River Song and Pandorica Chair - Figure Review - By Ryan Wigley

Evening all! This week, we'll take a look at one of the most divided sets of 2011, the San Diego Comic Con exclusive River Song figure complete with Pandorica chair.

First of all, let's start with River Song. Now, when Underground Toys first released the image of this, there was a divided opinion, some loved it, some hated it and some just couldn't care less or were reserving judgement. I'll be the first to admit I detested the set. Love River Song and Alex Kingston to bits, but good God not that set! The hair is a mile above the forehead and the likeness is terrible.

Fast forward two months and my birthday has just gone and one of my presents is this set! Looking at the figure in the box alone, I can tell the face has been painted perfectly, eyebrows done perfectly and the hair is pretty much perfect. So I take the figure out of the packaging and having not seen any images bar the promotional pictures beforehand, I'm well and truly shocked! It's great.

Anyway, back to the review. River's articulation is great, bar the lack of thigh articulation, I appreciate the fact River has a holster on her right leg means she wouldn't have any, but it would have been nice. Fairly new to the range is ball joints in the shoulder, which I love, a great addition! Looking at other lines, it can be very hit or miss, with the arms sticking out a fair bit, but it's done right in the Doctor Who line and I'm happy. Other than that, the head can't really move due to the sheepskin jacket, the elbows and knees bend and the boots swivel 360 degrees. Not a great deal of articulation, but it works.

The detailing on this figure is great! You may know that just after this set made its way to the UK, Character Options released a jacketless variant in the second wave of Series 6 figures (with the figure labelled as "Series 5 River Song"), I do own that figure, and I have to say it isn't a patch on this. Yes, you can move the belt, but the figure doesn't really do it for me compared to this variant. As I said, the main difference is the sheepskin jacket, which is a lovely addition, but what lets the figure down is the fact that the shirt and belt is a separate piece, just a flimsy bit of plastic, which I have to say is the negative of the figure. However, other than that slight niggle the figure is fabulous! 100% accurate and despite my original complaints, the headsculpt is spot on, just a bad bit of quality control on this product with badly applied paint and hair. My advice is to look for this figure in store because you want a lightly painted face that maintains the detail without it looking waxy and hair that doesn't hover above River's head.

I'm aware the Wave 2 River figure was revised and extra curls were added to the hair to disguise the massive gap. In my opinion, it makes it look worse and I'm glad the Pandorica set wasn't revised.

River has just the one accessory, her gun. Lovely little piece and unlike a lot of figures, it fits in the holster perfectly. I would've liked to see her scanner released with the figure, but you can't have everything.

Overall, the River figure is surprisingly impressive, bar the flimsy piece in between the jacket. I would have liked to have seen the Wave 2 figure with a jacket on it, but I can't help but feel it'd look a tad too big. I can't stress how great the head is, I do prefer the head released with the Astronaut River, but can't justify buying two new figures just to slap that head on the Pandorica Opens/Big Bang version!


Swiftly moving on to the Pandorica Chair. Yes, it is compatible with the Collect-And-Build Pandorica wave from late 2010/early 2011. I don't actually own and of the Pandorica wave figures, so I can't tell you how well it works, but based on images it looks great, especially with the moulded walls released in America!

The chair is of course designed to seat the Doctor. As you can see in the image above, it works really well, but I've seen a few people not place the figure on the chair properly, so it looks like he's hovering. I am surprised we didn't see a variant or re-release of the Doctor figure in this set, but at £22.99, it would have been taking the piss a little. After all, the big selling point of this set was River and she did remain exclusive to the set for a short period of time.

There isn't much to say about the Pandorica chair, it's just a lump of grey plastic! It's really nice, don't get me wrong, but there isn't a great deal to it. Sadly the paint applied is Matt like so it scratches and marks easily, however it is a permanent display piece for me so doesn't prove a massive problem. The lights on the chair and done with stickers and the ones on the floor are carefully painted. They do look a bit like the Turkish eye, but they're great!

The chair does have some moving bits, the handcuffs on it clip into place, as do the shoulder and waist things, meaning there is no escape for the Doctor it seems...

Overall, the chair is great, a lovely little display piece and looks even better with a small light inside and the Pandorica pieces in place!

Many have asked me would I prefer an Amy or a Rory figure with the set rather than River Song. I actually wouldn't have minded either three, would have still bought the set. It would have made some sense to put a Roman Rory figure in the set and keep River exclusive to Wave 2, but I'm not overly fussed, happy with the figure and happy with the set!

