The original run of BBC’s time-traveling alien serial from 1963 to 1989 contained some memorable shoe moments: The first doctor offering to fix Susan’s shoe at the culmination of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, the third doctor hiding the TARDIS key in his shoe before escaping from the hospital in Spearhead from Space —  the fourth doctor humorously admonished companion Romana for putting on stilettos in The Stones of Blood (later she almost falls off a cliff). As a superfan of the show when it ran on US public television in the 80s I was excited to pick up the Costume Design special edition of Doctor Who Magazine (no affiliation) that came out (in America) a few months back and glean.

Sarah wore Kickers in “The Hand of Fear” (1976)

Fan favorite companion Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen) rocked one of her most iconic outfits in The Hand of Fear (costume designer: Barbara Lane). Most of the garments were from trendy Kensington boutique Bus Stop*. But what were the sporty red trainers? Kickers! A UK-based brand you don’t often see in the United States. For fun I hit the Kickers website, clicked WOMEN, clicked RED to see if they had anything like the ones from the 70s (no). These Kick Hi Classics turned out to be the closest match:

They look like something the seventh doctor’s companion Ace (1980s) could have worn.

Ace (Sophie Aldred) was patterned after a street-smart punk-rocker and started off wearing Dr. Martens though they switched to a softer leather boot by women’s brand Hobbs (London). Out of a time-traveler-like curiosity, I went to the Hobbs site to see what they had for black boots in 2019 and the closest match to Docs would be these Nicole Chelseas:

The costume design special is full of wardrobe trivia and anecdotes from the classic and modern versions of the show. I wanted to add about Bus Stop (*)— that there is a wonderful shoe shop called Bus Stop Boutique in Philadelphia Pennsylvania that I’m guessing is a deliberate ode to.