The Celerygate Affair (cont.)
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.
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...?
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.
