Review: Doctor Who B&M Exclusive Light & Sound FX Fifteenth Doctor's TARDIS

“I'm the Doctor, you don't have to stand over there, come and have a look, it's called the TARDIS.”

Character Toys and B&M Stores broke with a little bit of established tradition for one of their two August 2025 exclusive Doctor Who sets. While TARDIS releases have been a stalwart of the line, they are usually base models with no electronics and a Doctor figure included. For 2025, and to fill in what has been a gap in the line, there was a solo release of The Fifteenth Doctor’s TARDIS and a lights & sounds electronic model at that. 

The boxed packaging remains broadly the same as the last B&M TARDIS release, the 6th Doctor from The Ultimate Adventure. This features a square box with front and left side windows, with each window framed by the cardboard of the box. The base colouring of the packaging itself is white, with TARDIS decor to the bottom left corner, and a coloured accent across the midst of the box, which is the attributed colour for the particular Doctor on which the set is based. This is the pink hue assigned to the 15th Doctor and used on the single boxed & carded figures of The Doctor and Ruby released to date, creating a themed group for those collecting boxed. 

Around the main frame surrounding the window are the usual diamond call out panels confirming that usual 5.5 inch collector scale, as well as the lights & sounds features this time round. We also have the standard foil ‘Limited Edition’ sticker to the bottom right, and to the top right, a circular panel showing the interior of the Fifteenth Doctor’s TARDIS. The right side and rear of the box are fairly plain, the back turned over to a large text overview of the TARDIS from a wider history context, and that of the Fifteenth Doctor.

The TARDIS can be removed from the box without any direct damage, allowing collectors to repack if they wish. The ship is clipped into an inner tray and secured at the base with two plastic clips, which can be screwed out to release the ship. The backing card is Time Vortex themed with more of that pink hue fading in and out to darker purples. You will also find in the box a piece of rice paper wrapping a cardboard insert of a second TARDIS console room insert, keep this safe as it allows the set to be given an alternative look.

The TARDIS is built on the long standing Character Options New Series TARDIS base and features the single plinth base and a four layer roof. The TARDIS is cast in a dark and deep blue with a darker wash to bring out the wooden texture within the plastic. The windows are an ice white with a hint of blue, with white frames and a degree of transparency. The door panel is a printed sticker, now in black with white text and adjacent to a silver door handle and keyhole. While some of the TARDIS models have had an opening panel, this one has been fixed closed. The Public Call Box signage on the roof is similarly a black sticker with white text, and on our review version bought from B&M, there is a bit of peeling on some of the corners. The 15th Doctor TARDIS prop on screen does feature notches at the top and bottom of the side columns, as the base model does not include these Character has opted to paint a black line rather than to update the mol,d which would have added significant value to the set.

The Windows, Police Box Signage, and these painted ‘notches’ are repeated on all four sides of the TARDIS, with the only other variance on the back face where you can see the battery compartment door and the drilled speaker holes. The top light is reworked with a new, more rounded framework and the translucent glass bulb within.

Both doors will push open with a spring mechanism and a click into the open position. The left hand door is then closed by hand, moving it past that retention spring, where it then moves back into the closed position. The left hand door is operated by a switch in the floor, which is much easier than trying to close it manually with your fingers in such a tight space. 

Internally, a cardboard insert creates the impression of the TARDIS console room, with the piece arriving with the bright white console room used initially by the Fourteenth Doctor and then the Fifteenth. The alternative piece, seen earlier when we unpacked, gives you the option of overlaying this with a card backdrop for the Thirteenth Doctor. The card insert has to be folded across the scored lines, then inserted round the first door on the left, then pushed round and then back on itself to sit on the right-hand side. 

The Thirteenth Doctor panel can be removed the same way, revealing the Fifteenth Doctor interior behind it. I would assume this more modern console room can also be removed, but it seems to be cut wider than the other panel, and my fingers were not dexterous enough to maneuver it out of position. 

The TARDIS is well scaled for the Doctor Who figures, and fits alongside the more recently announced Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctor figures, and the slightly older Thirteenth Doctor variants. The Doctor’s can be posed inside the cavity, either standing in the opening fully, or coming out of the right hand opening panel as is often seen on the show and in promo images. 

While all other B&M released TARDIS sets have had their electronics removed, this 2025 version has full light and sound capacity. You need to install three AAA batteries, which are not included, into the rear battery compartment.

This is opened using a small screwdriver. The TARDIS comes with two sound effects, both activated by a pressure switch on the base. Once the other base switch is moved to ‘on’ and the batteries are installed, then the lights and sounds will activate for landing as you put the TARDIS down, and for taking off when you pick it back up again. The light beacon glows and throbs alongside the sound effects, with a blue hue to the light. Considering the availability of a power source and a light, it would have been nice to see the interior also be lit up - but that feature has not been included. 

At £19.99, the Fifteenth Doctor’s TARDIS is incredible value in the modern collecting world. It brings a TARDIS option for both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors. Character has also gone above and beyond with the second console room insert too, allowing collectors who missed out on what felt like a very limited Thirteenth Doctor TARDIS release back in 2020 to equip their Jodie Whittaker Doctor’s with her own TARDIS. Availability may turn out to be the biggest issue with this TARDIS, with the likelihood of collectors wanting two or three of the same model to round out their displays.

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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...

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