Origin of The Jacket
Maybe you recognised The Doctor's jacket right away, maybe it was
elusively familiar but you couldn't pin it down, or maybe it meant
nothing to you at all. For anyone who doesn't already know
what it is (and that's most people) here's a picture of one with
its original owner. Captain Jack was spot on.
The Doctor's Jacket is a first pattern German Kreigsmarine U-Boat
Commander/Captain's deck coat. Dating from circa 1938/1939,
this and subsequent variants of the pattern continued to be made
for Commanding Officers throughout the Second World War.
Variations based on the main body of this original design later
continued to be used by German law enforcement for decades afterwards!
So what do you do if you want to make an accurate reproduction of
anything? Why, you acquire an original from which to copy
of course!
OK then, bring in the Original...
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you The Real Thing. Made
in 1940 according to the markings inside, next to the "Kreigsmarine"
and Third Reich Nazi stamps. EEK!
Wow though, what a piece of history. This came from a memorabilia
collector in Germany, and it's in excellent condition for its years.
Although currently it smells like my mum and dad's attic...
So, although we already had a *nearly* accurate pattern prepared
for the jacket, things were put on hold while this was acquired,
so now this genuine original has been used to create a *perfect*
copy. Every last stitch is accurate!
You may notice the gold buttons. These are the original Kreigsmarine
buttons, complete with embossed emblems. Obviously our hero,
The Doctor can't be running around with military insignia about
his person, which is why his jacket now has plain black buttons.
You'll shortly be able to read a detailed history of his jacket
on this site, including details of small differences between The
Doctor's jacket and others issued at the same time.
Please e-mail any questions or comments to this address too.
Happy to answer anything at all.
Doctor Who" is the intellectual property of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the UK
