I Love... 1988

by Simon Rayner

December 1988 saw the Seventh Doctor and his new assistant Ace stepping out from the TARDIS and on to the dusty deserts of Segonax for the "Greatest Show in the Galaxy". Between transmission of the second and third episodes, on December 25th to be precise, the Seventh Doctor and his old assistant Mel (along with K9) stepped from the TARDIS and into my playroom for the "Greatest Christmas Present in the Galaxy"

Oh yes. It was that day that I first learnt the word Dapol. I didn't know how to say it then and I still don't now. (Dap pol? Day Poll? D'pau?)

As was the tradition in those days, we went to church of a Christmas morning. We weren’t especially religious, just hardy annuals as the vicar often said during his sermon. Still at least we made the effort once a year…and you sometimes got free sweets!

As I'm sure you appreciate dear reader being a child on Christmas morning is not easy. You have a million presents to open and want to do it as soon as you open your eyes (usually around 4 AM). But I was and still am good at waiting so as not to rush the excitement but as a treat or a starter if you like, we were allowed to open one present before church. I chose a non descript small package which I suspected to be an action figure of some sort. I was keen on this.

We had a few ye olde Star Wars figures that were regularly employed by me to represent Doctor Who characters in my epic Doctor Who games so all further additions to the cast would gratefully received.

I went up to my parents room where they were merrily drinking tea in bed and tore into the packet fully expecting to see some generic Action Man style soldier staring back at me. I saw no solider but instead a familiar looking logo.

Chunky metallic blocks basked in a warm glow toped by a Neigbours style yellow scrawl. With black background. And a blue box. In a bubble. And Sylvester McCoy.

It was a Doctor Who figure!!!

Where in Heaven did they come from? I'd never seen them in Beaties or Zodiac let alone our spanking new Toys R Us! It was from Asda in Lincoln, Daddy Rayner informed me. How obscure thought I.

I took my tiny new friend to church. He was beautiful. He was a bit too tall but he had a lovely jumper with question marks on (such detail!) and a wonderful umbrella. and a bulgy pocket!

I was even more excited when I remembered that I was due to get a Police Box money box that year. We'd oggled them at the Market a few weeks before and although they were somewhat basic and unarticulated they were the right size for action figures.

Later on that morning during the present opening proper, I selected a random package to unwrap. It was as hoped a model Police Box but not the shiny and smooth money saving variety. Nope, it was a Dapol TARDIS with flashing light and opening doors! I was a amazed!!! Such things that dreams are made of!

It really was a wonderful fella. You could read the sign on the doors that opened inwards and outwards and I loved how it had roundels on the interior AND a (sadly unopenable) door leading to the unseen corridors of the TARDIS. Ok so the door was mistakenly in the hexagonal style of the exterior console room doors but let us not pick nits.

I didn't realize at the time but the model was designed to come apart and thus form the back drop to the (available separately alas) console room. I was therefore miffed and deeply upset when I accidentally knocked it from a table and it "shattered" in a manner not unlike the exploding TARDIS in "The Mind Robber". There were tears until Father saw the threads that that joined the TARDIS together and mended them when they broke.

I wasn’t the only one to be given some Dapol figures that Christmas. Just so my brother didn't feel left out and, to be fair because he watched Doctor Who too, he was given the gift of a Mel and K9. Like his 1993 purchases of the Cushing films, "Resurrection" and "Death to the Daleks" VHS’s, they we're mine in all but name! I was well chuffed. I even got a Doctor Who calendar to see me through the next year with it’s pretty paintings and Target covers.

The next year would see my Dapol collection expand to include Daleks, Cybermen, Ace, and even the precious (and highly expensive!) TARDIS Console (£30 something quid from Beaties!!!). I must have spent so many hours playing my surprisingly complicated games of Doctor Who in our spare room. I even used to play the title music and act out the title sequence with loving drawn pictures of the opening graphics! That's all for another time though.

1988 was the year that that kick started an adventure in Toyland that would continue in one way or another for many more years to come…in fact since it was only a few months ago that I was playing with the very same figures I don’t see it ending anytime soon. Yay toys!