Character Options: Companions of the Fourth Doctor Figure Set Review

The recent success of Doctor Who figures at B&M cannot be overstated. After a number of years where it seemed like the 5.5" line of Doctor Who figures was dying out, Character Options took a gamble on a number of exclusive-to-B&M sets, as a final hurrah for the range before its ending in 2017. However, far from being the final bow, these sets brought the range to life again in a way I haven't seen for many years. 2018 and 2019 both brought new sets which proved hugely popular, leading to now - Character taking the plunge and creating new figures for these sets. To see a part of my childhood restored to something even vaguely approaching its former glory is wonderful, and just shows how loved these figures are. One of the most eye-grabbing sets for me was the Companions of the Fourth Doctor set (being, as you can probably guess, a huge fan of the Tom Baker era), and so it was one I simply had to pick up. And, to have the toys in hand, you can just see all the care, attention and love that has been put into them. These figures are ones I have wanted to have for so long, and are ones I honestly thought we'd never get the chance to get.

The Companions of the Fourth Doctor - together at last!

This set comprises three figures: Sarah Jane Smith (in her combat outfit from the later half of "Genesis of the Daleks" and "Revenge of the Cybermen"), Romana 1 (in her outfit from "The Pirate Planet") and Romana 2 (in her 'pink Doctor' costume from "Destiny of the Daleks"). These are iconic costumes for these companions, so I think the choices for this set is spot on. Together with the superb likenesses for the actors, you can instantly tell who each figure is meant to be. The level of detail they have been able to fit on such a small scale is incredibly impressive, and clearly shows how much the sculpting team at Character Options care about the product they are releasing. From little details like the buckles and flaps on Sarah's jacket, to the folds and creases on Romana 1, to the pockets and lining of Romana 2's coat, the attention to detail is staggering. Each figure has had so much time and work poured into them in terms of detail, and that is clear in the finished product.

The Sarah Jane Smith figure.

The figure of Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) is based on her look in the latter part of "Genesis of the Daleks" and all of "Revenge of the Cybermen". Featuring in two fairly iconic Tom Baker stories, this is an outfit that lots of fans will remember as one of Sarah's most iconic looks, and it has been well-recreated in figure form. Taking as a basis a figure of Martha Jones in her combat fatigues from the Series 3 episode "Last of the Time Lords" works incredibly well, with only a few tweaks required in order to get it to fit. Elisabeth did wear the jacket open in the TV series, something which I imagine for reasons of costs, wasn't able to be achieved with this new version. This does mean that were aren't able to see the light khaki green shirt that Sladen wore under the jacket. However, the sculptors have tried to recreate this by painting the jacket collars a light green, and I think this works particularly well. It's just a little detail that suggests the presence of the shirt, without having to massively retool the figure. The likeness of Sladen is fantastic: it builds on the figures of Lis from "School Reunion" and The Sarah Jane Adventures from 2007/2008, while making her look exactly like she did back in 1975. Out of the three figures, this is probably the strongest in terms of likeness, as it is clear that this is meant to be Sarah. The trousers are also a lot lighter than those in the show, but that really is nitpicking, and it works in conjunction with the rest of the figure. In terms of articulation, her head can move 360 degrees, while her arms are on ball joints at the shoulders. Her arms can also turn 360 degrees just below the shoulder, and her elbows are ball jointed, allowing for 90 degree turns. Her lower body has articulation at the waist, at the legs, at the knees and at the shins. This allows for a vast range of poses, and makes the figure look great alongside the Fourth Doctor. Out of the three figures, this is absolutely my favourite, as it perfectly captures the look of one of my favourite companions in an iconic costume from two memorable stories. I would honestly say that it was worth picking up this set just to get the Sarah figure, to be honest, as its magnificent.

The First Romana figure.

