Review: Doctor Who Vortex Edition Wrarth Warriors Set of Constable Zreeg and Sergeant Zogroth from The Star Beast

“The guns apply a mild and harmless neural anaesthetic. For the record, my name is Sergeant Zogroth. And I am Constable Zreeg.”

The Doctor Who Vortex Collection is Character Options' own exclusive Doctor Who figures featuring premium decor or additional features. It launched in 2024 with figures of the 15th Doctor and Ruby Sunday. Five sets were then planned for 2025, although one of these is now pushed into 2026. Following on from the earlier release of The Fourteenth Doctor and the Meep, the final set of 2025 is from the same story The Star Beast and features the Wrarth Warriors as a two-pack.

The set follows the established packaging design for the Vortex collection with a white box with a cut-off angled corner and with a white base overlaid with a TARDIS image in one corner, the 60th Anniversary logo for Doctor Who in the top left, and a rainbow vortex design around the figure window. The blue diamond call outs continue from previous release formats, confirming the scale at 5.5 inches, the contents, which includes two blaster accessories, and the Doctor era from which these are taken. Rather than call this a Wrarth Warrior 2-Pack, Character have named the two characters as Constable Zreeg and Sergeant Zogroth.

The back of the box is text only and goes into an incredible level of detail, starting with the set itself and the Wrarth Warriors' origins in the Doctor Who comics before moving on to talk in full about the storyline for The Star Beast. The back of the box also includes more diamond call-outs, confirming the’high decor’ finish of these Vortex releases. The contents also reference another feature of the figures not mentioned on the front, a light pipe feature in the head of each Wrarth to create a light-up eye function when backlit. 

Compared to the packaging for the Fourteenth Doctor & The Meep (right)

While the packaging design remains consistent, the size of the box for the Wrarth is increased marginally on the width and more so on the height to accommodate the figures. 

The box is a collector-friendly format, opening from the side panel and the inner tray sliding out in full. The figures are tied into place with very visible white cotton ties, which still feel unnecessary for an online-only item that needs no security barriers to possible theft. Behind the figure is a printed background from the Star Beast episode featuring a print of two Wrarth Warriors on the street. 

Also included in the inner tray are two oval-shaped clear stands. Be careful removing these from the tray as there are reports of them snapping easily. These are something we don’t normally see in the Doctor Who line, but as we will see with the Wrarth Warriors, their unique physiology makes these stands an absolute necessity for display and we have used them throughout our review. 

The two Wrarth Warriors share the exact same sculpt and design, despite the blurb talking about a ‘unique carapace design’ which is actually only some variation in the paint decor to create slightly different looks. There is no clear way of defining which is Zreeg and which is Zogroth, without comparing to the episode itself and in particular, the ‘court’ scene where the two Wrarth stand side by side and are questioned. Zogroth on the right of that shot has roughly the same markings as the darker brown washed figure, while there is also good correlation for the markings and spots for Zreeg, who has lighter brown chest markings, although neither configuration is 100% accurate to the Wrarth costumes and props.

Zreeg is built on component cast parts of an inner green insectoid body, and outer bone coloured carapace parts that encompass the chest, groin, legs, and the left arm. This arm ends in a large serrated crab-like claw, while the right arm is more of a mass of tentacles holding the Wrarth blaster. 

The green base plastic includes sculpted textures and has a dark wash over the top. The bone coloured outer parts are very bone-like in their rounded curves and serations and are also washed, but now with a brown finish.

The insectoid head includes an exposed mouth and neck in green with the darker wash and a visible thin line of a mouth. Over this is a bone ‘helmet’ of sorts, which wraps the chin and the two bulging red translucent eyes. Two antennae protrude from the top of the helmet, and between them is the round translucent red ‘light pipe’ that allows an outside light source applied from above to give the eyes a light-up effect.

