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Steven Ricks Tailoring, 5855 W. Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA (2026)

05/03/2026

So there’s a heart warming footnote to my framed covers!

Once I’d got them all framed up and on my wall, I was due to visit Mum and thought she might like to see them.

Oh My Word!
I wasn’t expecting the reaction, thought in hindsight I probably should’ve been prepared.

Everyone says dementia is cruel and it’s true. But every now and then its grip slips and lets the sufferer come up for air - and this was one of those moments. The second she realised who these people were; that I had made the costumes; and that these were covers of the official she grasped the significance and then emotion flooded out. She was SO proud of me 😢😢😢😢😢

Not only that, she wanted to have it for her wall! So we went upstairs - just to see where it maybe possibly could hang - but once on the wall it had to stay there! I couldn’t take it down and waltz off back home with it.
She’d stolen it off me!!!!

The only solution was to find a second set of the magazines on eBay and have another frame custom made so I can have one too.

In the meantime dementia reasserted its control again and she couldn’t remember the names of the actors, referring to Tom as the ‘elderly gentleman’ every time it came up in conversation (which was often).

Now the replacement has arrived, I decided to annotate it with the actors names; the Doctors they played; and years they were in the roles, before taking it up to Mum to switch it so I can have my one back and finally up on my wall again as planned.

So what do you think mum said when she saw her new one? Honestly, a comedy series writer’s room couldn’t have written it - ‘Yes, I’ve got one of these’. 🤣🤣🤣

05/03/2026

The last Target book I have in my collection isn’t a novel, but a Making Of by Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke.

I had this edition when it came out in 1976 and bought this copy this year.

Only looking at it now I realised it was an updated reprint of a book originally published in 1972, so is technically a second edition.

I was more interested in this book for its (at the time) up to date episode guide, covering everything until The Hand Of Fear.
The Radio Times 10th Anniversary Magazine was all very well, but rapidly deteriorated back in the day, so a pocket paperback was more convenient.

📘 THE MAKING OF DOCTOR WHO
This is the revised second edition written by Terrence Dicks and Malcolm Hulke published in 1976 for £1.35, with cover by Chris Achilléos.
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And that’s it. All of my selective collection of Target novels.

I don’t have any of the Fifth Doctor onwards, as I stopped buying them by that point. The advent of home video recorders surpassed the need to read adventures that we weren’t able to see back then, regardless if they were lost.

I will expand my collection and fill in some choice gaps from the earlier regenerations as and when I can.

Hope you’ve enjoyed seeing what I do have.

04/29/2026

Here’s the second half of my FOURTH DOCTOR collection of Target novels!

📘 DOCTOR WHO AND THE SEEDS OF DOOM
This is the first paperback edition written by Philip Hinchcliffe published in 1977 for 50p, with cover by Chris Achilléos..

📕 DOCTOR WHO AND THE MASQUE OF MANDRAGORA
This is the first paperback edition written by Philip Hinchcliffe published in 1977 for 60p, with cover by Mike Little.

📗 DOCTOR WHO AND THE DEADLY ASSASSIN
This is the first paperback edition written by Terrence Dicks published in 1977 for 60p, with cover by Mike Little.

📙 DOCTOR WHO AND THE INVASION OF TIME
This is the first paperback edition written by Terrence Dicks published in 1979 for £1.25, with cover by Andrew Skilleter.
I specially bought this at Gallifrey One in 2024 when I debuted my brown velvet frock coat ensemble, complete with the rarely worn season 15 scarf. I was wearing the costume when I got it!

04/29/2026

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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04/27/2026

So, we’re now into the golden era of my classic series fandom.
I can remember buying every one of these books when they were first issued.
Have a look back at the posting dedicated to DOCTOR WHO AND THE LOCH NESS MONSTER if you want to read the full story of the signing of that book in particular.

Here’s the first half of my FOURTH DOCTOR collection!

📘 DOCTOR WHO AND THE ARK IN SPACE
This is the first paperback edition written by Ian Marter published in 1977 for 60p, with cover by Chris Achilléos.

📕 DOCTOR WHO AND THE REVENGE OF THE CYBERMEN
This is the first paperback edition written by Terrence Dicks published in 1976 for 40p, with cover by Chris Achilléos.

📗 DOCTOR WHO AND THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
This is the first paperback edition written by Terrence Dicks published in 1976 for 40p, with cover by Chris Achilléos.

