I am back in Rome after a relaxing summer break visiting family and friends in the UK, so thought I'd kick off a new season of blog posts with a distinctly British vintage figure. My August trip happened to coincide with some major geek news from Blighty: the BBC finally revealed that Scottish actor Peter Capaldi will take on the coveted role of The Doctor in its legendary sci-fi TV series Doctor Who, when current Doctor Matt Smith hangs up his bow tie later this year. It's a big year for the … [Read more...]
Jelly baby, anyone?! Tom Baker as Doctor Who’s Fourth Doctor
The BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, which will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary next year, owes its longevity in great part to a very clever device the writers dreamt up decades ago - when the Doctor is close to death he can regenerate into a brand new body. This has allowed a series of completely different actors to play our hero over the years, from the 1960s when William Hartnell as the First Doctor changed into the Second Doctor played by Patrick Troughton, right through … [Read more...]
David Tennant as Doctor Who’s Tenth Doctor
Hot on the heels of Captain Jack Harkness last week, I thought I'd follow that post with a look at another great Character Options action figure from their 5 inch Doctor Who line - none other than the Doctor himself, as played by David Tennant in the tenth incarnation of the BBC TV show's protagonist. A hugely popular Doctor, Tennant stayed with Doctor Who for three series, as well as appearing in eight specials, before finally handing over the sonic screwdriver to the Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith … [Read more...]
Captain Jack Harkness…And who are you?
When John Barrowman first appeared in the BBC's relaunched Doctor Who sci-fi television show in 2005 in the role of Captain Jack Harkness he was disguised as a Royal Air Force pilot and this is just how he is presented in this wonderful 5 inch action figure by Character Options. Teaming up with the Ninth Doctor and assistant Rose in a two-part wartime story The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances set in London during the Blitz, the swaggering, sexy and brazenly bisexual Captain Jack acquired … [Read more...]
Delete! Delete! Delete! Armed Cyberman from Doctor Who
After a couple of weeks in the UK visiting friends and family and I have just returned to Rome with a fresh hoard of flea market and thrift store vintage action figure finds! By pure chance, on this trip to Blighty I also happened upon some quintessentially British action figures too, which I'll share over the next few blog posts. When the BBC revamped their cult sci-fi classic Doctor Who show in 2005 with producer and writer Russell T Davies at the helm, the series – along with spin-offs … [Read more...]
Doctor Who – The Eleventh Doctor’s ‘Crash’ Set
After the runaway success of the first wave of Matt Smith action figures in the role of the Eleventh Doctor, this week two more figures have been released to coincide with the brand new series of Doctor Who which recently aired for lucky viewers of BBC One with an opening episode entitled The Eleventh Hour. The Eleventh Doctor's 'Crash' Set, in fact, includes not one, but two incredibly detailed Matt Smith 5-inch action figures: … [Read more...]
Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor action figure finally unveiled!
Doctor Who fans have been speculating over when the very first Matt Smith action figures would be released almost immediately after the news was announced that he would be stepping into David Tennant's hard-to-fill shoes and had won the coveted role of the Eleventh Doctor. Well, the wait is (almost) finally over and the very first Smith-era figure is available for pre-order. In fact, it comes as part of an entire set of 5 inch figures from the Tennant finale The End of Time which lucky … [Read more...]