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Released in the U.K. in 1988 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Doctor Who, which at the time was still in its original run, entering its second season with Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, this Dapol playset was the only toy representation of the TARDIS interior until Character Options’ marvelous playset modeled on the new series’ TARDIS set. Unlike many Dapol toys, such as the TARDIS’ Police Box exterior, certain elements of this set were never manufactured or made available again, making it a true collectors’ item. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

It’s safe to say that Dapol’s most popular Doctor Who toys were the dreaded Daleks. The first toy Daleks were introduced in time for the Christmas shopping season that followed the mechanical meanies’ second appearance in late 1964, and quite a few toy licensees have benefitted from the Dalek trademark since then.

In 2000, Dapol really only introduced three new toy products: a new version of its standard TARDIS toy, this time containing a sound effect chip; a boxed set of Daleks with specialized features hearkening back to their reign of terror in the 1960s; and another Dalek, this one transparent - as seen in two 1980s adventures - due to being in a state of “mid-beam-down.” Through the transparent casing, the hideously tentacled Kaled mutant - the true mind behind the Dalek - can be seen. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

The fourth wave of Doctor Who toys was released in late 1999, and for the first time - at least so far - Dapol released a wave of figures which did not include one of the main Doctor or companion characters. Wave four concentrates solely on the villains and monsters. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

In 1998, Dapol began introducing the first all-new Doctor Who action figures in nearly a decade, with tributes to two of the series’ most seminal characters - the late Jon Pertwee’s third Doctor, and the late Roger Delgado’s original portrayal of the Master. Additionally, most of the enemies released in the third wave also originated from the early 1970s episodes.

Though the standard size of ToyBox’s photos doesn’t make this apparent, the Jon Pertwee action figure was almost four inches tall, thanks to a torso which was sculpted almost ridiculously out of proportion to every other action figure in the line. It’s almost as if the third Doctor is in a different scale from the rest of the range. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

The first wave of Doctor Who toys proved successful enough to warrant a second wave - and in a hurry, too, despite almost every possible indication that the show itself was in decline. For the next round of toys, Dapol concentrated a little more on the show’s popular villains and other fan favorites from the show’s past. In this wave, only one recent character was included - well, maybe two, if one counted the recent appearance of Davros, the creator of the Daleks. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)

To celebrate on the 25th anniversary marketing frenzy surrounding the BBC’s long-running science fiction series Doctor Who, Dapol released its first wave of toys from the series, with an odd mixture of current, recent, and long-departed characters. (Click here to see the rest of the article plus pictures.)