The History of the Daleks is a series of releases from Character Toys, exclusive to B&M Stores, containing two Daleks from a particular Doctor Who Dalek-centric story. It started in 2020 and was following a linear path from the earliest serial in 1964 until the Summer of 2021 when Character altered the release schedule to put out sets 5 and 7 at the same time - a decision made to reduce the amount of classic Silver & Blue Daleks on the shelf at any one time.
That pushed the 6th set, from the 2nd Doctor story Evil of the Daleks, into the Winter releases for 2021 alongside a Planet of the Daleks Set (#8) from the 3rd Doctor era.
The Evil of the Daleks set arrives in the smaller squat box established for the History of the Daleks line. It uses the same principles as the other packaging with a contrasting colour scheme of dark blue and grey-silver with a TARDIS outline pattern. The lefthand panel of the box front is slanted and carries the Doctor Who logo, and like the previous sets this partially obscures the 2nd Dalek in the packaging.
The back of the box is very text-heavy with an almost too detailed walkthrough of the entire Evil of the Daleks story and then some Behind the Scenes information - which is always very insightful and demonstrates how passionate the Character Toys team are about Doctor Who and the classic era in particular.
The two Daleks are slotted into an inner plastic tray that supports both the rear and base of the figures. You will need to extract them carefully so not to bend the appendages of the figures, and watch out for tape over the eyestalks which some sets seem to have.
The cardboard insert that acts as the backing for the figures in the box is illustrated with a story-appropriate backdrop, namely the Evil of the Daleks Emperor. This can be used as a display piece but will need some tweaking considering the sides and top are plain brown cardboard.
This is technically the first appearance of an Evil of the Dalek drone as the only previous release was the Guard (also included in this set). It uses the same Dalek chassis as all the classic era releases. This has been in use for many years and there is no real need to change considering how well it was sculpted and designed at the time in both details and proportions. The chassis has interchangeable parts allowing the Doctor Who team to amend not only the eyestalk, plunger, and gun, but also the base, the central solar panel grid, and the headlights. By 1967 the Daleks were using the panel & grid midsection as well as updated eye stalks and weapons - all of which are recreated on the Evil of the Daleks drone.
The figure is cast in silver in the main with the blue added on the hemispheres. This is neat throughout but if you look closely there may be the odd drip or patched-up piece from the factory. This blue colour does vary a little from the older releases like the Power of the Daleks FX Drone, but time and fading will also come into that equation.
The neck rings are set against a black grill and are just a little off centre on my Drone, and above them, we have the eyestalk - painted with the same blue across the midpoint and with a central white eye and a black pupil, something not seen on these era Daleks previously. The dome finishes with a pair of translucent yellow headlights. Like a lot of these sets, the sucker arm arrived warped, potentially a result of how they are packed?
The Evil of the Daleks guard is identical to the drone with the exception of the dome that is cast in a dull black plastic. Like the Drone, the hemispheres are well painted in the main in a crisp blue with the odd patch on the set we have in hand here. Again the sucker arm is warped.
The Guard Dalek has had a previous release back in 2009 in the 2nd Dalek Collectors Set and again in 2013 in the Toys R Us Doctor + Dalek releases. This new version is more or less identical to both with some minor colour variations.
Articulation on the classic Daleks is essentially the same as the props or how we would find them in a real-world setting. The dome rotates a full 360 and the eyestalk pivots up and down by way of a slot and clipped in a semi-circular bracket.
The plunger arm and gun have a wider range of motion as they are sculpted onto a ball joint that is then plugged into the body, they can be moved in any direction to the point the appendage meets the body of the Dalek.
The Daleks are also fitted with wheels which keep them just slightly off a surface and allows them to be wheeled around. The back pair of wheels are fixed while the front works like a castor.
The Evil of the Daleks set is another of the key Dalek stories ticked off and the last of the 1960's era Daleks. We can therefore wave goodbye to the iconic silver and blue colours but also revel in the Empire we have built over the past couple of years through these B&M sets - assuming you bought them all, and sometimes more than one like I did. This set offered little in terms of options for Character and while a Dalek Emperor remains a dream for many of us, it would not have fit into this format - leaving us with Drones and Guards as the two options for the release.
There is not much to fault with the Character Dalek body and design and assuming the factory decor is neat and tidy then I am happy with what I get for my £19.99. Here's to the next few sets for History of the Daleks as we head into the likes of Death to the Daleks and of course the very iconic Genesis of the Daleks!
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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...