After locking horns with the Daleks on two occasions, the Doctor and his companions become the target of an assassination squad. Sent into the time vortex through the use of crude mechanics, the Daleks chase the TARDIS crew throughout history. A short distance ahead of their enemies, the Doctor decides to finally face the Daleks on the planet Mechanus where they meet stranded astronaut Steven Taylor (and his mascot Panda Bear... he's very lonely) and the servants of the towering technological cityscape, the Mechanoids.

When the Daleks follow the Doctor and crew into the city, they are forced into a heated battle with a robotic force that rivals their own power. With powerful pincers and a blazing flame thrower, the Mechanoids attempt to wipe out the intruders. It's one of the more memorable parts of the Chase.

(Click here for my review of The Chase)

This Winter, Character Options will be releasing a set of action figures commemorating this adventure. This is the second deluxe action figure set focused on the Hartnell era (the other being 'Enemies of the First Doctor' consisting of a Roboman, Cyberman and flame-thrower Dalek). Someone at CO adores the 60's Who as much as I do!

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From the classic story: 'The Chase', the Mechonoid figure is approximately 130mm high (160mm with the antenna extended) x 130mm wide. It features a swappable flame arm, flip-out claw arms and wheels. It is faced by the Daleks ready to do battle!

Contents: 1 x Mechonoid action figure with swappable flame weapon and 2 x Daleks (The Chase) action figures.

Release date: 16 December 2011.

Currently, this set is only available from Forbidden Planetin the UK. As soon as I learn of a US-based distributor, I'll update this post.

I am happy to see more 1960's Daleks, but the real surprise here is the Mechanoid, a robotic menace that only appeared briefly on-screen but remains an iconic Doctor Who 'monster.' A race of service droids on the planet Mechanus, the Mechanoids were just one in a long line of hopeful competitors to the popular Daleks.

The Mechanoids never rose to the same popularity as the Daleks, despite the fact that they were released as a line of Rolykins back in the day. In fact, I only know of one other use of the Mechanoids, in the Big Finish audio adventure 'The Juggernauts.'

Still, producer Verity Lambert found them useful.

Producer Verity Lambert lights a cig off of a Mechanoid in Doctor Who -The Chase (1964)

As always, thanks to TARDISNewsroom for the tip!