I'd personally give the set a 9/10, the quality control deducts a point from it. Now, it hasn't affected me seriously, but there is still elements of it in my set.

Thanks for reading, feel free to comment and I shall see you next time!

BifBangPow! Fourth Doctor Retro Figure by Ryan Wigley

Hello again and a Happy New Year! Yes, it has been a while, but the Frontier in Space team is back, and with a bang!

It's Friday the 6th January 2012 and today I'm going to take a look at the new line of retro figures created and produced by BiffBangPow!

Now, I must admit myself that the first promotional images of the line looked dreadful, absolutely ghastly. Actually, it wasn't until Jon (http://jonwesleyhuff.com/) posted his excellent pictures on Gallifrey Base of the products that the line begun to appeal to myself and others. It is worth noting that Jon has kindly allowed us to use his fabulous images for this review. Thanks Jon! Anyway, now to kick start this review!

Firstly, we shall start off with the figures articulation. Head spins around 360 degrees, along with the hands. The elbows and knees bend, and I'm not quite sure what to make of the arms! They're attached to the body simply by a metal hook and some elastic band, which severely limits articulation. Now, I normally wouldn't mind, but the fact that the right arm wasn't even attached when I received the figure earlier today! However, it was sorted out pretty quickly and I don't have anymore problems.

Next the costume. Consists of the leather coudroy jacket, trousers, shirt, waistcoat, green tie, long stripy scarf and I suppose the floppy hat and shoes! Now I love the coudroy jacket, not quite sure what the material is, but it feels a bit like suede. Unfortunately, the jacket appears to have stained the scarf, shirt and cheek a tiny bit, but it isn't noticeable. It seems the tie wrap around the neck of the figure when packaged has taken most of the dye on it, so that's fine. The trousers and shirt are just pretty plain, nothing exceptional, but still nice, it's worth noting the waistcoat is attached to the shirt, and isn't a separate piece. The tie is however, and is just a piece of elastic with material dangling down, nothing much but doesn't take away from the effect. The Fourth Doctor's shoes are removable and made out of plastic, they don't slip off easily, but if you do decide to take them off, they go back of straight away.

You may have noticed I left the scarf until last, as I've decided to tie it in with accessories, and goodness me, it's wonderful! Just a piece of coloured material folded together and stitched with tassels on the end, sounds boring but it really is great! Because of this, you can either go with the early Fourth Doctor era and have the scarf looped around the neck once, or replicate the Season 14/15 promo poster and have one end of the scarf over the shoulder, or even have it in a Season 17 style. Along with his scarf, the Fourth Doctor comes packed with his famous floppy hat! Mixed reviews about this, as BifBangPow! have elected to have sculpted hair rather than rooted hair, meaning the hat has had to be sculpted around the hair. Sadly, it just doesn't work. The hat just looks oversized and massive, and if I am honest it looks more like Indiana Jones's fedora than the floppy hat the Fourth Doctor often wore. I am expecting a hatted variant of this figure in the future, possibly from stories like The Pyramids of Mars or The Seeds of Doom. Along with the scarf and hat is the good Doctor's trusty gadget - The Sonic Screwdriver! I have been trying to steer away with comparisons to Character Options's 5" figure line, but due to the slightly larger scale, more details are allowed, and the Sonic Screwdriver has these extra details. From the bigger, "bullet" style emitter to the dent on the handle like the prop. Now of course, this cannot be done on Character's products, but at a larger scale it works well with BifBangPow!'s attempt. If I was to add one more accessory, it would be the jelly babies, something that is a neglected in a lot of Fourth Doctor figures!

I have been overly positive of this figure and for good reasons, this line has completely changed my view on "doll" type items, with my major gripe being the articulation, but I think it is down to the fact that the sculpt used is what is typically used across other Mego and BifBangPow! styled products.

Now, these aren't perfect, but who honestly expects them to be? They're snazzy and funky retro products, reminiscent of the Denys Fisher figures of the 70's and 80's, but brought more to the modern day. As you can see above, there is more to the wave than the Fourth Doctor, along with him are other famous baddies from his era - Field Major Styre (The Sontaran Experiment), Cyber Leader (Revenge of the Cybermen) and The Master (The Deadly Assassin), and that is just Wave 1! Wave 2 is on the way in Spring, with the Doctor's feisty companion, Leela, and more baddies - Sutekh (The Pyramids of Mars), Morbius (The Brain of Morbius) and Scaroth (City of Death).

BifBangPow! don't only have the Fourth Doctor license, they have the entire of Classic Doctor Who and NuWho! Who knows what Wave 3 will bring? The Tenth Doctor, Harry Sullivan, Omega and Raston Warrior Robot perhaps?

