Lead Time Lords: The Fifth Doctor

Here he is, the Fifth Doctor, my beige nightmare as played by Peter Davison

This is the last of the Doctors produced in miniature by Citadel, and here’s the soft-toy cuddly version, below:

Painted by Menace Miniatures

Harlequin’s update is posed suspiciously similarly – an update in a way that three of their other twentieth-century Doctors were.

That said, Harlequin’s Davison is a little better in proportion – although look out for the bendy legs once more, and perhaps on the whole the figure lacks some further realisation. The face for one is disappointing – there’s no discreet likeness to speak of with regard to the actor, and the eyes are something of a challenge, looking more like buttons than anything else. By far the most annoying aspect of this figure is an affliction that strikes a lot of the Harlequin Doctors – a serious case of paddle-foot. Shoes should not be hard to sculpt, and here it just looks as though someone stopped trying once they finished off the trousers. I’ve attempted to sculpt some laces in green stuff, just to give the feet a bit more definition.

In all, perhaps Harley’s Davison (ho ho) is a victim of the company’s similar approach to the Eighth Doctor – a little rushed, culminating in something that lacks dynamism or real character. He doesn’t even have a hat, although an alternative sculpt (pictured here) at least gives him a cricket bat, which might do if you ever needed a Doctor to co-opt into a Shaun of the Dead-themed miniatures game.

Finally, hat tips are due to three miniature painters whose work I studied at length to get this puppy finished – once again, An Evil Giraffe’s eyes and palette are wonderful, and faced with any number of options for rendering the Fifth Doctor’s problematic striped flannels, I took much inspiration from Mark Evans’ job (sadly no longer online, it seems). Finally, the curiously-named No Such Agency of the Lead Adventure Forum produced a rather lovely model from this mini, complete with a cricket ball for added colour, so there’s definitely hope . I must, however, confess to getting a little tetchy with Harlequin’s range, and I think my impatience shows here. To be honest, I’m very much looking forward to working on some more recent sculpts from other manufacturers.