Cosplay Couture interpretation of the 8th Doctor
Costume by Courtney Coulson
Photography by Luke Milton
Location: Taylor’s College Nedlands
It’s great to finally get back to our Doctor Who series and Eight is one I have been greatly anticipating as he is my absolute favourite Doctor. He may have only had one movie but I am in love with the Big Finish audio dramas. I was so glad that McGann got to continue in the role even if only in audio form.
As his run was the most unconventional, the evolution of his character and his costume bare the evidence of that. Eight is very romantic, easily the most refined and elegant of the Doctors.The original costume never really felt lived in, he was so buttoned up, and because we only see him wearing it in one film, he never got the opportunity to break it in and make it his own like the other Doctors.
But over the years he’s changed, starting out as an old soul with a child-like enthusiasm that gradually gave way to a darker side as he was traumatised by certain events, which culminated in him becoming the War Doctor. As such, my costume reflects elements of his journey, it’s not quite as stuffy as his original costume, there’s a bit of edge there.
Courtney Coulson
I’m not a massive Doctor Who fan, but I am very attached to this series of shoots as Courtney’s desire to do a fashion portrayal of each Doctor was a catalyst for many of the shoots you see on this site. After a year of working closely together it was fantastic to finally add another couple of Doctors to the collection – this one, plus one another who you will see next week. And the location couldn’t have been more perfect, we were incredibly lucky to discover that the location we’d picked had a very similar palette to the costume we were working with. Another in a long string of happy accidents.
Luke Milton