Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52096 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-02
• Released on: 2001-04-02
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Audiobook
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Library Binding

Synopsis
William Hartnell stars as the first Doctor in this classic four episode story from 1966, which pits the TARDIS crew against one of the most powerful enemies they have ever encountered.

Customer Reviews

again! again!
As usual the BBC give us a superbly presented soundtrack. The quality of the product and the linking narration is superb.

The problem with the celestial toymaker lies with the story. It's a great concept - the tardis crew caught by a mysterious, fantastical being and forced to play his games - and without the episodes you can conjure up your own visuals in your mind which are possibly better than the tv ones were. There's an interesting hint that the toymaker and the doctor have met before, and that they're very powerful beings above the concerns of petty mortals.

But the story is repetitive. The first three episodes are pretty much the same plot over and over again. And that gets dull.

Things pick up a little in part four with the appearance of cyril the schoolboy, who is quite a menacing villain thanks to great work from the actor, and the ending of the tale is very nicely done. But one good episode doesn't quite make up for three tedious ones

A badly executed concept
I was aware that "The Celestial Toymaker", originally by Brian Hayles but extensively rewritten by two of the show's producers, had come to have a poor reputation in fandom before I listened to it. However, I am capable of finding redeeming qualities in almost any "Doctor Who" story.
This one is something of an exception. However one looks at it (it's at least imaginative), there's no escaping the fact that "The Celestial Toymaker" is deathly dull and hard to sit through (even though episode four survives in full and can be watched on the DVD set "Lost in Time"). It's not the actors' fault, it's simply a very bad story.
Steven and Dodo spend four episodes playing games with very little sense of danger or tension despite the apparent threats they face. The Doctor, meanwhile, is made invisible and mute so that William Hartnell could go on holiday for two weeks, resulting in scenes where the Toymaker (a respectable performance by actor Michael Gough) basically talks to himself. Steven shouts and Dodo displays a totally blinkered stupidity against the threats the two companions are supposedly facing by repeatedly empathising with the Toymakers' intermittently homicidal creations.
Once can see what the producers were trying to achieve, but the extensive rewriting creates in "The Celestial Toymaker" a tedious and lamentable four episodes of "Doctor Who". Recommended for total completists - such as myself - only.

Cheap and cheerful
I'm 13 years old and I hate the new Doctor Who series. Why not sit back and enjoy some light hearted and cheerful Doctor Who instead of the noisy, fast paced and modern rubbish? This story, The Celestial Toymaker, is a perfect example of the quiet and entertaining series that ignorant people don't understand. Don't let a few CSO effects and wobbly sets put you off a classic show that has been turned into a mess over 2006.