many who saw it.




Moving on, I came to something else that scared the life out of me as a child - Dracula, as played by Christopher Lee in the many Hammer films he did in the 1960s and early 70s.

This, like many of the other displays, is quite wittily done. The blank faceless mannequins are dotted with occasional make-up references, and this one has the fang marks and blood from the maiden’s neck!

Separated off into a small room was a display of various BBC comedy programmes from the 1970s and 80s.  Here was Manwearing from Dad’s Army (also the upcoming film version); Margot Ledbetter from The Good Life; as well as the Batman and Robin fancy dress outfits from Only Fools And Horses.





Also here was Glenda Jackson’s Cleopatra outfit from her appearance on the iconic Morecambe & Wise Christmas special.

Bringing things more up to date were costumes from The Lady In The Van, and A Theory Of Everything.



These are good examples of modern period pieces, and how costumes are often newly made, but broken down to age them prior to filming.

As part of the modern period display there was also robes worn by Helen Mirren as The Queen; as well as Margret Thatcher as played by Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady.

Moving into the world of pop music, there was a flamboyant head-dress worn by Annie Lennox for her Diva solo album. This I found out had originally been made for the Roger Moore Octopussy Bond film.

Another 80s favourite of mine, Adam Ant, was represented by his ornate military tunic. This had been made for The Charge Of The Light Brigade.

Also here was a set of Sargent Pepper tunics, but these came from the opening ceremony.

On show were costumes from a variety of Oscar winning films. These included Peter O’Toole as Lawrence Of Arabia; Russell Crowe’s leather uniform from Gladiator.

Also here was Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones outfit and Alec Guinness as Ben Kenobi from Star Wars, and a montage from Titanic.




All in all it is quite a good exhibition, covering many popular films and tv shows. There was space for more stuff, so it was disappointing it hadn’t been filled as well as it could have been. That said every piece was worth seeing and with the photo displays alongside you could clearly see everything was original and screen worn.

Meeting Tom - Big Finish Day 5

Had a great day out today in Windsor for the fifth Big Finish day convention.

With Tom Baker as the headline guest, his pulling power alone meant the event was a sellout long before it happened.

Being a Big Finish sponsored event, it was hosted by Nicholas Briggs who had the pleasure of interviewing Tom alongside producer Philip Hinchcliffe, who had shaped his Doctor during his informative early seasons.

As expected Philip didn’t get much of a look in, while Tom stole the show. To say Tom was on form is an underestimation, as he was his most lucid and amusing I have seen for quite a while.

He seemed to be relishing the Big Finish dramas he's been doing, giving him a new spice of life, which was fantastic to witness.

Talking about his early life and confessional at his local Catholic Church, he had the audience rolling with laughter as he described the priest's rosary rattling when asking how many times a week Tom had an immoral thought. That the subject of his desire was from another parish made it acceptable.

He related how Who Do You Think You Are? had researched his life with a view to him being the subject of an episode. Having found nothing beyond births marriages and deaths they had deemed his ancestors too dull to take it to broadcast.

Following Tom's interview, it was time to queue for his photo opportunity.

I was in full Fourth Doctor costume and Tom was very amicable to the fans, so he was fine about me putting the end of my scarf around his shoulder and asking him to hold my sonic!

At noon it was time for another panel discussion, this time focusing on the Early Adventures with William Russell, Maureen O’Brien and Peter Purves, all of whom had worked with the First Doctor.

It was interesting to hear three contrasting views of the wilderness years of Doctor Who.
Maureen had resisted the Who world since leaving the series and working on many productions since. She had declined all invitations to conventions during the 1980s and 90s, but had been persuaded by 10th Planet who helped promote her book, gaining her over 200 sales in a single day.

Peter was quite blinkered to the regenerated Doctors down the years - William Hartnell was THE Doctor as far as he was concerned and his dislike for sci-fi meant he had kept a distance from fans. But when Big Finish approached him to bring Steven Taylor back to life, he jumped at the chance and enjoys every minute of it.
William also felt Hartnell was THE Doctor but felt only Sylvester McCoy got close to replacing him in his view.

Asked about the fans, Peter related an amusing email he had received enquiring if he was aware that gay Whoovians found his character hot! In response he explained how down the years he had been propositioned by gay actors, one of which was quite persistent, eventually telling Peter to make his mind up, “I’m not a taxi service. I don't charge waiting time!”

I then spent some time gathering autographs in my River Song book. It was wonderful to see Maureen O’Brien as I always thought she was an under-rated companion.

I also met Pamela Salem, who only the night before I had caught in an episode of Ever Decreasing Circles, playing the estranged wife of Paul Ryman.


Finally I got Karen Gledhill who starred alongside Pamela in Remembrance Of The Daleks and now in the Counter Measures spin-off Big Finish series.

I missed most of the lunchtime panel, but caught Matthew Waterhouse recalling watching over 1,000 episodes of Dark Shadows, which he had mentioned in his autobiography, resulting in him being asked to star in the Big Finish range.

He waxed lyrical about how the original had been shot as live; broadcast five days a week; and had all the wobbly sets, visible cameras and actors forgetting their lines which Doctor Who had erroneously been accused of down the years.
Nick Briggs chipped in that the closing credits would often be over a locked off shot of the empty set, and in one episode a lead actor walks into view wearing a dressing gown until he realises he's on camera and quickly darts our of view!

There was then a cosplay competition, judged by Strax himself, Dan Starkey. There was £50 of Big Finish CDs on offer for the winner. Ironically I lost out to a friend of mine - wearing one of my Sixth Doctor costumes!

The final panel I attended was a three-in-one, covering spin-off series Vienna, Dark Shadows: Blood Lust, and of particular interest to me, Terrahawks.

On hand was Jamie Anderson, son of puppetry legend Gerry Anderson.

With a new Thunderbirds tv series already in the pipeline, attention turned to Terrahawks as potential adaptation fodder. Most of the original voice cast are still available, including Denise Bryer who at 85 will return to voice Zelda.

Jamie told an amusing tale of how Mora Griffiths, was cast as Kate Kestrel for the SOS single not for her singing talent, but because she uncannily looked like the already made puppet!

While all of this was going on, Tom was signing autographs like a trooper. We all had numbered tickets and we were to get our chance in order, so being 237 I knew I had a while to wait before I needed to even think about queuing, giving me the chance for lunch!

Finally they were calling tickets over 220, so I headed over to meet Tom.
There was only one thing I wanted signed - and I wanted him to write something very special for me, and with him on top form I knew he would be up for it.

If you've followed this blog, you may have seen Target novel he signed for me in 1977. As a dedicated 11 year old Doctor Who fan I was beyond excited to meet my hero, but was terrified of him spelling my name wrong. So when I finally got to the front of the queue and I was asked my name, I said “Steven - with a V!” So Tom wrote the dedication as “To Steven with a V from Who with a Tom Baker”. Down the years it has been a phrase that makes quite a lyrical sound in my mind.

Now I have a River Song book for my autographs, I want Tom to rewrite the same dedication for me, 37 years later, which he was more than happy to do.




I asked him to sign page one of the book, and he did a great job.

Thanks Tom - it made my day.