The Celestial Toymaker

Notes

For conversion into full article:

• Perhaps just as well that this is lost from my perspective - not a fan of Hartnell's portrayal (the silly laugh in particular) and think the First Doctor works better in written form.
• Celestial Toymaker is a good villain - very unlike others who have come before or since. Malevolent but not out to kill or convert everything in the way that the Daleks or Cybermen are. Doesn't even relish destruction.
• Background to the Toymaker is explored in the Past Doctor novel Divided Loyalties - well worth a follow-up read.
• Steven and Dodo not bad as a TARDIS pairing - shame they didn't get more time together and what they do have is mostly lost to us.
• Feels a bit like Alice in Wonderland in parts - especially the King and Queen of Hearts (suspect this is deliberate).
• Bit of a cop-out making the Doctor invisible and mute so that Hartnell can go on holiday - painfully obvious when this happens in the First and Second Doctor stories.
• Target novelisation contains some things not in the televised version, so not a strictly accurate rendition - possibly better for it though.
• Reconstruction available on YouTube (episodes 1-3) and original on Lost in Time DVD (episode 4).
• Steven is prepared to sacrifice himself to destroy the Toymaker's world so that the Doctor and Doda can escape - very in character for him.
• Hard to judge when three episodes are missing - reconstructions do a good job with limited material but nowhere close to the real thing.
• The way the Doctor 'wins' in the end is slightly unconvincing - you would think that a being as powerful as the Toymaker would have a more secure way of manipulating his environment than voice pattern recognition, but perhaps he has succumbed to hubris?