The second figure in the set is the first incarnation of the Time Lady Romana (Mary Tamm), and is based on her look from the second Key to Time story "The Pirate Planet". Out of the three figures, I would say that, in terms of likeness, this is probably the weakest, however I still think the sculpt is incredibly impressive, considering the materials the team were obviously able to work with in order to keep costs down. What I will say is that, with this figure, the devil is very much in the detail, and its clear the team at Character have put a lot of thought into how it is going to work. For one thing, the detailing of the raised eyebrow is a wonderful touch, that really brings the figure to life unlike many others I can think of. Somehow, in that single action, the sculptors and painters have captured Mary Tamm's likeness in a way that they may have struggled with otherwise. Mary Tamm's facial features aren't quite as distinctive as Lis Sladen's, or even Lalla Ward's, but, with little details like that, they just capture an essence of the haughty, prim-and-proper Time Lady. As for the costume, well, they've done the best they can. Colour wise, it's spot on, but unfortunately, it suffers in the sculpt department, which was taken from a Primeval figure, I believe. Its just not much of a match for the on-screen costume; I can see they've done their best, and things like the sleeves and the trousers are a good approximation for what we see on screen. However, Romana's costumes are incredibly distinctive, for both incarnations of the character, and her outfit in "The Pirate Planet" is a blouse with a white belt combo. So, this workaround, while decent and serviceable, is incredibly noticeable for someone who is such a fan of the era. The articulation for the Romana figure is much the same as with Sarah, apart from the fact there is no shin articulation. That being said, this is still a great figure, and a good representation of the First Romana on the shelf. It's an iconic look, and the sculpt does a good job of looking like Mary Tamm, despite the difficulties that the sculptors must have had.

The Second Romana figure.

The final figure in this set is the second incarnation of Romana, as played on screen by Lalla Ward. For this figure, Romana's outfit is lifted from the 1979 story "Destiny of the Daleks" which was not only the first story of Season 17, but was also Lalla Ward's first story in the role of Romana. This is probably the most iconic of all the Second Romana's outfits (and most of her outfits were, lets be fair), as it is a pink and white version of Tom Baker's own Doctor costume, and has always been one of my favourite companion outfits, due to its slight tweaking of elements of the Fourth Doctor's outfit. This figure uses, as a base, one of the figures of Sarah Jane from the short-lived line of Sarah Jane Adventures figures (namely the figure of Sarah that came with the Kudlak figure from "Warriors of Kudlak"), together with a new head sculpt. The sculpt looks amazing, reflecting Lalla Ward perfectly, while the body does a pretty good job at being an approximation of the on screen costume. There are a couple of small issues with it, such as a belt buckle, and the blouse/trousers not quite matching the on-screen costume - however, unlike with the First Romana costume, these are not incredibly noticeable, and do the job they need to. The paint apps on this figure are particularly fantastic: the lines of the coat pockets are wonderfully painted on, with no bleeds at all, despite how fiddly it must have been to do. The figure also comes with Romana's scarf from that story, which is made from a fairly flexible plastic that allows you to slip it on and off the figure fairly easily (like the bigger Fourth Doctor scarfs). It does hook underneath Romana's hair, so you may need to jiggle it about to get it off - I haven't done that, as I can't really be bothered to take the scarf off, but I do know it can be done. Like with the other figures in the set, this Romana has a great deal of articulation, although I would argue that her waist articulation is hindered on this figure by the coat. Other than that, she has the same degree of articulation as the First Romana figure. I love the Second Romana figure, as it perfectly captures an iconic companion in one of her most memorable outfits. I do have a couple of nitpicks, but they are tiny little comments, and, take nothing away from this great figure.

The Companions of the Fourth Doctor set, still in
packaging.

Packaging wise, the figures come packaged in a window box display, showing all the figures in their glory. The format is much how you would expect if you've been following merchandise packaging for the Doctor Who line recently. On the back, there's pictures of the figures, together with who each figure is, which is particularly useful for younger fans who may not know who these characters are. Its nice as well that, in the years since I last brought some Doctor Who figures, Character Options have really cut down on their plastic use. I can remember back in 2010 or 2011, when it would take half an hour just to get the figures out of the box, they were wrapped in so much plastic. And the waste they generated! Now, however, the figures are much more contained, being put in shrink plastic that fits tightly around them. Sure, you still get some annoying plastic tags that you have to open up (I'm sure they could actually be dispensed with entirely, to be honest), but, on the whole, it makes for a sophisticated and smart look for the figures.

The companions of the Fourth Doctor, together with the man himself (in plastic form, that is)!

Despite some issues with some of the figures in this set, however, I have to say that I'm very impressed with the Companions of the Fourth Doctor set overall. This is a wonderful chance to get three figures that, I'll be honest, I thought we'd never get, and this set pretty much exceeds all my expectations. If you are a fan of the Tom Baker era of Doctor Who, you owe it to yourself to pick this set up, as this is the perfect set for anyone that's a fan of this era of the show, and especially anyone who's a fan of these companions.

The Companion of the Fourth Doctor Figure Set is available exclusively from B&M Stores in the UK. It may be worth checking availability with your local store.

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