Doctor Who
Sixty years of TV and your Whovian still ends up being given a Tardis mug. Noveltty magnets. Scarves they never wear. We think they deserve more than that. Doctor Who fandom isn't a hobbyist interest for most of the people who care about it. It's the programme that they watched nervously from behind the sofa at age six and which never really let go since, whether it's introducing them to stories, or to ideas about time travel, or just to the thrill of being scared. Fans deserve gifts that treat their interests as important as they are, even when those gifts are fun.
So we went out and found stuff that, ourselves being proper fans, we actually wanted. We avoided the supermarket basic when we could, looking for gifts that showed you've actually spent any time thinking about what Doctor Who is. Art prints that can hang on your wall without embarrassing it, editions and merchandise that feel built with fans in mind, not just logos. We tried to cover a range, too. Because while we know they all love that Hammer Iron Christmas miniatureleston Dalek phone, Doctor Who fans aren't all the same person.
There's the fan who cut their teeth on Tom Baker and thinks anything before Christopher Eccelston isn't Doctor Who. The fan who fell in love with the show thanks to 2005 and had their brain wonderfully rearranged. Hell, there's even the fan in about five years who will discover the show and have absolutely no idea just how much awesome they're getting into. We tried to find things that speak to all of them. Gifts that don't need a half-answered question on Twitter to enjoy but also won't offend fans who could happily quiz you on what order every companion came in.
Every bit of merchandise here we chose because we wanted it. If it was easily available from somewhere else or plugged a gap in our list it didn't make the cut. Ask ourselves one simple question for everything. Would we give this to someone we care about who also loves Doctor Who? A lot of merchandise didn't pass that test. Whatever made the cut is here. We think it's the best there is out there at the moment for Doctor Who fans who deserve better than a novelty mug.