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James Acheson was the credited costumer for several Doctor Who stories. His most enduring contribution to Doctor Who was in helping to create the basic look for the Fourth Doctor. However, he is equally well-remembered for giving the Fourth Doctor substantially different looks in subsequent stories, such as the "Scottish" variant seen in Terror of the Zygons, and a radical, scarf-less departure for The Deadly Assassin. He was also the first designer to create a broadcast colour version of the First and Second Doctors' outfits.
When Acheson needed a scarf for the Fourth Doctor, he gave several different coloured balls of wool to a knitter called Begonia Pope. However, he neglected to tell her how long the scarf should be, so she used all of the wool. This resulted in a 20 foot scarf, which the producers loved, and it became the Doctor's trademark for years.
He has since gone on to design costumes for a number of major motion pictures, including Time Bandits, Brazil, Highlander, The Last Emperor, and the three Spider-Man films by Sam Raimi. His costumes have won three Academy Awards, a BAFTA, and a Career Achievement Award from the Costume Designers Guild.