📙 DOCTOR WHO AND THE PYRAMIDS OF MARS
This is the first paperback edition written by Terrence Dicks published in 1976 for 45p, with cover by Chris Achilléos.

04/24/2026

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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04/21/2026

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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04/21/2026

As you can imagine, I have a constant flow of commissions on the go at any one time.
Some are just being started with cloth being cut; others are having early stages of assembly, such as pockets or canvassing; then there’s the garments that reach the landmark of being together enough to be put on a a mannequin; before they are lined and finishing takes place prior to dispatch.

It’s not uncommon for a number of coats to be at the same stage of production at the same time, before the are each worked to a finish individually.

But what is slightly unusual this week is for THREE coats to all complete their finishing stage at the same time!

SO I thought I’d take the opportunity to do a line up of the Fourth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors before they go their separate ways.

THE FOURTH DOCTOR’s Harris Tweed Frock Coat, originally seen in The Power Of Kroll, but forever associated with The CIty Of Death is my favourite to make out of the lineup.

THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR’s Donegal Tweed is a nice classically cut jacket with a unique style of internal pocket which, once you got your mind round it’s construction, is simple and quite fun to put together.

THE TWELFTH DOCTOR’s Black Linen Half-Frock Coat can be quite the challenge to put together. Despite only having two internal pockets, the pleating and finishing of the back is time consuming, making it the hardest to make out of the lineup.
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DM me if you wish to commission one of these coats, or any other you’ve seen on my feed.
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04/19/2026

Here is the third batch of Target novels I have in my (modest) collection.
As I said before, 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 from my childhood of 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 because back in the day, that’s what I got under the Christmas tree!🎄🎁 I They would also have been first editions as these were the only versions available when I came down on Christmas morning!!

Here’s the first part of my THIRD DOCTOR collection!

📘 DOCTOR WHO AND THE AUTON INVASION
This is the first paperback edition written by Terrance Dicks published in 1974 for 25p, with cover and 11 text illustrations by Chris Achilléos.

📕 DOCTOR WHO AND THE CURSE OF PELADON
This is the first paperback edition written by Brian Hayles published in 1974 for 30p, with cover by Chris Achilléos and 6 text illustrations by Alan Willow.

📙 DOCTOR WHO AND THE DINOSAUR INVASION
This is the first paperback edition written by Malcolm Hulke published in 1976 for 40p, with cover by Chris Achilléos. There are no text illustrations.

04/17/2026

My Second Doctor Target novel collection is VERY modest and sparse!

As well as the Target novels, I then have a couple of books for deeply sentimental reasons. Have a read. Run with it.

So here’s my SECOND DOCTOR collection!

📘 DOCTOR WHO AND THE ICE WARRIORS
This is the first paperback edition written by Brian Hayles published in 1976 for 40p, with cover by Chris Achilléos. There are no text illustrations.

📕 DOCTOR WHO AND THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD
This is the first paperback edition written by Ian Marter published in 1981 for 95p, with cover by Bill Donohoe. There are no text illustrations.
I bought this edition at Gallifrey One in 2014 in tribute to the recovery of the entire story the previous October.
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In the mid 1970s I was a member of the for Young People, based then at the Arts Theatre on Great Newport Street.
I would attend Saturday morning workshops on aspects of theatre; sometimes perform short stage pieces in front of the collected parents at the end of the day; and often went to special professional stage shows aimed at the younger audience.

Amongst the shows I saw were The Hour Of The Werewolf and its sequel, The Curse Of The Labyrinth, two Victorian set horror stories by Doctor Who writer, Brian Hayles.
He had been due to do further writing for the Unicorn, but sadly died in 1978.
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I found these two texts of the shows on eBay decades ago.

📗 THE HOUR OF THE WEREWOLF
A horror play for children by Brian Hayles first performed at the Unicorn Theatre in January 1975.

📙 THE CURSE OF THE LABYRINTH
A horror play for children by Brian Hayles first performed at the Unicorn Theatre in 1976.
Notice a rather familiar character name on the cast list.
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As a further Who connection to the Unicorn Theatre, the Christmas pantomime one year was School For Clowns, by Ken Campbell.
In the cast - none other than Sylvester McCoy!

Later Toby Hadoke performed Moths Are My Doctor Who Scarf there in 2008. It was strange going back there again, but a delight to meet Louise Jameson for the first time and get a photo with her.
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04/15/2026

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.

Steven Ricks Tailoring

05/03/2026

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