It seems counter-intuitive to take sartorial advice from a kids' programme about a rude man travelling the universe in a police box but, with the arrival tonight of a new Doctor Who, we (late) 40-somethings who find ourselves starved of fashion inspiration and role models at last have something to latch on to:
a dad/grandad-aged Doctor who looks cool, even if he does bear a disturbing resemblance to sweary Malcolm Tucker from The Thick Of It.
To be honest, I lost my cool with the previous Doctor. Matt Smith, still only 31, was in his mid-20s when he took on the role so of course he didn't look an idiot in tight, low-rise trousers. Of course he could carry off the excessive turn-ups and the silly (yes, they were) boots. Of course he could wear a bow tie and not look like a weirdo.
The rest of us could only throw up our hands in despair, mutter, "That look's not for me" and channel surf in search of something more appropriate in terms of guidance. Luckily there was Mad Men and Peaky Blinders, though if you didn't catch those shows you may have ended up at Top Gear's poorly-attired door.
Peter Capaldi, the new Doctor, is 56 and has quite rightly dismissed his predecessor as a "boyfriend" Doctor who dressed accordingly. In other words, Smith was the sort of Doctor who probably had a meaningless tattoo inked on his calf and who wore shorts above the knee when holidaying in Mos Eisley on the desert planet of Tattooine, with its two blazing suns (I know, I know. But don't bet against a Star Wars v Doctor Who mash-up before the decade's out. It's a box office mega-hit waiting to happen).
None of this will apply to Capaldi. Like everyone else I await tonight's opening episode of the returning series with breath baited and Twitter finger ready, but from the publicity shots released so far it seems Capaldi will dress his age. Thank the Time Lord.
That means he'll also be dressing my age too, in boots which are polished, shirts which don't have teeny, weeny collars a la Top Shop 2010, and a sober coat/trouser/waistcoat combo in muted charcoal with only a red silk lining to add that dash of sartorial brio.
Let's not forget, either, that the whole point about the Doctor's outfit is that it is old fashioned and safe, if a little eccentric. The first Doctor, William Hartnell, set sail in his Tardis in 1963. He was younger when he started than Capaldi is, but he was playing a man - a grandfather - at least 10 years older than that. Patrick Troughton, who followed Hartnell, was in his mid-40s when he started the role and, with Charlie Chaplin in mind, was asked to play the role as a "cosmic hobo" not a cosmic hipster. (One of Troughton's suggestions, by the way, was to black up his face and wear a turban. Oh dear.)
Mind you, for the next incarnation - Martin Clunes? Hugh Bonneville? Michael Gambon? - I'd like to see a Doctor who actually dresses like a doctor: saggy, baggy chinos, shirt untucked at the back and a GlaxoSmithKline freebie biro leaking red ink into the top pocket of his unironed Tesco shirt. Now that really would scare the Daleks...
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