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November 28th, 2022 478 comments

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Doctor Who 5.5″ Warriors of the Deep (1984) Set

Character Options announces its first online exclusive Doctor Who collector set of 2022

Warriors of the Deep (1984), a new 3-piece set offers a once only chance to collect these iconic Silurian figures

Character Options has today revealed the next instalment of Doctor Who collectors’ sets, available exclusively online on the Character Options website.

The new Warriors of the Deep (1984) set includes the Three Command Silurian crew of Ichthar, Tarpok and Scibus as seen in the season twenty-one episode of the same name. Perfect for all Doctor Who fans and collectors, the set comes beautifully displayed in a special presentation pack with diorama insert and Doctor Who heritage packaging. These figures will only ever be available this one time only, and offers the perfect opportunity for fans to add to their collections.

The Silurians

Psionosauropodomorpha, Homo Reptilia or more simply Silurians are a species of highly intelligent reptiles with psionic abilities who inhabited the planet Earth millions of years before humans. In order to outlive the catastrophe that destroyed the dinosaurs, they descended into underground hibernation shelters, but were never revived and now many pockets of survivors lie dormant within the planet. The Silurians have attempted to re-take the planet Earth on several occasions but have always been defeated by either human weapons or by the Doctor.

Setting the scene

In the Warriors of the Deep episode, we travel to Earth year 2084. Two power blocs control the planet. One of them has an underwater base called Sea Base 4 operating deep in the ocean and strategically positioned to control nuclear weapons aimed at its opponents.

Evading missile fire in space, the TARDIS lands on Sea Base 4 in the middle of a practice missile run. The TARDIS crew are soon detected and alarms are triggered whereupon the Doctor as a distraction programs the base’s reactor to overload in an attempt to avoid capture. This fails however, and the time travellers are detained.

We soon learn the Silurians have located and revived a group of Sea Devil Warriors from deep hibernation and together they attack the base. The Silurians dispatch the Myrka, a large marine creature, to break through the outer airlocks. After a fierce battle the Doctor surmising an aversion to bright light, kills it using a rigged up ultra-violet projector. The Silurians and Sea Devils take control of the base.

After much bloodshed, the Doctor confronts the Silurian Ichthar about the death toll whereupon the he scornfully reveals it’s irrelevant as his warriors intend to destroy mankind by triggering a global nuclear war. They connect a ‘manipulator’ to the computer systems and while distracted, the Doctor escapes and discovers cylinders of hexachromite gas, which is utterly lethal to all sea life.

Unable to find another option the gas is fed into the ventilation system. The Silurians and Sea Devil warriors collapse and the Doctor tries to stop the missiles by linking himself into the computer and succeeds.

Al Dewar, Character Options’ Creative Director, added his own personal thoughts on the release of this new exclusive and the episode from which they are created.

‘I think it’s safe to say that 1984’s story Warriors of the Deep brought back a much underused yet very fondly remembered Doctor Who foe .. The Silurian’s. I personally remember this story with great fondness; partly this was because from the start I was trying to guess who the protagonists were as the mysterious submarine closed in on the Sea Base. And then later because of the great rework of the original design for this Classic Monster.

The Silurian costume design is excellent and I think created quite a different look with the updated carapace body added. The Silurian’s in this story are like the Silurian’s and Sea Devils of old, they are not the baddies and neither are they alien. They are simply trying to survive and in the story it’s the humans who appear less than squeaky clean. Like many really good Doctor Who stories there are no winners at the end of Warriors…just survivors. It’s a really cracking adventure with the 5th Doctor with a kind of feeling of downbeat inevitability which I really like.

Three Silurians in the set might seem an odd choice but for me this Story is all about “Three” We have the three races, humans, Silurians and the Sea Devils. We have Ichthar, the last of the original Silurian Triad. The three Silurian characters themselves are the command crew of the ratty old sub and all we see of the once proud race. Obviously we have the Silurian’s own third eye though this time used as a speech unit and not as a psionic weapon. Therefore the set we’ve brought together works perfectly as we have two Silurians with the black unlit eye and the slight variation in body deco on these means they are all slightly different. I absolutely love this figure and think it’s one of the best we’ve done and a great addition to the Classic line up.”


Categorised under: Doctor Who 5" scale figures, Toys

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478 comments

  • Sime

    February 29th, 2024 - 12:04pm

    Just bought a set. Always had a soft spot for Warriors Of The Deep. Great price. Had to be done!

    Reply
  • Erato

    February 28th, 2024 - 6:26pm

    Two years on or whatever it’s been, I’m still amazing that we got these – considering that we have only ever got new figures made from the sculpts of past figures, e.g. the Voords and Sensorites are variations of the Gold Axons but with new head/hand/feet sculpts etc.