Sergeant Zogroth is, as mentioned earlier, the exact same figure in terms of the sculpt, construction and much of the paint apps. Zogroth has the same green inner skin tone with black wash and bone external carapace parts. It is only on the chest that we see the variation, with Zogroth having darker and more defined markings, including a larger number of defined dark pitted spots. 

The heads are also identical, save for some variations in the wash, with the same antennae and the light-up red eyes with the upper light pipe. 

The stands are pegged with two pegs, and these slot very securely into holes on each of the Wrarth Warrior’s hoof-like feet. This creates a stable base for display, and you can vary this by using one peg only, which allows one leg to move outward and into a more dynamic position. 

The other accessory, noted on the box, is the blaster. These are supplied already in the Wrarth’s right hands, and these can then be removed. These black stubby weapons are seed-like in their shape and include a trigger of sorts, and with the emitter picked out in silver. The fit into the tentacled hands is secure, and shaped to almost look part of the figure when connected. 

Articulation is designed around the unique Wrarth Warrior physiology and sees some enhancements to the Character line, which has relied on pegged joints for a considerable amount of time. There are 15 joints in total, and no signs of a peg across the entire body. Instead, we have the more modern ball joint type of connection, which allows movement at each of the Wrarth’s key natural joints. 

For the legs, this is at the ankle, lower knee, upper knee, and hip and providing the stand remains engaged, the legs can vary somewhat in position to replicate the Wrarth walking, marching, running, or planting a stance to fire its weapon. 

The arms are a little more obscure in the way they sit compared to a human, with a shoulder that starts further down from where we would imagine the shoulder to be. Under this is an ‘elbow’ of sorts with a bend and rotation, and to the left hand, we then get a hinged claw allowing the appendage to be opened and closed. The articulation concludes with a waist joint and a neck joint. 

The Wrarth’s movements are more restricted than most figures, using smaller movements to create some variations in posing. As well as variations in the legs, the arms can be extended to some firing positions and attacking options with the claw. The torso is good for rotation, but less so for leaning forward or back, while the neck has some angled options but due to the shaping, when it's rotated, it starts to look up at an odd angle. 

Fourteenth Doctor and Meep figures from the Star Beast Vortex Set (2025)

Height-wise wise these are big figures at 18cm each (over 7 inches), and therefore they are a good couple of inches taller than the Doctor himself and similar human-sized characters. While not as big as the static Fendahleen or the Drashig, these are on par with some of the largest articulated figures in the line to date, like the Giant Robot, Axon/Krynoid, and the new series Pyrovile. 

The Wrarth Warriors retail at £44.99 direct from Character, so reflect a price of circa £22.50 each, which is not too bad for a 7-inch collectors figure with this level of articulation and an accessory. The only minor criticism we could throw at the chosen contents is around the lack of the wings we see the Wrarth use at one point which would have been good plug-in parts or the staffs with flags that the other Wrarth Warriors are seen with at the end of the episode. The latter is probably something we will see from the 3rd party creators in due course.

The set reflects both the opportunity for two new characters - once you determine who is who - or for an army building set for larger Wrarth Warrior groups. While naturally they sit with the Fourteenth Doctor and The Meep, they could also work in a Classic Era display with the Fourth Doctor, considering their first appearance in 1980 in the Doctor Who magazine. 

As the Vortex Edition line establishes itself, releases like this with a brand-new figure are more than welcome after a number of years where releases have been predominantly repaints and tweaks. Out of the four released in 2025, this one is on par with its companion set featuring the Doctor and the Meep, and the recent release of the Master and is much improved on the first set featuring the tweaked 3rd Doctor with a new head and 1:1 Sonic Screwdriver. 

Despite the upgrades in sculpt, decor and articulation, the Wrarth Warriors do not look out of place with any of the other Doctor Who figures, and this is a testament to Character's commitment to the line some 20 years after it began. More of the same for 2026 please, and I look forward to seeing how this line continues to develop and how it further expands this long-running Doctor Who line in new directions.

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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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