Fourth Doctor and K9 figure review by Ryan Wigley

Doctor Who
Season 18 Fourth Doctor and K9 Mk II
Character Options, Forbidden Planet exclusive
£19.99


This Doctor masked his brilliant and inventive mind behind a façade of bohemian eccentricity. The longest lived incarnation of the Doctors so far, he was forced to change his body after losing a fight with his old enemy the Master and falling from a radio telescope to the ground beneath him…

This evening, in my first review for Frontier in Space, I thought I would review my favourite figure, the Fourth Doctor in his burgundy clothing that was seen in Doctor Who’s eighteenth season in 1980/81 and his trusty companion K9 Mk II as seen in the story Warriors Gate.



Starting off with the packaging then. The packaging is the same as most of the FP exclusives, it’s a clamshell and the backing card just tells us info about the characters and each of the ‘classic’ Doctors tenure. What makes people about to buy feel cheated is the huge empty space in the top right hand corner that could be filled with a head or Sonic Screwdriver. Nothing special or out of the ordinary. There is an image of Tom and K9, although the K9 image is from Full Circle rather than Warriors Gate.

Next, the fourth Doctor himself, the great Tom Baker! Just a quick rundown on the articulation then, head swivels about 90 degrees with the scarf on and off as the coat blocks the articulation. 360 degrees at the waist, although it’s pretty hard to move with the coat in the way. Bending elbows and knees which is the norm on these figures, hand swivel 360 degrees, as do the boots. Now onto detail, the detail is the exact same as on the regenerated Fifth Doctor figure, just a head swap, the paint word is applied excellently. The scarf is a letdown compared to the one seen in promotional images, but it is to be expected. The scarf is a brand new sculpt, compared to previous ones on other Tom figures, it’s accurate enough as Tom’s scarf kept getting longer and longer, which meant it had to be looped around the waist and not the neck. The figure looks superb without the scarf believe it or not, excellent detail and the gloss effect on the buttons is amazing attention to detail. The brown on the boots is done well and to prove how well Design Works attention to detail is, if you lift a bit of the coat up, the loathed question marks are sculpted onto the shirt. Excellent or what? You’re probably wondering why I haven’t mentioned the head yet; well I’m saving best to last. The head sculpt is brand new and shows a more aged Tom, with bags under his eyes, slightly aging skin and an excellent grey wash to the hair. Sadly, because the regenerated Fifth doctor figure came first and the head sculpt is on a plug rather than a peg, it means the Fourth Doctors head has to be on a plug rather than a peg like previous Toms, so it means having a head from Season 12 on the Season 18 body and vice versa is off the agenda. It’s worth having a look at the hands, again, amazing attention to detail as the veins have been sculpted on and everything! This figure deserves a well earned 10/10.

Right, now to K9 Mk II. There has been much speculation about what colour K9 would end up. In the promotional image (above) the K9 was the one released many times with the new series line. Instead of the grey shown in the classic series, it’s a re-release of the new series K9. It doesn’t bother me as I have a spare K9 that could easily be painted, but it has annoyed many people. I suppose it’s due to costs. Like previous K9’s, the removable control panel is still there. A nice feature and the inner workings have a nice gold colour rather than the bronze colour on my other K9, there is one more feature of course, pull back and go! Not a very effective feature usually, but it makes K9 go alot faster than in reality! I would have preferred to have paid £30 for the Remote Control K9 and Tom, with some extra bits and bobs. Articulation varies on K9, some (like mine) have got necks that can be twisted with ease and some have necks that cannot be twisted. The ones that do twist go back into the original position after a few seconds though. Detail on K9 is superb, although inaccurate to the classic series and accurate to the new series and Sarah Jane Adventures, it’s an excellent figure. A 9/10 for me

Accessories now. I don’t count K9 as one, he is a figure. So that takes him out of this section. The only accessories are the scarf and control panel on K9, which could easily not be classed as accessories. There was originally to be a new sculpt Sonic Screwdriver, but wasn’t included for unknown reasons. I’m sure if the head was a peg and not a plug, a head with the burgundy hat would be included.

Inaccuracies now. K9s colour, ears and handles are all inaccurate, but that's due to the K9 used in the set (K9 Mark IV as seen School Reunion, Journey's End amongst various Sarah Jane Adventures epidodes). I could be really petty and say that the coat on the Fourth Doctor is missing something, the green lining inside the coat. As you can see, I do my research, but things like coat linings aren't needed in figures.

Would I say this pack is value for money? I would say so, but I can see why people would not think so, especially people who wander into a Forbidden Planet or specialist shop and see the huge empty space on the packaging and inaccurate K9. At £20 it’s a fiver extra than a normal exclusive single carded figure, but it comes with K9 and I think that’s value for money because I only have the damaged variant as seen in the majority of School Reunion. I’d rather have paid £30 for an RC K9, Tom a variant head and sonic, but that’s me.

Overall, I’d give the pack 9 out of 10 just for the figures. 5/10 for accessories, but apart from a Sonic and maybe another head there isn’t much, so overall a well earned 9/10.

I hope you enjoyed this review!