In “Planet of the Daleks,” The 3rd Doctor and a couple Thal cohorts are making their way through a forest on the planet Spiridon when they hear the sound of something mechanical breaking down. However, there is nothing visible apart from a circular pattern in the grass. Using a couple cans of what looks like black spray paint, the Doctor and the Thals uncover a dead Dalek that had been rendered invisible due to an experiment with an “anti-reflecting light wave.” This gives the Daleks the power of invisibility, but it takes a tremendous amount of power to maintain, so it cannot be sustained for long. This Dalek died from what the Thals call “light-wave sickness.”
Character Options has released a series of 11 Doctor/Dalek 2-packs that are Toys R Us exclusives in the UK, but available through the usual Doctor Who retailers in the US. Each set features a Doctor and a Dalek based on their appearances in their respective episodes, and in this 3rd Doctor/Dalek set, we get the Doctor and the “invisible” Dalek as they appeared in “The Planet of the Daleks.”
Each 2-pack is attractively packaged in shelf-friendly boxes with the signature classic Who design. Each figure is displayed nicely in the box, but what’s interesting about this 3rd Doctor set is that the positions of the two figures are reversed, while every other set features the Doctor on the right and the Dalek on the left. One can assume this set was reversed in an effort to showcase the Dalek a bit more since the prospect of getting a clear, or mostly clear, Dalek is the stronger selling point. That may be the case, but I’m of the opinion that both figures are definitely worthwhile.
The paint apps on this 3rd Doctor are exceptionally well done. There’s nothing new here in terms of the sculpt itself, but the excellent paint job on his head sculpt and the awesome color palette of his shirt/jacket combo make this figure feel as fresh and new as the first 3rd Doctor figure I ever popped open. It’s truly a gorgeous figure, and it may be my favorite version of the 3rd Doctor yet.
The sculpt is fantastic and the paint work truly brings out the detail. I mean, look at his face — it’s almost lifelike. That’s not bad for a 5-inch action figure! The paint detail on his frilly ascot-thing is remarkable too, but the plumb color of his jacket with the pink shirt underneath is really a knockout. This is one darn good-looking figure. I was worried about redundancy since I do already own a couple 3rd doctor figures, but those fears were assuaged as soon as I got this guy out of the box. The paint work is superior to any other version I have, so he’s a keeper for sure.
Compared to the others (“The Green Death” Doctor on the left and “The Carnival of Monsters” Doctor on the right), this one has a much more lifelike paint job on his face; it’s most evident in the eyes. The one drawback to this figure, however, is he doesn’t come with a Sonic Screwdriver. I don’t remember his using it in the serial, so that may be why it wasn’t included. I do wish he hadn’t come with a hand that looks as though it’s supposed to be gripping his Sonic, but I guess that’s what you get with a repaint.
The “anti-light reflecting” Dalek in the set is an awesome addition to the collection because, to the best of my knowledge, it is unique to this 2-pack series. It is cast in clear plastic with just some simple black paint added to replicate the spray paint the Doctor used to uncover it in the episode. With that in mind, it’s too bad the Doctor didn’t come with a small can of spray paint as an accessory since he didn’t come with a Sonic Screwdriver, but oh well.
Normally such simple paint apps would be a cause for complaint, but the black paint with no other detailing does a great job of replicating what we saw in the episode, so in this case it’s perfect.
The Dalek’s design is a familiar one, but the clear plastic makes it feel fresh.
And since the Dalek is cast in clear plastic, it’s impossible to resist lighting it up so as to take full advantage of that feature. It makes the Dalek look like a ghost, which is completely cool.
All the 2-packs have proven to be quite popular, but this 3rd Doctor set and the 8th Doctor set have been the most sought after because they’re the two that have the most to offer in terms of new additions to the collection. Most stores have sold out, but Big Bad Toy Store still has the set available as part of their listing for the entire wave (five sets in total). That may be your best bet at this point if you’re still trying to track down one of these for yourself. That may seem like you’re having to buy more than you want to get what you want, but again — these sets have been so well done that I enthusiastically recommend every single one of them, so having to get the whole shebang isn’t such a bad thing in this case.