To finish off, a thoroughly recommended figure from a thoroughly recommended line. If this isn't enough to turn you into a doll/action figure type fan, then I don't know what will! Overall, I'd give this figure a well earned 9/10, not perfect as I have said, with the articulation and hat letting it down mainly, but not enough to deduct a mark each. Each figure is only limited to 3,000 pieces each (Mine was 2245), so grab 'em while you can!

Many thanks for reading and all images are courtesy of Jon (http://jonwesleyhuff.com/)! We hope to see you again for another review in the near future!

Paradise Towers DVD Review by William Young

Paradise Towers

When I bought this on DVD last week, I must admit I had never actually watched it before, and I didn't have much hope as to what to expect, based on what others had said previously. However, like a lot of other Doctor Who Fans out there, I aim to try to watch all of the Doctor Who Adventures at some point in the proceedings, so saw no reason not to simply give it a try, especially considering I have always enjoyed the seventh doctor's adventures anyway. Even though the plot line looked a bit silly and unbelievable and of course the inclusion of Mel, dare I say it, I am actually quite glad I did decide to try it, as there was actually something appealing about it.

Following Mel’s request for a bit of a swim, The Doctor takes her to Paradise Towers, which is renowned for its pool. However, upon arrival things are not as they should be, the Towers are in a state of advanced decrepitude and the humans have split themselves into competing and mutually hostile groups, and the residents have turned to cannibalism in order to survive! The remaining young girls have formed themselves into gangs, called the Kangs, who are donated by the colour's blue and red, with the yellows having all been un-dead, as well as the caretakers, whose sole job appears to be hunting the Kangs.

Even though this was the first time I had watched this story, I was already familiar with a lot of the seventh doctor's previous adventures and it's fair to say that something felt as though it was missing from this story, possibly down to the lack of humour and general charisma that we associate him with now, which may have been down to this being only his second adventure during his time playing Doctor Who, and he was still getting familiar with the role. When it comes to Mel, she still seems just as irritating and pretty helpless in dire situations as ever, but like most other fans out there, I was never particularly fond of Mel anyway, so wasn't particularly surprised really. A highlight for me was probably Pex, as I liked how he was the most human and likeable of the characters, and you really felt for him through the entire story (in particular towards the end). One thing that did seem a bit odd was the way the Kangs speak though, which may have worked with in the likes of A Clockwork Orange, but here it just sounded a little silly.

When it comes to the special effects, I think it's fair to say that they have always been very basic and some what restricted when it comes to a lot of the classic episodes out there, which is obviously more down to the severe lack of budget we are now used to now-a-days. This is particularly noticeable towards the end, when we witness the inevitable boss battle, and you see no real immediate danger due to the slowness of the monsters themselves. The sound effects weren't much better either, as everything seemed to be really basic and slightly repetitive at times, and it's quite clear that with a bit more funding that the episode would have looked a lot bigger better to finance the special effects a bit more.

When it comes the extras, we have the usual deleted scenes and odd commentaries, that never really serve as much of a selling point, which is often the case with most Doctor Who DVD's, but there are still a few interesting features for you to enjoy.

Overall, I found this an average story, and a lot better than I had initially thought it was going to be, which just proves that just because someone else thinks something isn't worth watching, doesn't mean you won't like it instead, and consisting of only four episodes, it never appears to outstay it's welcome.

Character Building: Time of the Angels mini set by William Young

Doctor Who: Time of the Angels mini set

The Doctor Who: The Time of Angels Mini Set allows you to recreate scenes from (Doctor Who) Series 5: Episode 4, where we witnessed The Doctor and Amy along with River Song, hunting for a Solitary Angel but discovered an Army of Angels waiting for them!

This highly detailed construction play set includes a fully articulated Weeping Angel Micro-Figure. (Doctor and Amy figures are not included). However, you can always try to get some more Angels with the blind bags if you want to turn them into an Army.

It consists of 68 pieces and, as you can tell from the picture above, the figures themselves are understandably not very detailed, but they are probably 'cute' enough to make you forget all about that and still find them relatively nice to display anyway.

Overall, I found this a relatively good Set, and it is probably the easiest to assemble out of the three sets, and should only take about 10 minutes to assemble, because of the large chunks of pre-built rock, which means you only really need to build the arch and it's platform. I think it's a MUST for any fellow Lego/Doctor Who Fan, and at the small sum of just £9.99 you can't really go wrong either.