    14.99 is incredible value for these figures! New head, chest, arms … They are the ‘newest’ figures we’ve had since 2010 IMO.

    I hope CO are looking to work with some of the incredible custom creators on Instagram. I’ve seen 70s Silurians, Alien Ambassadors, Ice Lords that are unbelievably good quality.

    Reply
  • demdike@Cult Labs

    February 28th, 2024 - 6:01pm

    The problem with this set for me was the initial price of £30 for basically three identical figures. And pretty boring ones at that.

    Reply
  • pb

    February 28th, 2024 - 5:24pm

    Well darn…. here I was thinking I got a good deal buying it for £22 two months ago. Should’ve just waited. Typical.

    Reply
  • MJS

    February 28th, 2024 - 4:09pm

    It’s a good price and postage on it is free

    Reply
  • Martino

    February 28th, 2024 - 2:40pm

    This is very sad. Buying this very nice set reminded me of the heyday of the range, back when I walked in to FP and saw the Master/Axon or Dalek Emperor set (sets I was completely unaware of). And these ARE nice figures. If CO couldn’t sell 5,000 of these in two years, I really fear for the future of the range.

    Reply
    • pb

      February 28th, 2024 - 5:25pm

      There was a Dalek Emperor set!??!

    • HS

      February 28th, 2024 - 7:26pm

      – pb

      He means the Davros Dalek Emperor set from Remembrance of the Daleks.

  • Mrs Croot

    February 28th, 2024 - 2:08pm

    Apart from the obvious red eye, what actually was the “subtle variation” between the silurians?

    Reply
    • Tom C

      February 28th, 2024 - 3:13pm

      On mine (and others I’ve seen reviewed online), the top paint washes in & around the scales appear to be unique for each Silurian.

      It is very subtle and at a distance it’s not obvious and you’d think they’re completely identical but up close you can see the different shading.

  • cosmosboy98

    February 28th, 2024 - 12:41pm

    I’ve been waiting for this to come down to £15 for two years, very glad I waited!

    Reply
  • daz

    February 28th, 2024 - 12:22pm

    Took them long enough to reduce them. Must need the warehouse space now.

    I ended up buying 1 figure off eBay for £12 a while back.

    3 packs of very similar figures just don’t sell as seen by this and recent B&M stuff.

    Unless they did some unreleased Cyberman or classic companions figures as an exclusive there’s just not enough interest.

    Reply
    • booboo

      February 28th, 2024 - 12:26pm

      There were 5000 of these and not sold out after 2 years which shows just how small the “core” market is now.

    • daz

      February 28th, 2024 - 12:38pm

      I used to be part of the core audience but nowadays with less space I no longer collect everything. I pick my figures carefully. No more duplicates either.

      The market has definitely changed and although I hope we get some 60th Specials figures and the new Season 1 figures all get made it’ll never revert back to the success of the 10th Doctor years.

    • The Outcast

      February 28th, 2024 - 12:43pm

      It is rather sad that the core market is so small, does make me worry about the longevity of these exclusives and the line in general – especially when the Fugitive Doctor and TARDIS set hasn’t sold out yet, and that was one of the most highly demanded figures for the line.

    • Bookcollector

      February 28th, 2024 - 12:49pm

      I sometimes think fans don’t realise how small the market for who toys is now. I have to say I know very few people who collect the figures now. Most of my friends bought figures for their kids rather than themselves and of course their kids grew up and drifted away from who and into other things. When I was 13-14 I nearly stopped watching and the only thing that kept me watching was target books printing early stories that I hadn’t seen. So I kept watching but was still undecided and then my interest was reinvigorated by the arrival of Sylvester McCoy and then sophie aldred. Even my friends who are fellow fans don’t collect the toys anymore. I go to a local fan meeting and I think there are maybe 3 or 4 people who still buy the toys and some of those only buy certain ones.

    • Luck4unow

      February 28th, 2024 - 12:57pm

      But the 13th/14th doctor regeneration set sold out pretty quickly and were in higher number, I believe. Yes, the core market is small, but there seems to be other reasons why this set simply hasn’t moved…I believe this is the only online exclusive to be still on the site for 1+ year

    • booboo

      February 28th, 2024 - 1:00pm

      I dont believe it did sell out, i think unsold stock was bought by Diamond and is now selling through them in the USA, this happened not long after it just vanished from the CO site.

    • daz

      February 28th, 2024 - 12:58pm

      Outcast.

      I think the fugitive set would have sold out if they hadn’t mentioned in the video the possibility of a separate figure with glasses.

      Even if it takes years and ends up as a B&M set I’m happy to wait. I have no room for another Tardis. Originally, I would have bought it and sold the Tardis on eBay.

