Toybox REVIEW: Doctor Who History of the Daleks #19 Set

Release Date: December 2024

RRP: £21.99

Nearly five years on from when they first debuted and the History of the Daleks range is still trucking on, and in the last few releases has finally stepped out of the classic era of Doctor Who and entered the modern era. Sadly the numbering is a bit all over the place now though, with last year's poorly-named History of the Daleks #16/#17 covering both Dalek and jumping ahead to Doomsday (while set #18 went all the way back to Resurrection of the Daleks). The finale of series one and the Ninth Doctor era hasn't been forgotten though, with Character Options circling back to The Parting of the Ways with History of the Daleks #19. This B&M Stores exclusive two-pack was released as part of the final assortment for 2024, containing both an Imperial Guard Dalek and a standard bronze Dalek.

The B&M Doctor Who range has gone through another package revision in the last few waves, with the boxes now predominantly white and sporting the new retro-style series logo. They also alternate between using orange and blue as a secondary colour depending on the era of the release, with the orange used here nicely matching the colour palette used for marketing during the Ninth and Tenth Doctor eras. The overall design of the box has remained pretty much the same though, with the front featuring an open window section showing off the Daleks on their moulded plastic bubble, with an image of the TARDIS in the bottom corner. Both sides of the box feature the set name and Doctor Who logo, while the back features an extensive synopsis of The Parting of the Ways. Upon opening the box the Daleks will need to be cut free from their plastic prison, as the bubble has been glued onto the backing tray.

The first half of this set is a unique entry to the line – the Imperial Guard Dalek. Despite only skulking around in the background for the episode (so much so that you can easily miss them if you didn’t know they were there), this Dalek has been seen across various bits of merchandising over the years – ranging from a Battles in Time trading card to a release in the Eaglemoss Doctor Who Figurine Collection. It sports black dome and skirt section with gold sensor globes, but a standard bronze midsection. This section differentiates it from other black new series Daleks, such as Dalek Sec or the Dalek Inquisitor General/Dalek X (from the Prisoner of the Daleks novel). Technically this variant should also have a black base to match the skirt, but Character have used the standard dark grey instead. Honestly though, it's hard to care about such a minor difference on such an obscure variant. Black and gold has proven time and time again to be a gorgeous colour scheme on Daleks, and the bronze midsection really adds a little more variety to this variant. Given that this set could have just been two standard bronze Daleks, I admire the fact Character went the extra mile to do something unique here.

The second Dalek of the set can be found in two different varieties – one with the standard manipulator arm or the clawed Assault Dalek that briefly appeared in the episode to cut through a door. Neither is rarer than the other, so Character have just left it up to the buyer to decide which they would prefer. The standard will be better for army building, however the Assault Dalek is undoubtedly the more unique release – particularly using the revised moulding. While a standard new series Dalek was previously made available in History of the Daleks #16/#17 (which covered Dalek and Doomsday) as a "Time War Survivor" Dalek, this one sports a clean deco as well as more accurate colouring reflective of props themselves. It does however have a weathered deco on the base to give it a more battle-ready look It’s easily the most show-accurate a new series Dalek has ever looked, which will undoubtedly make this a very desirable set for collectors.

Close comparison with the original Assault Dalek release from nearly two decades ago shows just how much difference the revised mould makes. Not only does the new version have a far more appealing (and show-accurate) silhouette, but the appendages are also far better proportioned. The giant eyestalk and gunstick of the original release just look silly compared to the new version. The new version also sports a superior paint job, not only slightly tweaking the bronze for more show-accurate colouring but also adding a section of black paint to the claw arm. While the original releases still have their charm, its about time this revised mould became more widely available in standard new series Dalek livery.

The articulation has remained the same across all Character Options Dalek figures since the very beginning, whether it's a classic or modern variant you're handing. Both figures sport a 360-degree rotating dome, moveable eyestalks and ball jointed appendages. The bases also have three free-rolling wheels (one pivoted at the front and then two fixed position ones at the back) built into them, allowing them to glide across surfaces in typical Dalek fashion. While it is a little disappointing that Character have never come up with a version of the new series Dalek with a rotating midsection at this scale, given both how long the line has been going and its cost limitations nobody would have been expecting it of these releases. Outside of that special (and admittedly rarely used) feature, these can do everything you'd expect a basic Dalek figure to do.

Just when Doctor Who fans thought they knew what to expect from these releases, History of the Daleks #19 goes and throws a very welcome curveball. As simple a repaint as it may seem, the obscurity of the Imperial Guard Dalek makes it a perfect choice for this two-pack – particularly over the black-domed variants more commonly associated with the story. The bronze Dalek on the other hand may be expected, but has never looked better than it does here. Looking ahead to future releases it's hard to see Character Options throwing out any more surprises like this without more extensive tooling to go with it, but if they have any more repaints like this up their sleeve then I look forward to seeing them.