Deep Space Diving

The tenth Doctor adventures “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit” were good old-fashioned Doctor Who stories full of human drama, excitement, creepy aliens, demonic possession, and a villain to top all villains – the very sort of combination that is Doctor Who at its best. These episodes were also, intentionally or not, affectionate nods to Alien and Aliens. We also saw the Doctor sport an outfit other than his traditional costume-ish brown suit. I always preferred when the Doctor varied his outfits (as did Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker) and David Tennant finally wore something fitting the context of the story; a space suit. Character Options has released their first variant Doctor Who action figure in a tiny 1/6 version of that spacesuit. And an impressive suit it is!

SCULPT – The Doctor & Space Suit features the same David Tennant head sculpt already released on the traditional 1/6 tenth Doctor in brown suit; nothing new here. The eyes appear to have a little less “wondering eye syndrome” than the original figure has, but it’s also hard to tell under the helmet. And speaking of helmets…

ACCESSORIES – CO has managed to create one of the most intricately detailed 1/6 space helmets I’ve ever seen. And I have seen a lot…well…one or two at least. This thing is superbly crafted and fits perfectly over the Doc’s head. There’s even a long rubbery hose connecting the helmet to a device attached on the belt. There are even tiny rubber hoses on top of the helmet; not a static sculpt, but actual rubber hoses. Gorgeous! This is the type of attention to detail you’d expect to see on a much higher priced collector figure and not a mass-produced child’s toy. The helmet is removable, but it’s not easily popped on and off. The Doctor’s nose keeps getting in the way.

The costume is also removable, although, getting it off over the gloves would take some doing. The suit is a bright orange with lots of details. The logos look to be iron-on stickers of some sort and replicate the actual series logos nicely. There are lots of belts too. The waist belt is the best being made of a canvas-like material. The detailing belts around the legs and chest fair a little less favorable being made out of thin black ribbon. There’s also a silver ribbon down the front. Some of the stripes on the suit are also thin strips of ribbon. It’s kind of cheap looking and doesn’t hold up well under close scrutiny. I am sure this was a cost-saving measure, but I really don’t like the ribbon detailing. It feels like a quick and cheap way to design a 1/6 belt. Still, it’s a minor quibble overall. Oddly, the Velcro on the back of the spacesuit works here. Regular snap closures wouldn’t seem “tight” enough for a protective space suit.

Also included is a small yellow flashlight. In a nice touch, CO added a clear plastic cover over the “light bulb” instead of just simulating the plastic opening with silver paint. It fits well into the Doctor’s hand, but is probably too clean. A real flashlight used on a dirty space station would probably be greasy and stained. Easily fixed, though, for those handy with a paint brush and some acrylic paints.  

PAINT – The areas of paint are the Doctor’s head, gloves, boots, and helmet. The Doctor’s head has painted hair, eyebrows, eyes, and lips with little or no variation form the original release in brown suit. As noted above, I do see a little less of a wondering eye issue. This lips are a pale pink/brown that isn’t too lipstick-ish. The gloves and boots are molded out of a black rubber with a brown wash applied liberally over each. The wash looks good and adds to the used, worn look (although the boots may be too “clean”). The boots are removable, the gloves are not. The helmet has a few areas of “sloppy” paint. However, this is intentional in order to give it a used, worn look. CO has even painted on nicks, scratches, and grime. The only real issue is that there may not be enough “grime” painted on for a helmet used in the fashion they were on the show, but that’s a perfect project for customizers.

ARTICULATION/ACTION FEATURES – Again, we get CO’s standard 1/6 male body with its relatively decent articulation. Those elbows still have limited articulation and the arms cannot actually bend all the way up. The hands are new being solid rubber pieces that bend easily enough to hold things, but have no real articulation. The helmet is a heavy plastic piece and with the not-so-tight joints on the standard body, I can see the good Doc taking a shelf dive often. Use a doll...er....action figure stand if you plan to display him.  

RATING – 9.5 out of 10. The only thing keeping the Doctor & Soace Suit from a perfect 10 is the ribbon detailing. It just looks cheap. Of course, it is a toy and cheap equals affordable. Other than that he’s pretty spectacular as is – or is a great project for customizers to make 100% accurate.