Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker

Doctor Who: BBC Radio Collection

by Edward J Mason, Donald Tosh, Gerry Davis

The travelers arrive in the dangerous domain of the Toymaker, where their failure to win at a series of games could result in them becoming his playthings for eternity. Apparently innocuous nursery characters reveal deadly intent, and for companions Steven and Dodo raise the stakes with every game of the blind man's buff and musical chairs. The Doctor, meanwhile, is rendered invisible and given the challenge of completing the fiendishly difficult Trilogic game.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction

2 pages, Audio CD

First published April 23, 1966

Reviews

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

想像していたより聴きやすかった。久しぶりにウィリアム・ハートネルの1stの声が聴けて嬉しかった。ドクターが見えなくなってしまい現実世界に影響力を持つこともできなくなってしまい、ターディスをかけてドゥードゥーとスティーブンがトイメイカーのゲームに勝たないといけないという内容。

2ndの“The Mind Robber”をちょっと思い出した。ドゥドゥとスティーブンのエピはほとんど見れてなくて印象もよくなかったので、その偏見も消すことができてよかった。

[Donavon · Rating 2 out of 5]

"ORIGINAL BBC TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK" perhaps not the way to go for this one. Recording dialog from episodes with minimal narraration. Unfortunately lots of this story needed more explanation (i.e. games, etc). Maybe Target novelization would have been better.

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the audio of the almost completely lost serial - The Celestial Toymaker - Only the final episode of 4 - The final Test still survives and this is because the BBC archived it thinking it was a cricket match due to the title!

1st Doctor Hartnell and companions Dodo & Stephen are drawn into the mysterios dimension of the Celestial Toymaker (Michael Gough) - The Doctor is rendered invisible and forced to play a stratedy game against the Toymaker, whilst Dodo & Stephen have to play a series of games against people trapped in the dimension who have been turned into toys - If they can win their games before the Doctor finishes his they get the TARDIS and are free to go, but if they lose they will be turned into toys and stuck with the Toymaker forever....

I love the Immortal Toymaker, he's an excellent villain - there's no way to defeat him for good and his exceptionally clever making a good aversary for the Doctor. His fantastic dimension of dolls, playing cards and clowns is also wonderfully sinister.

It's quite 'stagey', static and theatrical as Early Who tended to be - and its not very sci-fi (we're not travelling in space or time, but a weird alternate dimension) - It's far more whimsical and fantasy - this might have made an intersting Sapphire & Steel episode. It is however, nicely sinister and creepy. Gough is excellent and from the strenth of this I'm amazed the Toymaker hasn't made more of an appearance in Who. I can't wait for him to turn up in the upcoming special.

[David Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This lost episode of Doctor Who is a MUST for any new Doctor Who fan because it is an important part of lore bridging both Classic Doctor Who and Streaming Doctor Who. I had never heard of the Toymaker before Streaming Doctor Who Special Three (2023), but gained an interest from his Disney+ worldwide debut. While the Doctor's game in this adventure is simple and lends itself well to audio, the companions Steven and Dodo engage in more visual escape room type puzzles that don't translate so easily. It would be fantastic to see Neal Patrick Harris return as the Toymaker to re-shoot a version of this lost episode in a more modern style. Perhaps I find it satisfying that the lost episode's tease of the Toymaker's return was finally fulfilled 57 years later and I hope this isn't the last we see of this legendary villan!

[David Layton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long considered one of the lost greats of Doctor Who, The Celestial Toymaker probably works better with the visuals than in pure audio format. Too much of it needs explaining, and much that does is confusing, such as the bits with the chairs and the dancing floor. Still, the idea is interesting, and I like the surreal Doctor Who stories in general (including The Mind Robber and Warrior's Gate). The Doctor Who format works very well for these kinds of stories.

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This first doctor episode suffers from the lack of existing video footage . Some of the lost episodes are easier to follow with just audio than others.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The doctor dodo and steven play games to escape the wirld if the celestial toymaker.

[Lori S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A surprisingly thin story plot-wise. I wonder if it would have been better with the actual video (now lost)?

[Electroclan17 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this makes me more excited to see the Toymaker in the 60th.

[Matthew Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a pleasant find to be able to experience the story of the toy maker without the actual episodes.

[Thomas Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

The time travellers arrive in a strange fantasy world controlled by the Celestial Toymaker - an omnipotent and immortal being who has waited to meet the Doctor again "for a long time." The Toymaker confiscates the TARDIS and forces the Doctor to play the Trilogic game. Meanwhile, Steven and Dodo have to complete a series of deadly games, and if they fail, they'll be condemned to an eternity as the Toymaker's playthings.
The Doctor finally overcomes the Toymaker by imitating his voice to finish the game (on the 1,023rd turn) from within the TARDIS, which dematerialises just as the Toymaker's realm is destroyed.
Michael Gough gives a superbly sinister performance as the Toymaker, contrasting the apparent childish friendliness of his creations.

* This was the first serial from writer Brian Hayles, creator of the Ice Warriors.
* The story was originally based on Gerald Savory's 1937 play, George and Margaret, but when Savory objected to the use of his characters, the script was reworked twice, by out-going and incoming story editors, Donald Tosh and Gerry Davis.
* The Doctor is rendered invisible and dumb for episodes 2 and 3, when William Hartnell took a holiday. Departing producer John Wiles had even considered simply replacing Hartnell by having the Toymaker restore the Doctor in a different body.
* An announcement at the end of part 4 clarified that the rotund schoolboy character Cyril, was not based on fat, Greyfriars pupil Billy Bunter (both played by Gerald Campion, who had worked with Hartnell before in Carry On Sergeant, 1958).
* The return of the Toymaker was planned for the cancelled 23rd season. Written by Graham Williams, The Nightmare Fair sees the Sixth Doctor and Peri encounter the Toymaker (to have been reprised by Gough) in Blackpool's videogame arcades. The script was finally adapted by Big Finish for The Lost Stories, and starred David Bailie as the Toymaker.
* Episodes 1-3 are missing from the archives. Part 4 was released on The Hartnell Years video, and is available on the Lost In Time DVD. The soundtrack CD includes linking narration from Peter Purves

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Excruciating stuff. The premise was quite attractive - the first Doctor, Stephen and Dodo trapped into playful but deadly games to amuse the Celestial Toymaker but the execution was jaw clenchingly bad. The companions seemed to forget periodically that they were in peril... and I had to ask whether the story had finished at the end.

[Min · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple little story about the Doctor being separated from his companions, while both groups must participate in games for their ability to return to the TARDIS. As it is audio, some of the joy of the story may well be in viewing these events over hearing them narrated.
Very straight=forward story, with little surprise, or depth.

[Jessica (JT) · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best classic Doctor Who stories in audio format. It was great to revisit one of my favorite stories.