Steven Ricks Tailoring

Last week I showed you a gaggle of coats I had finished. Hiding at the back was a Peter Capaldi black linen coat, as first seen in the series 10 episode Extremis.

From my point of view it’s an unusual coat on so many levels from it’s choice of cloth (linen - no other Doctor costume uses this as the main fabric); to it’s cut (what can only be described as a half-frock coat); to it’s default condition (although other costumes have been broken-down, this coat is only seen in this dishevelled state).

What I showed you last week was the coat in ‘pristine’ condition before being sent out for break-down. Well, it’s come back today, ready to send out, all tattered and torn!

I think doing break-down is an art and more skilled than most people would give it credit for. It’s easy to do too much, or break-down where it isn’t seen. Some jobs can be more involved, but this one is an exercise in less is more!
So I’d like to thank .carter for his work on this, and the other hand-made bespoke tailored coats he’s wrecked for me!
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Just before this lovely Fourth Doctor frock coat goes off to the client, I thought I’d just get one last photo alongside my framed covers, including the one with Tom in the coat I made.
I’ve always enjoyed making this version of Tom’s costume. It’s a beautiful cut with some classic lines.
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In this part of my Target novel collection I’m showcasing a single title - Doctor Who And The Space War.

I vividly remember being in awe of the Draconians and because of a feature in the Radio Times iconic Tenth Anniversary Special, I was aware of John Friedlander, who had made the masks for many iconic monsters.

In the 1980s I was at six form college which had quite an active students committee organising events. In 1984 they ran a ‘hat day’ - everyone come in wearing a hat!
On the day, the committee chair was wearing an unusual ‘hat’ - it was basically a dome in bright orange rubber, with long drips hanging down so it looked like the wearer had been gunged with gloop!
Then it dawned on me - (I forget his first name, but) his surname was Friedlander, so I asked, ‘is your dad John Friedlander?’ He said ‘Yes! How did you know??’

After a chat he agreed to ask if I could meet his dad and it was arranged a week or so later.
I was totally start-struck. I’d never met one of my ‘heroes’ - which is how I saw him. He told me about his time on Who and some of the secrets of casting moulds for latex (maybe more of that another time).

Skip forward almost 40 years, and in 2022 my dream of turning up dressed as a Draconian came true.

I had a BLAST walking round in costume with few of my friends even knowing it was me!
At one point I was in the dealers room and spotted two editions of The Space War. I had to have them - buying them while in full Draconian garb!

So these two books have a SPECIAL place in my collection!!!

📗 DOCTOR WHO AND THE SPACE WAR
This is the first paperback edition written by Malcolm Hulke published in 1976 for 45p, with cover by Chris Achilléos. There are no text illustrations.

📘 DOCTOR WHO AND THE SPACE WAR
This is the fourth edition paperback written by Malcolm Hulke published in 1982 for £1.25 with cover by Chris Achilléos, where the cover logo is blue instead of green. There are no text illustrations.

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Draconian head sculpt by
Arms, shoulder and medallion sculpts plus prosthetic paint finish by .props_
Additional prop making by
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Here is the first batch of Target novels I have in my (modest) collection.
I’m not out to gather a complete collection, with all the variations available. That’s not what this is about.
The books I buy are to spark memories of my childhood being a Doctor Who fan during a time when there were slim pickings when it came to books and memorabilia of any note. So I’ve been quite picky about which books I’ve bought and the books I do but are exclusively first editions (cos back in the day, that’s what I got under the Christmas tree!🎄🎁).
The first two are before my time, but I ❤️ the cover art!

📘 DR WHO IN AN EXCITING ADVENTURE WITH THE DALEKS
This was the first ever paperback edition of a Doctor Who novelisation written by David Whitaker, published by Armada Paperbacks in 1965 for 2’6.
The cover and 6 text illustrations are by Peter Archer.

📕 DOCTOR WHO IN AN EXCITING ADVENTURE WITH THE DALEKS
This was the first ever paperback edition of a Doctor Who novelisation published in America using the David Whitaker text from the UK version, by Avon in 1967 for 50c.
It has an interesting (and unique?) explanation before the title page. There are no text illustrations.

📗 DOCTOR WHO AND THE ZARBI (The Web Planet)
This is the first paperback edition written by Bill Strutton published in 1973 for 25p, with cover by Chris Achilléos and 15 text illustrations by John Wood (illustration No 9 shown as an example).

📙 DOCTOR WHO AND THE TENTH PLANET
This is the first paperback edition written by Gerry Davis published in 1976 for 40p, with cover by Chris Achilléos. There are no text illustrations.