Costume designer A costume designer is , in the broadest sense , someone who develops the look of costumes in a theatrical performance or piece of filmed entertainment . However , as employed by " Doctor Who " and sister shows , a costume designer is the head of the costume department , itself a division of the art department . They oversee every aspect of wardrobing the actors in a given episode of a " Doctor Who " universe , from the original concept to the actual production or purchase of the clothes , to the mundane personnel management issues his or her staff may face . They are one of the key department heads , and reports to the production designer . Differences between 1963 and 2005 versions . The position , as is practised in the 21st century , first arose in " Doctor Who " on the Paul McGann telemovie . Prior to this , the costume department of the British Broadcasting Corporation would assign individual designers to single serial s of " Doctor Who " . These people were usually credited with the title " Costumes " and had fewer managerial responsibilities . Though the core of their job had much commonality with the modern costume designer , many of the administrative responsibilities of current " Doctor Who " costume designers were actually handled by a person uncredited on any individual BBC programme , who managed costuming across all the programmes in production at the BBC at a given moment . In the BBC Wales version , however , the costume department is more tightly integrated with the art department . The design process is more collaborative , with some costume designs actually beginning outside the confines of the costume department and some set or prop designs influenced by the costume department . People that report to the BBC Wales costume designer include , but are not limited to , assistant costume designer s , costume assistant s , costume supervisor s and standby costumes personnel . A key measure of the difference between the " classic " Doctor Who " " designers and those of the modern series can be found in Ray Holman . Hiring him was not a decision to hire just the individual , but instead his company , Ray Holman Design , Ltd . This company then added its own personnel to the production team of " Doctor Who " beginning with " The Eleventh Hour " . Such a situation never applied to designers of the 1963 version of " Doctor Who " — all of whom were regular employees of the BBC . Credited costume designers . As of 2013 , there have been seven individuals to have headed the costume department on " Doctor Who " . For the 1996 movie , the costume designer was Jori Woodman . From " Rose " to " The Parting of the Ways " , it was Lucinda Wright . Louise Page took over at " The Christmas Invasion " and continued through to " The End of Time " . Ray Holman , who also had earlier provided temporary assistance to " Doctor Who " on the double banked episodes of " Blink " and " Turn Left " , took over the costume design from " The Eleventh Hour " until " The Big Bang " , and classic series veteran Barbara Kidd handled the role from " The Impossible Astronaut " to " The Wedding of River Song " , with Edward K . Gibbon handling just one story , namely " The Doctor , the Widow and the Wardrobe " . Howard Burden occupied the role from " Asylum of the Daleks " to " Death in Heaven " , after which Ray Holman returned to the position starting with " The Magician ' s Apprentice " . Ray Holman was also the costume designer for the first three series of " Torchwood " . As of 2009 , " The Sarah Jane Adventures " had two credited costume designers . Pam Tait was the costume designer for the New Year ' s Day special " Invasion of the Bane " . Stewart Meachem , however , was named costume designer fo the series proper , and held that position through its first three series . Ffion Elinor served as costume designer for series 1 of " Class " .