    • Rex Farrel

      February 28th, 2024 - 3:11pm

      I don’t think it helped that they were from Warriors of the Deep – if they’d been Pertwee era I think there would have been more interest. (I thought the 80s Silurians looked great in photos, but then in the 90s I saw the story on VHS…)

    • Rex Farrel

      February 28th, 2024 - 3:20pm

      Easy seller: Dalek army-builder collection. No weird arm variations, just packs of standard Dalek drones – the ones from the two-packs that don’t always overrun ebay every time there’s a new B&M release.

    • FH

      February 28th, 2024 - 5:33pm

      I really don’t think the Fugitive Doctor would be sold out if they hadn’t mentioned that they might release a variant in the future. People say she was ‘one of the most highly demanded figures for the line’ but demanded by who? In my opinion, it’s a very vocal minority that actually wanted a figure of her, which made people think there was a high demand. Ultimately, the 14th Doctor set didn’t sell out until over a year (or didn’t sell out at all, as booboo suggests) and I’m pretty sure David Tennant’s 14th Doctor would’ve been far more highly sought after than a minor character that’s heavily connected with such a divisive storyline. It doesn’t add up and the fact it still hasn’t sold out even after CO saying there’s ‘just a few remaining!’ is further evidence to me that there wasn’t really that much interest in her. Seems like they just said that because they were shocked at how few they sold of her and wanted to encourage more sales. That’s my theory anyway. Could be wrong of course, but I predicted from the start that Fugitive will still be available a year after release.

    • John

      February 29th, 2024 - 10:02am

      Booboo completely agree, that’s why we are drowning in Time Lords. Who is losing its general appeal (cost of living expenses aren’t helping casual buyers either) and we core die hard must have every figure collectors are clearly now only a few thousand.
      B&Ms scaling back is eveidence of this and no Ncuti figure yet from CO.

  • The Outcast

    April 21st, 2023 - 3:48pm

    I wonder how many of these sets are left? According to a comment from May of last year, there were only 300 left? So I wonder how many there are now.

    Reply
    • Robert Watkins

      April 21st, 2023 - 5:34pm

      Don’t know as it will only let you put 5 in a basket now. I think last time I tried there were 340

  • Doctor Rob

    July 31st, 2022 - 1:55am

    Does anybody know if &when we are getting news of any new sets now we have reached August I hope they don’t all come at once as it may be a bit costly.

    Reply
    • the Ergon

      July 31st, 2022 - 10:50am

      Its always a costly affair when these first come out. I,m sure there will be a massive buzz when the images are released but it will probably be some time till they are in store. Since these are mainly 21st century Who, I don,t have that same enthusiasm as the Classic stuff but it will be interesting to see what there is new rather than just repackaged rereleases. What are you hoping for Doctor Rob? For me, if anything companions unreleased or in different outfits. A wilf, Donna and 10th would be perfect and timely now since the passing of the great Bernard Cribbins.

  • Whovian42

    June 26th, 2022 - 3:18pm

    Does anybody know if the sylvanian families houses are suitable scale for the 5.5inch Doctor Who figures?

    Reply
    • R Thompson

      July 19th, 2022 - 6:18pm

      My daughter used to collect them and I feel that they were to small for the doctor who figures

    • Peter C

      July 30th, 2022 - 7:18pm

      Silurian Families!

  • Efcdalek

    June 20th, 2022 - 9:46pm

    Is there any plans that you know of on a b&m set which will have the dalek time strategist?

    Reply
    • booboo

      June 21st, 2022 - 8:58am

      i doubt is as would require a lot of new tooling, maybe an online exclusive

  • FH

    May 5th, 2022 - 3:00pm

    Despite some predictions, these are still available and haven’t sold out yet, which is unfortunate, unlike the Abominable and Mechanus sets that were all snapped up really quickly.

    There’s still hundreds left, which is rather concerning, but I thought this would be the case with this set, however nice it is. I felt like it just doesn’t have the appeal to warrant an online exclusive release, but hopefully this is just me being negative.

    Reply
    • booboo

      May 5th, 2022 - 3:27pm

      Many people ordered multiples (up to 10) of the Mechanus sets for customs.

      The Tardis was the 1st electronic one in years and contained one of the most wanted figures.

      In a lot of cases 3 people bought one Silurian set to have one each. Times are hard and one figure was enough for some.

      Main PR on this set was very focused on a group that would have bought it regardless and many long term established sites did not feature it at all.

      No follow up PR for those not glued to Social media who might have missed it the first time around.

      Still selling on ebay for double the price suggesting the more casual buyer is unaware.

      And i could go on…

    • Robert W

      May 5th, 2022 - 10:34pm

      They’ve sold 4700, which ain’t bad. Many will be hanging on to see if they are reduced or maybe can’t afford them at the moment.

  • booboo

    March 30th, 2022 - 3:46pm

    If you have an issue with Characters Customer service please take it up with their head office directly. http://www.thecharacter.com/contact-us/

    Reply

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