 | Doctor Who - Time Warrior set announced |
Finally announced formally by Character Options is the action figure set based on Robert Holmes' classic adventure, the Time Warrior.
A serial released in December 1974, Time Warrior was the series opener for the last year Jon Pertwee played the enigmatic Time Lord. After the death of Roger Delgado and the announced departures of script editor Terrance Dicks and producer Barry Letts, Pertwee had decided that it was time to move on. His era had seen many landmarks in the program's history, Despite his current acceptance as the finest actor to play the role, predecessor Patrick Troughton's era had ended with not only a whimper but also the threat of cancellation. The only reason that we have Doctor Who on the air past the Troughtron era is that the BBC failed to ramp up a replacement program in time. In its place was the last gasp of Doctor Who, this time stranded on Earth in an attempt to save money and appeal to viewers, a decision made by the previous production team.
When Doctor Who returned in 1970, it was in colour and with a new leading man. Song and dance man Jon Pertwee played against type as the wizardly Time Lord, battling enemies from the stars and from beneath the planet's crust. The experiment was a roaring success and the viewing figures soared. After four years as the guardian of the human race, Pertwee decided to move on (especially as head of serials Shaun Sutton denied him a raise, as Pertwee tells it). His final series was in this reviewers opinion, a return to greatness and it all started with the Time Warrior.
Replacing the doe-eyed companion Jo Grant was the sly modern and sophisticated journalist Sarah Jane Smith. When scientists start disappearing throughout England, U.N.I.T. is called in to discover the reason why. The Brigadier places the Doctor on the case just as a clever young journalist decides to get the inside story by masquerading as her scientifically-inclined aunt. This do Sarah Jane and the Doctor meet, just as they are carried back to the middle ages where a lone Sontaran, separated from his comrades, attempts to fix his craft by bringing learned men from the future back to the dark ages.
The Time Warrior is one of my favorite stories. It is the first to feature the 'slit scan' opening credits sequence (the best version was the '74 rendition) and a high quality script. The mixture of an historical and science fiction drama is inspired as is the Doctor being viewed as a turncoat and a suspicious character (by Sarah Jane Smith before she learns of the Doctor's true personage).
Finally announced in a formal fashion, the Time Warrior set consists of a repaint/resculpt of the Sontaran previously seen in the Sontaran Experiment set and another variant of the Third Doctor, this time in his green velvet smoking jacket.
The Time Warrior set can be pre-ordered in the UK from Forbidden Planet. No word on a retailer on this side of the pond. Keep your eyes peeled on Mike's Comics, however, for this much wanted item.
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