The Seventh Doctor Knew Fezzes Were Cool in 1988

As anyone who watched this past summer's Doctor Who episode "The Big Bang" can tell you, fezzes are cool.  At least, they became cool when Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor plopped one on top of his head and declared them cool.  Oh, and he also carried a mop around for a while as well, which was somewhat less cool, but still made for an interesting look that Whovians can easily turn into cosplay at conventions all over the world.

So imagine my surprise when I recently noticed something while watching the DVD release of the 25th anniversary story "Silver Nemesis," which was transmitted way back in 1988, twenty-two years before "The Big Bang."  In the scene set inside the basement of Windsor Castle where Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor tells his companion Ace that he is looking for a silver bow, he takes a playful moment to don a fez...and even holds up a mop for good measure.  Here, see for yourselves...



Freaky, hunh?  Obviously, I'm not the first to notice this, but you still have to wonder if current Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat did this as a very subtle but intentional homage or the image became embedded somewhere in his subconscious for decades and finally leaked out while he was writing "The Big Bang."  If anyone knows the real explanation for such a bizarre coincidence, preferably straight from Moffat himself, please pass it along.  I'm absolutely dying of curiosity.