Season 3, Episode 6 | 4 parts | First broadcast: 2–23 April 1966 | Writer: Brian Hayles (Donald Tosh, uncredited) | Director: Bill Sellars
Cast
- William Hartnell as the Doctor
- Peter Purves as Steven Taylor
- Jackie Lane as Dodo Chaplet
- Michael Gough as the Toymaker
Summary
The TARDIS lands in the timeless, dream-like domain of the Celestial Toymaker, an ancient and godlike being who traps the Doctor in an invisible, silent battle of wits while forcing Steven and Dodo to play a series of strange and dangerous games against his sinister toy-like servants. Losing any game means being trapped in the Toymaker’s realm forever, and only by winning the final game can the travellers hope to escape and reclaim the TARDIS.
Interesting Facts
- Michael Gough’s Toymaker is one of the most powerful adversaries the First Doctor ever faced, seemingly able to render the Doctor invisible and voiceless for most of the serial.
- Only the final episode, “The Final Test,” survives in the BBC archive; the other three were reconstructed with animation for later release.
- The character of the Toymaker would not return to the series until 2023’s 60th anniversary special “The Giggle,” in which Neil Patrick Harris played the role opposite David Tennant.
- Some original dialogue and character names from this 1966 serial were altered or redubbed for later releases due to changing sensitivities around racial language.
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