Customer Reviews

Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker (BBC Radio Collection)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"The Celestial Toymaker" has long been thought of as a true classic by die hard Doctor Who fans. But, in truth, I feel it offers very little to the casual viewer/listener. Michael Gough (of Batman fame, he played Alfred in the movies) obviously relished this part, and played the Toymaker to the hilt. And that is quite an accomplishment considering he was acting all by himself most of the time, as William Hartnell once again took a couple episodes off due to his continued failing health.

Many of the games played by the Doctor's companions, Steven and Dodo, are childish and tedious, to say the least. The supporting cast are hollow stereotypes, and the companion's main protagonist, Cyril is merely irritating. I don't wish to give a truly bad impression of this story. It does have it's charms. But, they probably will only be evident to the most ardent of Whovians and perhaps younger viewers/listeners. This is a story written down to the level of typical 60s children, and holds little to entertain adults. But, if you are a die hard Doctor Who fan, like myself, you will still find much to enjoy about this fantastical serial.

I have only listened to two other BBC audio releases of the missing Doctor Who stories and have not been impressed with the way they have put them together, but I was surprised in listening to this one. The main problem is that these audios require more exposition from the narrator and often don't. This would be fatal to a story such as The Celestial Toymaker, with the multitude of visuals it featured, but the BBC smartly works out a very descriptive narrative read by Peter Purves that doesn't detract from the original content. One of the best I've heard and well worth a listen.

The greatest thing about "The Celestial Toymaker" is that it is just a joyous and jolly romp that does not feel the need to take itself too seriously. It is unusual certainly, but this puts it heads about standard early stories like "The Space Museum" or "The Savages" which follow basic patterns. It is not Shakespeare, but if you want a fun diversion, giving a glimpse into the early years of Doctor Who, I fervently recommend "The Celestial Toymaker."

It's hard to enjoy a serial like this which is very animated which has clowns, dolls, "playing cards" like the King and Queen, dancing dolls and fake Tardis's...

If this story had been preserved on film, this would have been one of the most fun, interesting and entertaining Doctor Who stories ever!

I still enjoyed it and was lucky enough to see the telesnaps of the missing episodes and obviously glad to see episode 4 in full by the way!

I like Peter Purves' betrayal of Stephen. In this story he takes the lead along with Dodo, while the Doctor is held by the Celestial Toymaker himself, being careful to make the righ amount of moves. I loved the fountain of ideas in 1960's Doctor Who -- having companions taking the lead role is a prime example!

If you are a diehard fan like me, this is another good serial in your collection. Others may conclude like me that it needs the visuals and may not follow through. If not, watch the last episode on the Lost In Time DVD -- which contains all surviving episodes from the missing stories. I think give it a try! If you were old enough to watch Doctor Who way back in the 1960's, the nostalgic background music and old fashion rhymes would bring back all the good memories of that time period!

After leaving the planet Refusis, Steven and Dodo are amazed when the Doctor vanishes - but he is not gone, simply invisible. He warns them that they are under attack, and they are soon facing his old foe, the Toymaker. A being of immense power, they must play the Toymaker's games and win or become his toys forever...

This audio story is the soundtrack of a mostly lost TV serial (only the final episode remains of the four that were made). It takes otherwise familiar children's games like blind man's buff and changes them to something threatening.

What is unfortunate is that this conversion is not entirely successful: many of the games seem annoying, and Steven and Dodo's complaints that the Toymaker's pawns are cheating sounds very whiny. With William Hartnell on holidays for the middle two episodes, we are denied of his usual dominance of the proceedings to make the story come alive. And then there's the Toymaker, who would almost seem to be a refugee from the TV version of Batman with Adam West!

Conceptually good, but the execution is pretty poor.

'The Celestial Toymaker' is another audio story from the 'missing episodes' files of Doctor Who. Some of these television episodes that were destroyed long ago by the BBC are now transcribed into audio format. And although it is a joy for all Doctor Who fans to have some access to the original televised episodes, 'The Celestial Toymaker' is something of a disappointment in terms of the actual content of the story. It is inevitable for some of these other audio stories to have this problem as well: the lack of the visual medium detracting from the audio story. From pictures, clips, and the saved video of episode four of this story, I believe 'The Celestial Toymaker' relied heavily on the sets, costumes, and the 'look' to make it an interesting adventure. Of course, with the dialouge only, this audio story plods, becoming predictable and tedious. 'The Celestial Toymaker' has not aged well either, as is a problem with other older Doctor Who stories (and not just the new audios). While in the late 1960s this story may have been horrifying for a child's playroom to become a world of deadly traps, today it just seems somewhat silly. Even the Doctor's companions, Steven and Dodo, are continually irritated at the childishness of their quest. Unless you are a dedicated Doctor Who collector or absolutely dying for new material to experience, skip 'The Celestial Toymaker.'

Mr. Ivey is of the opinion that Doctor Who's must be complex to be enjoyable. This Doctor Who was made with children in mind and the fairytale-like creativity has a certain appeal to it. In my opinion, this story is much more fun to listen to than some of the other Who audio releases because it forces you to rely heavily on your imagination... like reading a book. And the action is simple enough where it can be easily described by the narration without confusing the listener. Michael Gogh is wonderful as the Toymaker. He has an excellent voice which really comes through this audio only release. I am so thrilled that the BBC is releasing these missing Dr. Who stories. It is the next best thing to having the actual episodes.