Promotional Cards

In November 2025, BBC Studios and San Diego Comic Convention announced a Doctor Who partnership associated with Comic-Con: The Cruise Vol. 2, which took place in early 2026. The event included a Doctor Who programme featuring a panel with Alex Kingston, who portrayed River Song, and Arthur Darvill, who portrayed Rory Williams.

Promotional trading cards featuring River Song and Rory Williams were produced for distribution in connection with the event. The cards were officially licensed and were distributed separately from the main 80-card Retroduction collection. Their structure is comparable to earlier standalone promotional collections such as Daleks vs Cybermen and the Adventurer Series.

The cards use a separate numbering system identified by a “C” prefix. The two cards are numbered:

C01/002 — River Song

C02/002 — Rory Williams

The numbering indicates a total collection size of two cards. The Comic-Con Cruise cards have several physical characteristics that distinguish them from the standard Retroduction cards. Most notably, the cards have square, unrounded corners. This differs from the rounded-corner construction used on the original Battles in Time cards and the 2026 Retroduction cards. The square corners provide a readily identifiable physical distinction between the Comic-Con Cruise promotional cards and the other Battles in Time releases.

The cards were distributed in connection with the Comic-Con: The Cruise Vol. 2 event rather than through the standard retail distribution of the Retroduction collection. It has also been established that the cards were also given out, at the 2026 January Toy-Fair Olympia London.

Three promotional Battles in Time cards were produced for promotional distribution to selected presenters and online personalities in connection with the 2026 revival.

The cards were distributed to George Clarke, Christel Dee and Tia Kofi. Clarke is an English social media personality, YouTuber and podcast host, while Dee and Kofi are presenters associated with The Whoniverse Show.

The recipients subsequently displayed the cards on Instagram, providing publicly documented examples of the promotional designs and their distribution.

According to information provided to the recipients, 100 copies of each of the three card designs were produced. This would indicate a reported production quantity of 300 cards across the three designs, although the production figure has not been independently verified through manufacturing records.

A note supplied with each promotional card stated that its statistics replicated those of the “Rose” card.

Comparison with the original Exterminator “Rose” card, however, indicates that the statistics on the promotional cards do not match the original version.

The discrepancy may indicate that the statistics were based on a different “Rose” card produced for the 2026 collection. One possibility is that an Obliterator card featuring Rose uses the same statistics as the promotional cards. This has not been confirmed and should therefore be treated as an area for further comparison when the relevant Obliterator card is documented.

The promotional cards are consequently recorded as a distinct release, with their reported production quantity and relationship to the Obliterator collection remaining subject to further verification.