What would you do if you were a member of a mercenary galactic police force on the lookout for an evil plasmavore on a planet over which you had no jurisdiction? Well, first you'd move the crime scene to neutral territory, so you could scan a sample human and use the scan as a comparison as you scanned the rest of the population to find the criminal, wouldn't you?

Now you can do just that, thanks to Character Options, who have released two great new Doctor Who gadgets for fans of the show's gear.

The first is the aforementioned Judoon scanner, a red and silver cylindrical gadget that emits an ultraviolet light and makes sounds from the TV show.

The second is the Master's Laser Screwdriver, a hand-held weapon and gadget that appears to be made from aluminum and brass. It has an extendable head and emits yellow LED light and sound taken from the TV show.

The Judoon scanner comes with an invisible-ink marker and a pad of paper to write on. The Laser Screwdriver has no extra gear but is also packed in a brightly colored window box in the show's thematic colors.

Each is packed with three AG13 batteries (commonly used in laser pointers and small electronics), which are required for the devices to operate. Each measures around 7.5 inches in length and has fun play features.

Fun and functional

In "Smith and Jones," the Judoon use their scanners to scan humans. They aim the scanners at their heads, and a blue light scans the subject. With your own Judoon scanner, you can do the same and hear tweaky electronic sounds until judgment is reached. To operate it, you simply push a small black button near the lighted end of the tube.

In the show, the scanner is also a large magic marker used to mark Xs on the hands of those who have passed the screening. This one does not have a black marker, but rather a thinner pen with ink visible only under ultraviolet light. The light at the other end of the scanner clearly reveals what is written.

This toy makes only one sound, but it's a good one, if a little lengthy. As an added play feature, the casing at the marker end of the scanner extends a little. This seems to have no effect on the toy's other features.

You can remove both the marker and the light from the tube by twisting them, which unlocks them from their positions. The light section contains the batteries. I mentioned that it could hold a magic marker because the pen module would be easily swapped out for any other kind of pen Character Options would like to create. So far, though, it's just the UV marker.

The Master's Laser Screwdriver is designed to be a parallel counterpart to the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, but a little more deadly of purpose. Without going too far into the details, this powerful device can kill in a single shot. It also can be used to age its victim using technology developed by Professor Lazarus, seen in an earlier episode.

Pushing the main trigger switch extends the laser head, where three yellow LEDs light up. Doing so also produces a pulse of laser sound. Holding the button down for two seconds causes a second sound to play—that of the aging device.

There is also a rotary switch at the base end of the screwdriver that has no apparent function—it's just there for pretend play. The paint and molding effectively give the impression of aluminum and brass.

Both devices are probably going to be hits with any kids out there who have fallen in love with the new Doctor Who and, of course, with longtime fans like myself, who will clamor to get them.