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Journal of Design History 1999 12(4):345-356; doi:10.1093/jdh/12.4.345
© 1999 by Design History Society
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Dress and the Fabric of the Television Series: The Costume Designer as Author in Dr. Who

PIERS D. G. BRITTON

Norwich


  Abstract

Design in general, and costume design in particular, is an under-explored component of the television drama series, even in such cases as the long-running science-fiction melodrama Dr. Who, where spectacular and memorable images are the norm. Writers on television series have tended either to exclude design from their purview altogether, concentrating on ideological analysis of narrative, or to interpret design simply as a function of the series' ideology. Either way, there is no allowance for the purely visual considerations which June Hudson, sometime principal costume designer on Dr. Who, claims to be central to her design choices.

The Costume of the principal character in a television series can come to ‘stand in’ for a television series as a whole, and can even affect the way in which the series’ narrative-cum-ideological frameworkis shaped. The costume designer should, therefore, be understood as occupying an important position in the complex ‘authorship’ process of a television series.

These various contentions are explored in this essay with special reference to June Hudson's designs for Dr. Who, notably the 1979 episode ‘The Creature from the Pit’.

Key Words: design • dress • Hudson,June • ideology • psychology of design • television


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