Serial Y, in four parts:
- The Celestial Toyroom - 4/2/66, 8.0m viewers
- The Hall of Dolls - 4/9/66, 8.0m
- The Dancing Floor - 4/16/66, 9.4m
- The Final Test - 4/23/66, 7.8m
Sound Bytes:
"We suddenly had a crisis on this one...the content was a sort of pseudo-smart Noel Coward comedy which was wrong for the audience, but we had to salvage something -- there was no option. Everybody was screaming for something, from the designers down. I literally had to sit down in the garden of the bungalow I'd just bought in Cookham and dash out an episode a day. Had I had more time I could have done a better job." - Gerry Davis, story editor, quoted in The Handbook: The First Doctor by Howe, Stammers and Walker (Virgin, 1994)
"Another example of the show widening its narrative scope." - Mark Campbell, The Pocket Essential Doctor Who (Pocket Essentials, 2000)
Comments:
The Celestial Toymaker is perhaps the most difficult of Hartnell's lost serials to review, because it's so damn visual. Much of its initial impact came from bizarre sets and costumes, and the doubtless very physical performances of the guest actors. That impact is severely diminished now that the first three parts exist in audio form only; I, for one, was dissatisfied with the experience of listening to the BBC Radio Collection's version.
Thankfully, part four of the serial does survive, and it's good. The Doctor's sniping exchanges with the Toymaker are entertaining, and Hartnell is in top form. Michael Gough is also excellent, and it's fun to see a genre actor with such solid credits (e.g. Batman, Horror of Dracula) in an old Doctor Who story. On the downside, the dice game that dominates part four is not particularly interesting, when compared to some of the Toymaker's earlier traps.
Another minus is that Hartnell's overall role is small. For much of the serial, Steven and Dodo dominate the action. I hate to keep banging the same drum, but these are hardly my favorite companions. Dodo is extra-irritating here, as she stupidly refuses to recognize that the Toymaker's minions are dangerous.
Still, I get the feeling that this was a good one, on the whole. I like immortal villains such as the Toymaker. His presence in Doctor Who suggests that the show's fictional universe contains creatures far older and deadlier than the likes of the Daleks and the Cybermen, and more powerful than even the Time Lords. It's a shame, I think, that the Toymaker wasn't brought back for round two; he would make a perfect villain in today's game-obsessed culture.
So, why can't I assign The Celestial Toymaker a high rating with confidence? Well, I suppose it's because I can never fully trust my opinions of the lost serials. Some fans can rate them without reservations, but I just can't do that. Witness the fall of The Tomb of the Cybermen -- everybody used to think that it was a classic serial, when it was still lost, but then it got found and fans soured on the thing because of a few lame special effects shots. We Whovians are a fickle lot, eh?
Anyway, I'll venture to say that The Celestial Toymaker is above-average. It continues the cycle of pretty good, if not inspired, third-season stories.
Grade: B+ (perhaps)