Tardis
Something about a blue police box speaks to people. Not just fans – proper, deep in the lore fans – but folks who had it on while growing up on Saturday evenings, folks who watched it with their parents or their kids, folks who get a catch in their chest when they see that exact hue of blue. We get it, we really do. Which is why we approached selecting these gifts with care.
The trouble with Whovian merch is that a lot of it sucks. Not ‘oh, that’s a bit disappointing’ shit, but ‘how is this handmade in China garbage even allowed to exist?’ brand of bad. Plastic with some moulded on text shoved into gift shops, novelty mugs that spend years dried out in a cupboard, crap that flies at what being a fan is without understanding a word of it. We sifted through bins full of that stuff to get to the treasures that you see here. And the qualifier was always the same. Would an actual, die-hard fan of this show be excited to receive this as a gift or would they chuckle and try to figure out where to hide it away?
What we’ve selected are gifts that know what they’re doing in a Whovian’s house. Gifts that took the time to consider what this show actually means to people, rather than what it simply looks like. Doctor Who is about so much more than a time-travelling box. It’s about knowing how strange and huge and incredible the universe is, it’s about believing that one person can change the world if they land in the right time at the right place and it’s about running towards life instead of just watching it pass you by. The best picks we’ve made give you a little taste of that, though you’ll probably be using them daily.
We’ve tried our best to cater for everyone. The person who can quote every line from every episode and has passionately informed opinions on which Doctor was best. The person who watched it when they were younger and would love something that reminds them of that. The person buying for that loved someone who they know will immediately understand why they got them this. Every one of these conversations is important and every person in them deserves better than some retailer’s selection of keyring. These are the gifts we would proudly give to a Doctor Who fan. Nothing else is on this list passed our taste test.