Spearhead from Space - DVD Review by Phil Bernard

Spearhead From Space marked huge changes to Doctor Who. It gave us a new leading man, and new companion, the return of the Brigadier, and perhaps the most significantly, it was shown in colour for the first time. The story gives us the first appearance of the Autons, those sinister window-shop dummies that made so many kids too terrified to go shopping. The show started a very famous era in the show’s history. It gave us UNIT, and a resounding change to the series format with the Doctor being exiled to Earth in Patrick Troughton’s last story The War Games.
The production team, Peter Bryant and Derrick Sherwin, thought this would help stretch the show’s meagre budget, however Terrance Dicks and producer Barry Letts were unconvinced this would work from an artistic point of view. How wrong they were. Robert Holmes’ story starts with the Nestene Consciousness’ attempt to take over the planet by taking the form of the superbly sinister mannequins which are creepy enough without the murderous intent.

Holmes’ story is remarkable, not just for the storyline, but also the wonderful characters. As he would prove further with stories like Talons of Weng Chiang, Holmes’ characters are second to none. The dynamic of the new series cast is established very early on with wonderful scenes, like for instance, the scene where the Doctor attempts to escape in his TARDIS, only to emerge a minute later surrounded by smoke. His embarrassed face is frowned upon by the Brigadier. Pertwee’s Doctor is less straight laced as he would later become, from him singing in the shower (where he reveals an intriguing tattoo…), it is great fun to watch his escape from the hospital and chase the ambulance in a wheelchair!

Spearhead’s original release had a modest amount of special features (or VAT) for the time; however this re-release does the story justice. Down to Earth, the release’s primary feature includes a wonderful 20 minute interview with Jon from 1994 where he discusses his casting with great humour. Derrick Sherwin also provides a new commentary along with Terrance Dicks, though I prefer the original with Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John. It’s clear from the commentary that he had very fond memories of working on the show. All in all, Spearhead From Space is a wonderful release which kicked off the most remarkable era of Who, and possibly my favourite. Definitely not one to miss.

The Impossible Planet [6.1] - Episode Review by Chris Kerr

Series 6 couldn't come quick enough, eh? We sit there for four months on end, then, in March, a few trailers pop up. Then, the Internet goes into overload. Before you know it, WHAM! Doctor Who Online breaks it's 'Most Users Online' record just because people want to discuss a one minute-odd trailer. Isn't that magnificent?
We're 'rewarded' for our patience by the reveal of a 'Two Parter' opening the series.
And, the series opens with a bit of a romp; the 'Naked' Doctor underneath a Woman's skirt! Cheeky cheeky! Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs Williams [And 'Ze Bump'!] are casually in their home watching the Doctor dance on TV. And they say Children are attention-seekers?! Blimey!
The next section takes place on the banks of Lake Silencio [What a coincidence, eh?] where the TARDIS Trio, joined by the ever-so-secretive River Song, are enjoying a wonderful picnic. There's beautiful cliffs to either end of them, there's the turquoise sea ahead of, there's a NASA Apollo Astronaut coming out of the water, there's...Wait...A NASA Apollo Astronaut? Coming out of the water?! That can't be right! Popping a Malteaser in my mouth, the eager fan in me nearly chokes on it when the Astronaut zaps the Doctor. And I mean very nearly! The sheer emotion in the Companions' acting was so intense! River's, "NOOOO!" and Amy's squeaky, "Doctor!" aswell as Rory's, "He can't be!" If people don't class that as great acting, I don't think they'll ever see 'Great Acting' in their life!
Heading to 1969, the year the Apollo 11 lands on The Moon, the TARDIS Crew [Joined by the miraculous return of a Younger Doctor!] all encounter a mysterious figure in a Black Suit. Amy witnesses one in a toilet, River sees one in underground Tunnels as does Rory. President Milhouse Nixon seems very calm about having a mysterious man in his Oval Office [Yes, Oval Office, Doctor. NOT the Oblong Room!] which made me feel quite sceptical about that scene. I felt as if they never put much thought into it. Unless he was so desperate to get rid of the Little Girl who keeps phoning him.
When Rory and River discovered the NegaTARDIS from the Lodger, I think I squealed [As well as nearly choking on ANOTHER Malteaser!] with excitement. Because, it opens up the possibility that the Silents were in Aickman Road. It explains why the people lured off the street were killed with Blue Electricity, wouldn't it? And, I always wondered why, when they got zapped, the camera moved from the 'murderer's POV'.
And, to top it all off, we get Amy Pond grasping the unconcious Canton's revolver and aims it at the approaching Astronaut. 'Will she shoot it?' I thought. Then, on the reveal of it being the Little Girl [Who didn't/doesn't appear to be 'there', as she keeps saying 'Help Me!'] I was certain she wouldn't shoot her. But, on the "What are doing?" "Saving your life" exchange, my heart sunk. Literally, it sunk. I felt sick on how emotional that scene was; the slow-motion effect, the echoing stomping of the Astronaut, the poor Girl's pleas for help and Amy shooting her.
Oh.My.God.

