The Celerygate Affair

In most people's lives there are things that matter, such as keeping healthy and paying the rent, and there are things that really matter. For a while now a small but, as is always the case, a vocal portion of the Doctor Who fanbase has been in uproar over what has come to be known as the *Celerygate* affair.

The background is straightforward enough - at least it starts off that way, but like all matters of fandom, things quickly get mired in a quicksand of passion, obsession and attention to detail. Most people are at least aware that Doctor Who has been back on our screens for four years, and is doing very well thankyou very much. Most people also know that Doctor Who started back in 1963 and built up a dedicated fanbase over the better part of 25 years. Let it be noted here that the terms 'classic' and 'new series' differentiate the two eras.

The new series has spawned a huge amount of merchandising, far in excess of anything that was available during the classic era. Among the new merchandise is a successful, and generally pretty good, range of action figures. In fact, so successful has the range of figures been that the company concerned, Character Options, recently managed to acquire the rights to produce figures based on the classic series. This has left a few of the newer fans scratching their heads, but the older fans (who have been just as busy collecting the toys as those who rely on pocket money for each purchase) are absolutely delighted.

article continues...

Quite sensibly the new line of classic figures includes several of the earlier incarnations of the good Doctor - three to be precise, Doctors 4, 5 and 6. Our story concerns number 5. Just as Doctor number 4 was often associated with his long scarf and jelly babies, so Doctor number 5 had a few personal quirks. His cricket themed outfit was one, but for many the defining symbol of Peter Davison's tenure as the Doctor was the stick of celery that was constantly attached to his lapel.

Now, what do you think is missing from Character Options' new Peter Davison action figure? That's right - no celery. A trivial matter you might think? Wrong.

This simple omission, amounting to a few millimetres of plastic, has caused a furore among the fan community. In Character Options' self-declared defence the figure itself is based on Peter Davison's very first outing as the Doctor, during which he without the celery until the closing moments. A further witness to the defence is Peter Davison himself who apparently, at some point down the line, has said that he thought the celery nonsensical (a sentiment with which the CEO of Character Options apparently agrees) and who also had approval over the final action figure.

So why should the fans be so upset over this minuscule affair? There are two great clichés at play here. The first is 'give them an inch and they'll take a mile' and the second is 'if a job's worth doing it's worth doing right'. Some would say that the fans should be pleased they're getting a figure of Peter Davison at all - it's a damn fine figure judging by the photos, and it's something that would have been light years away from mass production a few short years ago. However, why omit one of the essential identifying aspects of Peter Davison's doctor? Fans are perhaps right to be aggrieved that a decision made by one or two individuals may compromise the pleasure thousands *will* get from owning this figure. The vast majority of these collectors won't have the requisite skill to add a piece of plastic celery to their figures (and they would if they could, they really, really would) and *will* be forever doomed to look at their fifth doctor action figure and think to themselves: ?Well, it's good, it's just not quite right...?

article continues...

As if to add insult to injury Character Options is actually releasing a version of their fifth doctor action figure complete with celery. The catch is that this figure will only be available in the USA, at the Comic Con event in San Diego (SDCC), and will be limited to just 3,000 pieces. The justification is that it's based on a recent Children In Need special in which David Tennant's current Doctor teamed up briefly with Peter Davison's Doctor.

This special, to date, has not actually been screened in the USA and I'm sure there are more than 3,000 fans in the UK who will be paying exorbitant sums to get hold of one of those figures through eBay.

Ultimately all the sound and fury has amounted to nothing. Some UK fans will undoubtedly get hold of the limited edition fifth Doctor with celery. Some will craft their own celery accessory to attach to their UK release version. However, most will just have to accept their figure sans celery along with the solemn promise from a Character Options representative that the SDCC version of the fifth Doctor will never be available anywhere else. Sometimes it's a hard lot being a fan.

Oh, in case you're interested, I'll be getting my set of classic Doctor Who actions figures at the soonest possible opportunity, and I will be looking at my fifth Doctor figure and wondering "Where's the celery?" And then I'll go and get on with my life.

article continues...