What a stitch up: BBC infuriates Scots by sourcing Doctor Who's 'Harris Tweed' jackets in China

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated:

The BBC has been caught up in a row about tweed after ordering replicas of a Doctor Who costume from China instead of Scotland.

Current Doctor Who Matt Smith wore a vintage 1960s' Harris Tweed jacket to make his debut as the Doctor in the wildly popular sci-fi show, causing a surge in fans trying to buy replicas.

Tweed mills in the Outer Hebrides, where authentic Harris Tweed is handwoven, were overrun with orders for the Clo Mhor (the big cloth).

Surge in demand: The Harris Tweed jacket worn by Matt Smith in Doctor Who has led to a row over the authenticity of the material the BBC is using in replica costumes

Vintage: Matt Smith wore a 1960s' Harris Tweed jacket when he made his debut as the Doctor, leading to a surge in demand for the fabric

But when the latest episodes were aired, the Harris Tweed jacket had vanished in the place of a part-acrylic version.

And now the BBC has signed an exclusivity deal for the Doctor's jackets with a Canadian company which imports its material from China, infuriating the industry in Scotland.

A replica of the new jacket will be available to buy online from the BBC in October. Retailing at £359.99, makers said it is 'officially licensed by the BBC and made to a high-quality standard'.

The Harris Tweed industry has reacted angrily, branding the new jacket 'cheap and tacky'.

Lydia Walton, a spokesman for Harris Tweed Scotland said: 'Harris Tweed is so special as it is woven by hand on the Western Isles and every 50 metres is stamped by the Harris Tweed authority. It is steeped in romance and history.'

She said: 'I find it very odd that they would use a replica costing £360 when our genuine Harris Tweed jackets retail at £250. Why pay more for a replica than have the original?'

The BBC said it needed to change the costume because the original jacket wasn't warm enough.

A spokesman said: 'The tweed changed because they needed a warmer jacket for outside filming.'

Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil has written to BBC Director General Mark Thompson to express his outrage.

He told the Daily Telegraph: 'It is a kick in the teeth to one of our most iconic industries, which ironically has managed to survive the problems caused to the country's textile industry by cheap imports from places like China.

'The BBC should be ashamed of itself in playing its part in outsourcing this work to the sweat shops of China.

'Any profit they make should go to the Harris Tweed industry.'

The real thing: Authentic Harris Tweed is only made in the Outer Hebrides - but the BBC replicas come from China via Canada

The real thing: Authentic Harris Tweed is only made in the Outer Hebrides - but the BBC replicas come from China via Canada

The BBC defended itself by saying it doesn't make much money from the sales.

'Any profit we make is ploughed back into the running of the BBC,' said a spokesman for the corporation.

Harris Tweed is owned by the islanders of the Outer Hebrides and protected by an Act of Parliament.

It struggled to the point of extinction in 2006, when a mill on the Isle of Lewis closed.

But in recent years it has enjoyed a revival with designers including Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel using the material.

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