Next up, we’re going to look at one of two companies specializing in products concerning properties from the U.K. Underground Toys is the American outlet for toys based on the popular British Sci-Fi show Doctor Who.

I have decided to cover Underground’s Doctor Who line for three reasons. One: I am a huge Doctor Who fan. Two, the figures look fantastic. And three, Doctor Who’s fourth series has been picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel in America and will begin airing with the 90 minute movie special “Voyage of the Damned” on April 18th. Anyway, here’s the lowdown on Underground’s Doctor Who line.

Toy Fair report: Underground Toys

Underground Toys is best known is the United States as the American distributor of the Doctor Who toy line, which is manufactured by Character Options in the UK. The Doctor figures have been traditionally distributed by companies like Diamond, and are found in comic book stores and specialty outlets like FYE. This year however, Toys R Us has started carrying a small selection of the figures and some of the role play items, opening up the possibility of a wider distribution. Though Underground had all of the current and former Doctor Who product on display, they did not have anything relating to the just announced UK product. However, I did confirm the UK announcements of sets based on the Christmas Movie that just aired this year: Voyage of the Damned, which will have its U.S. premiere April 18th on the Sci-Fi Channel and a set featuring The Doctor and his new companion for series 4, Donna Noble, based on their first meeting in the 2006 Christmas Movie, the Runaway Bride. In addition they confirmed to me that the figure, they are now distributing of series mainstay villain and the big bad guy from last season, the Master, is the new figure remolded to correct some issues with the plastic used for the figure’s initial run. Finally, in addition to the newly announced Sarah Jane Adventures figures, they confirmed that they will be distributing the newly announced line of figures based on the Doctor Who spin-off series, Torchwood, which can be seen in the U.S. on BBC America. However, unlike the Doctor Who figures, which are 5”, the Torchwood figures will be 7”. I hope to have images of some of the newer product from Underground soon. For all who are interested, the first episode of the 4th Series of Doctor Who will premiere on the Sci-Fi Channel on April 25th. Doctor Who stars David Tennant, best remembered in America as Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, as the Doctor and British comedienne Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, his latest companion. The Doctor is the last member of an alien race called the Time Lords and is over 900 years old. He travels with his companions in his spaceship, the TARDIS, which looks like a wooden phone booth from the outside. For more information on Underground toys, visit www.underground-toys.com. For more information on Doctor Who, visit www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho or www.scifi.com/doctorwho.

I would like to thank Robyn Morgan of Underground Toys for her assistance with this report.