It would seem that Character Options are planning to re-release the Series 4 figures, but this time each one will come with part of a Vespiform figure, the wasp-like monster from “Unicorn and the Wasp”. Bit annoying if you already have the Series 4 figures… To be fair, there is one new one, but it’s a pack of 25 little adipose. Anyway, this lot are out in February.

Vespiform

Character Options have given details of their upcoming brand new range of Doctor Who “Time Squad” figures, due for release on 16th February. They are cartoonised representations of characters and creatures from series 1-4 of Doctor Who and will come in both 2 and 5 packs, compromised as follows:

5 Figure Packs

• Pack 1: Cyberman, Black Dalek, Scarecrow, Vashta Nerada & Sontaran
• Pack 2: Bronze Dalek, Sycorax, Natural Ood, Pyrovile & Clockwork Man
• Pack 3: Supreme Dalek, Davros, Doctor, Slitheen & Weeping Angel

2 Figure Packs

• Pack 1: The Doctor & Vashta Nerada
• Pack 2: Scarecrow & Pyrovile
• Pack 3: Supreme Dalek & Clockwork Man
• Pack 4: Sontaran & The Doctor
• Pack 5: Slitheen & Weeping Angel
• Pack 6: Cyberman & Dalek

Cyberman

Vashta Nerada

Ood

Dalek

Dalek Sec

Pyrovile

Sontaran

Scarecrow

Clockwork Man

Sycorax Leader

The Doctor

Supreme Dalek

Davros

Weeping Angel

Slitheen

The synopses and covers for the four episodes of “Iris Wildthyme” series 2 have been revealed by Big Finish. The first of these is due for release on 28th February.

The Sound of Fear

With her red London bus on course for the future, Iris runs slap-bang into the past!

Materialising aboard Radio Yesterday, a space station broadcasting golden oldies to Earth’s colonies, Panda finds something sinister in the air-conditioning and Iris comes face to face with her long-lost husband… (no, really!)

As Iris, Panda and the crew of Radio Yesterday experience the true power of music, the evil Naxian hoardes are poised to transmit a groovy message of death… to the entire galaxy!

Land of Wonder

Exiled to Earth by her mysterious superiors, Iris has been amusing herself and Panda by working for MIAOW, the Ministry for Incursions and Other Wonders. When a certain Professor Ramsbottom and his lovely assistant Audrey unearth a weird vehicle under a London railway station, Ms Wildthyme and her art critic chum are on the scene pretty sharpish.

Among anachronistic skulls and crockery they discover the still-living forms of utterly perplexing, alien creatures. And, before you can say ‘Jabberwocky’ Iris and her friends are on a mind-boggling voyage into a groovy Wonderland deep, deep beneath the Earth’s crust…

The Two Irises

Iris is dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. She sacrificed herself to save her best friend, Panda, then exploded inside her time-travelling bus.

On Earth in the year 2108, the North Bloc and the South Bloc teeter on the edge of terrible nuclear war. The fate of the whole world rests on a not-very-good disco in Spain. One run by the dastardly alien Naxians…

Iris Wildthyme is as dead as a doornail. But her new incarnation is going to have to get stuck in. Poor bloke doesn’t stand a chance.

The Panda Invasion

San Francisco, New Year’s Eve, 1999

She’s back, and it’s about… gin!

When an unconscious Iris Wildthyme is rushed into a San Francisco hospital on New Year’s Eve 1999, hunky doctor George Strangeways’ life is turned upside down.

As the world prepares to party its way into the next millennium, a space time rift opens above the Golden Gate Bridge – where an old fashioned London bus has appeared… As the rift spills untold horrors from other dimensions into our world, Iris has just one question: where the ‘eck is Panda?!

Big Finish have announced more information about the special bonus series entitled “The Three Companions” will be made available as a bonus feature as of April on their Doctor who monthly range. It will run for 12 mini-episodes, each lasting 10 minutes. It’s also been confirmed that Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart will appear.

Big Finish have announced that their 2009 bonus subscriber CD will feature the return of the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan, last seen in classic adventure “The Dalek Invasion of Earth” and will feature the 8th Doctor. The audio is entitled “An Earthly Child” and will be released free in December to subscribers of the monthly Who audios. More information will be made available in due course.
Previous special releases are now available to buy separately including “Her Final Flight”, “Return of the Daleks”, “The Maltese Penguin”, “Cryptobiosis” and last year’s subscribers only special “Return to the Web Planet” which is now available individually for the first time.

The novels due for release in September have been announced by BBC Books. They are:

The Taking of Chelsea 426 by David Llewellyn

The Chelsea Flower Show – Hardly the most exciting or dangerous event in the calendar, or so the Doctor thinks. But this is Chelsea 426, a city-sized future colony floating on the clouds of Saturn, and the flowers are much more than they seem.

As the Doctor investigates, he becomes more and more worried. Why is shopkeeper Mr Pemberton acting so strangely? And what is Professor Wilberforce’s terrible secret?

They are close to finding the answers when a familiar foe arrives, and the stakes suddenly get much higher. The Sontarans have plans of their own, and they’re not here to arrange flowers…

The Krillitane Storm by Christopher Cooper

When the TARDIS materialises in medieval Worcester, the Doctor finds the city seemingly deserted. He soon discovers its population are living in a state of terror, afraid to leave their homes after dark, for fear of meeting their doom at the hands of the legendary Devil’s Huntsman.

For months, people have been disappearing, and the Sheriff has imposed a strict curfew across the city, his militia maintaining control over the superstitious populace with a firm hand, closing the city to outsiders. Is it fear of attack from beyond the city walls that drives him or the threat closer to home? Or does the Sheriff have something to hide?

After a terrifying encounter with a deadly Krillitane, the Doctor realises the city has good reason to be scared.

Autonomy by Daniel Blythe

Hyperville is 2013’s top hi-tech 24-hour entertainment complex – a sprawling palace of fun under one massive roof. You can shop, or experience the excitement of Doomcastle, Winterland, or Wild West World. But things are about to get a lot more exciting – and dangerous…

What unspeakable horror is lurking on Level Zero of Hyperville? And what will happen when the entire complex goes over to Central Computer Control?

For years, the Nestene Consciousness has been waiting and planning, recovering from its wounds. But now it’s ready, and it’s deadly plastic Autons are already in place around the complex. Now more than ever, visiting Hyperville will be an unforgettable experience…