Character Options Plans for 2009 Press Release

A £16m brand for Character and its leading product line. With no Doctor Who series on TV in 2009, the firm has tempered expectations for the range, expecting a drop of just over ten per cent. The franchise will be kept warm with four specials during 2009.

“With Doctor Who, if it’s new it sells well,” says Healy.

Products include a series of figures which come with one component to make up the iconic Giant Robot. Also new is the Time Squad, a more ‘cartoony’ range of figures which are being released in January in packs of two and five.

The Cyberman electronic voice changer will top many Christmas lists and there’s also gadgets such as the Journal of Impossible Things with a mini-sonic screwdriver and a futuristic version of the sonic screwdriver. Captain Jack’s Temporal Manipulator is also new to the range.

“We’ve got lots of low-priced items,” says Healy. “Nothing above £15. And as the specials come out throughout the year we will release new items. Now, the strategy is about freshness and newness in the range. And based on the reaction from the trade, we think it will be solid.”