1:6 Scale First Doctor Commemorative Edition Figure Pre-Order - Big Chief Studios UPDATED

After months of sneak peeks and blurry behind the scenes images, Big Chief Studios' 1:6 scale First Doctor has finally goes up for pre-order this week, and what a figure it is!

Yesterday Big Chief released the full images and specifications for the figure, which features an impressive likeness of the late great William Hartnell, capturing his Doctor's sternness but also his mischievous streak with almost a twinkle in his eye. While some fans were unsure about the likeness, the monochrome images that Big Chief have released really prove that there should be no question that this is William Hartnell. The costume has been carefully recreated, and is an incredible match to the clothes worn by Hartnell in his early seasons.

The figure boasts a range of accessories and extra costume parts, namely his cloak, hat and scarf as worn in An Unearthly Child. Outside of the extra costume parts the Doctor includes his monocle, spectacles (which slip neatly under the hair around his ears), pocket watch, his walking stick as obtained in Marco Polo, his pipe as briefly seen in An Unearthly Child, several Keys of Marinus from the serial of the same name, and finally the taranium core of the Dalek's Time Destructor as seen in The Daleks' Master Plan. 

I was delighted to be asked by the chaps at Big Chief to source reference images to help in the construction of this figure, finding publicity photos and screencaps that showed off the smaller details. When you're dealing with a character that is 50 years old barely any props or costume pieces have survived, therefore only DVD screencaps and production photos can be used. It's especially tricky when hardly any colour images exist from that era! So if you're an uber geek like I am, you'll have a good idea where to look for certain pictures, for instance I knew that in The War Machines (episode 3 if I remember rightly) the Doctor takes out his pocket watch and replaces it in his waistcoat. Getting the DVD and screencapping this moment, which was on screen for mere seconds, allowed the Big Chief team to get a better look at how the ribbon attached to the end of his pocket watch and how it sat in his waistcoat pocket. I was also able to find some similar matches of authentic pocket watch ribbons that were also provided a better idea of how this worked. Other images from The Edge of Destruction gave a clearer look at Hartnell's leather shoe covers and a fuzzy colour image from Marco Polo and a publicity picture from The Gunfighters was able to show where exactly the buttons sit on Hartnell's frock coat.

Even more exciting was being asked to compile some ideas and reference photos for extra accessories! Unlike other Doctors, the first Doctor didn't really carry around a great deal other than occasionally his cane, which had already been sorted by Big Chief. So I flicked through every episode to see what wasn't mundane and could make an interesting accessory. It gives me great pleasure to see the Dalek's Time Destructor Core, the keys of Marinus and his spectacles were taken from my list and added to the figure! It was a pleasure to be able to pass on my nerdy knowledge for such a cool piece of merchandise, and seeing my name on the box is going to bring a grin to this fan's face for many years to come!

Finally the figure comes with a range of different hands that feature Hartnell's rings, a light up display stand featuring the number one written in Gallifreyan text, and a card backdrop that has yet to be revealed.

The figure is limited to only 500 pieces worldwide at £189.99, and is due to ship towards the end of the year. Click here to pre-order your figure now.

Stay tuned for a full review once the figure is available!