Dr Who TARDIS
Long-running children’s TV series spin-off tat
Although the 1960s had seen impressionable young viewers bombarded with all manner of Dalek merchandise, it was not until 1977 that toy manufacturer Denys Fisher realised that there was mileage in producing an entire range of action figures based on children’s programme, Doctor Who1.
At this time, The Doctor was of course at the height of his full-on boots-and-boho eccentric incarnation, and the corresponding Tom Baker figure came complete with the expected wide-brimmed floppy hat, burgundy coat, scarf and non-functioning Sonic Screwdriver. However, despite being in possession of all the right accoutrements, the doll did not exactly bear an overwhelmingly strong resemblance to Tom Baker and in fact looked far more similar to avenging coffee-shaker Gareth Hunt.
Nonetheless, the figure was a cut above most cash-in plastic renditions, particularly useful for either shoving in the fridge for the purposes of conducting an “ice world” adventure, or for the judicious addition, in 1981, of question marks to his shirt collar with the aid of a red felt tip. Others in the range included Leela (complete with a knife, wild hair and suspiciously prominent frontage), K9 (with that all-important pull-back motor action), a Dalek, Cyberman2 and, somewhat perplexingly, The Giant Robot.
The only real playset was the inevitable TARDIS, which came with an imaginative special feature - when Doctor Who was placed inside its doors, pressing a button on the top would cause the “time space column” (i.e. a plastic cylinder covered in a sticker bearing artwork that vaguely recalled the Baker-era title sequence) to rotate, and Doctor Who to “dematerialise” into the other side. Pressing an adjacent button would cause him to return, although more astute owners realised the value in using this to fashion a story in which Doctor Who entered the TARDIS and a Cyberman came out (or maybe this was just something we saw on Crackerjack)3. Also available around this time were a talking Dalek and K9 from Palitoy, who incessantly repeated their catchphrases with the aid of one of those plastic records also found inside vintage talking dolls and the average “bag-o-laffs”.
Steve
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Reader Comments (4)
Pressing the button does not cause the plastic cylinder to rotate. Oh no, that would be far too high tech. Rather you had to set the plastic cylinder spinning yourself by giving the light on top a sharp twist. Pressing the green button would bring the cylinder to a sharp stop, with one of the cylinder recesses lined up with the doors.
Pressing the red button would do the same, but the other cylinder recess would be lined up with the doors instead.
Thus, by appropriate application of red or green button, you could turn The Doctor into a Cyberman, or dematerialise him... or... erm...
I always wondered (although I'll admit there is a gap of about 30 years since I last thought about this) why the Doctor would vanish from inside the Tardis. Surely the Tardis should vanish with Doctor and all?
The light broke off the top of mine (too many over-zealous sharp twists) and I lost my Doctor in Bushy Park in South West London somewhere near a large red and white mushroom, all of which helped to cement an already burgeoning mushroom phobia.
Oh, and I only had a Romana and not a Leela. At least I assume it was Romana; it was frumpily dressed and there was no cleavage.