10/10 for me as the acting in this was so emotional, so intense, so 'on-the-edge-of-your-seat' that I was in tears of sorrow, joy, fear and excitement.
Doctor Who has certainly stepped up from the past 5 years!

Doctor Who: Character Building Mini Figures

As you all will now, Character Options have now released the Character Building line, which is proving to be very successful! We thought it may be handy to know the ratio and rareness of the Doctor Who line, so you know just how rare your figures are!

Eleventh Doctor [Jacketed and red shirt - Common] 8:36
Cyberman [Common] 5:36
Dalek Drone [Common] 5:36
Dalek Strategist [Uncommon] 3:36
Amy Pond [Uncommon] 4:36
Weeping Angel [Screaming - Uncommon] 4:36
Silurian General Restac [Uncommon] 3:36
Smiler [Uncommon] 2:36
Eleventh Doctor [Jacketless and blue shirt - Rare] 1:36
Weeping Angel [Serene - Rare] 1:36

The Character Building mini figures are available to buy for just £1.99 each from all good toy retailers.

http://www.characterbuilding.eu/

Character Building Website [www.characterbuilding.eu]

Character Options have now added a site dedicated to their Character Building range, this covers both their Doctor Who and HM Armed Forces line.

On the site, you can be in with the chance of winning some excellent goodies and catching up on the latest releases!

Check it out at http://www.characterbuilding.eu/

Doctor Who: Character Building - The TARDIS Mini Set by Will Young

Now, as a few of you will already be aware, I am a MASSIVE Lego Fan and of course a HUGE Doctor Who Fan too, and as soon as this little gem caught my eye, and I couldn't wait for them to be released!

The Doctor Who TARDIS Mini Set allows you to build your very own TARDIS and re-create adventures in time and space with the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond. The TARDIS, is the Doctor's vehicle and home that can take him to any place and any time. The Set itself includes a fully constructible TARDIS, as well as a fully articulated Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond Micro-Figure. 

I am sure that everyone will probably try to compare this to 'normal' Lego, and the two are actually compatible with one another, which is also rather handy too. However, it's a bit 'chalk and cheese' if you ask me and I would keep them separate from one another

It consists of 53 pieces and, as you can tell from the picture above, the figures themselves are understandably not very detailed as this is building blocks we are dealing with and they obviously won't have the same human characteristics that some Toys/Figures are able to have, but they are probably 'cute' enough to make you forget all about that and still find them relatively nice to display anyway. However, I believe that they have at least made a good attempt when it comes to details such as the outfits etc, so we can't complain too much!

Overall, I found this a relatively good Set, and it's not too taxing to construct either, the hardest part is probably applying the stickers. I would say about 15-20 minutes would be about right. I think it's a MUST for any fellow Lego/Doctor Who Fan, and at the small sum of just £9.99 you can't really go wrong either.

Doctor Who : Character Building - Dalek Progenitor Room Mini Set by Will Young

Now, as a few of you will already be aware, I am a MASSIVE Lego Fan and of course a HUGE Doctor Who Fan too, and as soon as this little gem caught my eye, and I couldn't wait for it to be released!

The Doctor Who Dalek Progenitor Room Mini Set, allows you to join the Doctor on the Dalek Spaceship where you can help the Doctor save the day and finally defeat his oldest enemy. The set itself includes a highly detailed construction base, as well as a Dalek: The Supreme, micro-figure. 

I am sure that everyone will probably try to compare this to 'normal' Lego, and the two are actually compatible with one another, which is also rather handy too. However, it's a bit 'chalk and cheese' if you ask me and I would keep them separate from one another

It consists of 188 pieces and, the figures themselves are highly detailed, especially when it comes to The Supreme Dalek Figure.

Overall, I found this a relatively good Set, and I preferred it to the previous TARDIS Mini Set and again, it's not too taxing to construct either, the hardest part is probably applying the stickers. I would say about 15-20 minutes would be about right. I think it's a MUST for any fellow Lego/Doctor Who Fan, and at the small sum of just £9.99 you can't really go wrong either!