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WEARING a multi-coloured frock, purple wig and with layers of thick white make-up, Who could this be?

Peter Capaldi, of course. And we bet he’d like the Daleks to exterminate our exclusive pictures.

Back in December 1981, the latest actor to play Doctor Who dressed in drag with pal Craig Ferguson as the Ugly Sisters for a festive gig.

Craig, who hosts The Late Late Show in the States, looked equally fetching in a purple ballgown and aquamarine wig with a loveheart painted on his face.

It was two months after they’d disbanded their punk band the Dreamboys.

This was the first time Peter, 55, would dress in drag but it wouldn’t be the last. In 1993, he starred as a transsexual with Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect, dressing up as Marilyn Monroe.

(Image: ITV / Rex Features)

Libby McArthur, now a star of Scots soap River City and a columnist for the Record’s Saturday magazine, was the singer of Glasgow band Sophisticated Boom Boom, whose gig Peter dressed up for.

It was a Christmas show, so the band decided they would dress up as panto characters.

Libby, who began the gig as Cinderella in rags before a costume change into a ball gown for the last part of the show, said: “I know he did Marilyn Monroe in Prime Suspect but this was the first time he did drag.

(Image: Andrew Mitchell)

“Getting him into those frocks was a scream. We blagged them from the King’s Theatre ?wardrobe. Everyone was howling with ?laughter when they came out.

“Before they went on we were all ?helping them with their make-up. It was a hoot.

“We were all sharing the same eyebrow pencil and lipstick.

“It was a complete free-for-all with a ton of make-up.

“As Sophisticated Boom Boom were an all-girl group, we and our make-up were inseparable.

“But Peter was a brilliant artist so he could have done his own face pretty well. He was a force of nature.”

The gig was at Maestro’s in Glasgow and the tiny venue was heaving that night with about 200 fans.

Sophisticated Boom Boom had toured with the Dreamboys and Libby had sung backing vocals on their only single Bela Lugosi’s Birthday the previous year.

Libby can’t remember what songs Peter ?and Craig performed when they came on stage but she remembers there being a lot of Christmas songs given the time of year.

While Peter clutched a cigarette, Craig can be seen in our photos playing accordion.

The photos were taken by Andy Mitchell, 55, friend of Dreamboys’ bassist Temple Clark.

He said: “Like Temple, I was from Edinburgh. I was unemployed at the time and spent quite a lot of time going through to Glasgow and got to know the band. I helped them unload and load the van, for example.

(Image: Andrew Mitchell)

“They had started in 1980 and brought in Craig after they’d made the three-track single.

“But by the autumn of 1981 they decided to call it a day as they felt the band wasn’t really going anywhere.

“Their final gig was ?in October ’81 at ­Glasgow’s Night Moves.

“Nobody knew it was the last gig until at the very end when Peter Capaldi announced, ‘This is going to be our very ?last song and our very last concert’ and ?they split up.

“They weren’t a big band but they definitely had a healthy following and Peter was a fantastic frontman.”

Two months later, Peter and Craig appeared as the Ugly Sisters for the Christmas gig ?with Sophisticated Boom Boom and The Recognitions, another Glasgow band.

Andy said: “Peter always had a manic sense of humour. Dressing up as an Ugly Sister was part of the Christmas party spirit. It was a bit of fun.

“But you can see he and Craig did it with no half measures. You can see from the outfits – the make-up, the wigs. They took it seriously.

“Peter in reviews at the time was described as a madman and manic.

“He was a great personality to have as your lead signer. You have to have someone who is lively, engaging and gets the audience going.

“Even back then you certainly saw a talent for performance and he was very engaging.

“When a couple of years later he appeared in the film Local Hero, I wasn’t surprised that he’d broken into cinema. He had what it took.”

(Image: Andrew Mitchell)

Andy, who was the head of communications at the Scottish Football Association for 10 years and is now a freelance media manager working with UEFA, added: “It’s staggering to think that the Peter and Craig on stage in 1981 have gone on to such amazing things.

“Peter has won an Oscar and is now Doctor Who and Craig is a huge, huge star in America.

“It’s amazing one little band has generated two of Scotland’s major stars and two others who are very successful in their own careers.

“Temple Clark is a storyboard artist and has worked on films like Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and Avengers Assemble. And the band’s guitarist Roderick Murray runs an art gallery in Stornoway.”

So what does Andy, a childhood fan of Doctor Who like Peter, think of his former pal being chosen as the new Time Lord?

He doesn’t believe that at 55, Peter is too old and won’t appeal to the younger generation of Doctor Who fans who have grown up on David Tennant and Matt Smith.

Andy said: “I think Peter will relate to youngsters very much.

“When I was a boy the Doctors were Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, who were certainly older than Matt. I had no problem engaging with them as Doctors. Peter will also revitalise the whole role.

“He’s an ideal personality for the part. He’s got a wicked sense of humour, manic looks, the ability to make jokes out of any situation and to make people smile.”

Libby agrees, saying: “Peter was always ­brilliant. As a performer and as an artist. I remember he was an art student and he did this amazing painting of two people looking grand in Regency period costume.

“But if you looked closer there was a wee mouse coming out of the lady’s hair and a spider was coming out of her dress while the man’s skin was falling off around his beauty spot. He was so clever.”

Libby and The Dreamboys recorded ?Bela Lugosi’s Birthday live at the Hellfire ?Club, a hub for Glasgow’s buzzing music scene.

The soap star, who plays Gina in River City, has fond memories of the early 80s.

She said: “Everyone was in a band and hanging about together.

“One day at the Hellfire Club you could see Simple Minds, Cuban Heels, Dreamboys, Aztec Camera, Altered Images – all rehearsing or doing demos.

“It was a great time to be young in Glasgow.”