I first saw “The Celestial Toymaker” (episode four on the Lost in Time DVD set) early on in my Doctor Who watching and, frankly, didn’t get that much from it. At that time I had yet to meet Steven, much less Dodo, so I had no connection to the companions whatsoever. Stephen was a companion for quite a while, but most of his tenure (seven out of ten stories) is missing. Much of the relative newcomer Dodo’s tenure is missing, too, but at least I’ve since had the opportunity to see entire stories featuring Steven and/or Dodo.
Episode One: “The Celestial Toyroom”
Soon after departing the planet Refusis (see “Doctor Who Reactions: ‘The Ark’”), the Doctor becomes suddenly and inexplicably invisible and intangible. The Doctor regains his visibility when the TARDIS lands. The Doctor, Steven and Dodo emerge into a strange environment and presently meet the Celestial Toymaker, an old adversary of the Doctor’s. The Toymaker abducts unwary space travelers and forces them to play games for their freedom. If they lose (or if they refuse to play), he transforms them into toys in his collection. (I am reminded of two of Marvel’s Elders of the Universe, the Grandmaster and the Collector.) The Toymaker hides the TARDIS among humdreds of duplicates, forcing the Doctor to play.
Separated from Steven and Dodo, the Doctor is set the task of playing the “Trilogic Game” (which sounds much like a puzzle I once read about in “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not”). He is again made invisible and intangible (except for one hand to play the game), ostensibly so he won’t interfere with Steven and Dodo’s games, but really so William Hartnell could take a vacation for episodes two and three.
Meanwhile, Steven must run an obstacle course while blindfolded, with Dodo shouting instructions. All the while, two clowns are interfering with Steven, making it more difficult for him to complete the course.
Cliffhanger: Steven and Dodo must solve a riddle:
One, two, away they flew…
No, no… that’s not right. Ah, here it is:
Four legs, no feet, of arms no lack, it carries no burden on its back
Six deadly sisters, seven for choice, call the servants without voice
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We finished watching the animated version of "Galaxy 4" last night, so today we moved on to "The Celestial Toymaker." I don't really have much to add to "Galaxy 4" that hasn't already been said on the dedicated thread, other than that Steven doesn't look much like Peter Purves. Back when I was listening to the audio only versions, I pretty much tried to imagine them in my mind's eye as they would have appeared on television in the '60s, but that doesn't necessarily mean I feel compelled to watch the black & white animated versions. (The Blu-ray has both b&w as well as color.) That was fine, but I must admit the animated versions do a good job of recreating the sets as they actually appeared.
Having said that, though, the first episode of "The Celestial Toymaker" came as quite a shock. It looked like a mash-up of Pixar-style animation with Rankin & Bass. I don't know what the lost episodes really looked like, but it wasn't this. At thispoint I am ambivalent about this approach. For one thing, it allows the story to be told using special effects that wouldn't have been possible "back in the day," but on the other it just looks weird. The whole thing takes place in the Yoymaker's dimension, though, so perhaps there's some justification for the weird animation style.
And Steven still doesn't look like Peter Purves.
We finished watching the animated version of "The Celestial Toymaker" tonight and it was a bit disturbing (the animation, I mean). Once I got used to that, I quite enjoyed it. HERE is what the animation looks like if you haven't seen it.
Jeez, I dreamed about this last night. It's a good thing I forgot almost all ot it upon awakening.
I finally got to see the animated version of this story. I don't have too much to add to the above, except that I'm really not wild about the animation style, the characters look crude and "unreal" in a way that sometimes takes me out of the story.
According to a conversation between the Doctor and the Toymaker, they've met before, but the Doctor got away without playing any games. I'd be curious to know how he managed that trick.
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