3.7 The Celestial Toymaker

 

Have I mentioned how much I hate recons? I do. I hate recons. 

This was lousy.  I think this was a 'visual' episode; there were things going on that you just had to see to get, and all we got were creepy pictures of the characters. 

The Doctor knows the Toymaker, and has dealt with him before.  This time the Toymaker kidnaps the Doctor, making him invisible, so that he cannot communicate with Steven and Dodo.  He also moves the TARDIS.  The Doctor has to play a game called Trilogic, while Steven and Dodo have to return to the TARDIS through a series of games.  It is important that Steven and Dodo get to the end of their games before the Doctor finishes his, or they are stuck with the Toymaker for ever. 

Is it me, or does he look like Leonard Nimoy?

Okay, this Toymaker dude is seriously insane.  He sits around playing games with people, and if they lose they become his toys forever.  What sort of Mummy and Daddy did he have?  Was he locked in a closet all his life? Did he have no friends? Freud would have a field day with this freak of nature.

The games that Steven and Dodo must play are full of tricks and puzzles.  Three people played several different roles, so that was interesting.  This episode was difficult to appreciate in pictures.  I wanted to see the dancing ballerinas!

 

The last episode was not a recon, and we got to see Steven and Dodo go up against Cyril the schoolboy in a deadly game of hopscotch.  In the end Cyril falls into his own trap, and Steven and Dodo finally end up back at the real TARDIS with minutes to spare.  The Toymaker has created this problem so that if the Doctor wins his game, the Toymaker's world will be destroyed and the TARDIS in it.  If he doesn't win the game, the Toymaker keeps everyone imprisoned forever.  Ah, the Toymaker desperately needs some therapy.

The Doctor runs into the TARDIS and uses the Toymaker's voice to move the last piece.  This allows the TARDIS to depart, while the Toymaker and his world is destroyed.  Is that a completely stupid ending? I thought so.  The Toymaker was supposed to come back in a later season but he never did. Thank goodness for that!

In my mind the idea of a character like the Toymaker is intriguing but it just didn't work out for me.  The recons didn't help, either. 

Dodo offers some candy to the Doctor, whereupon the Doctor breaks his tooth.  So begins the next episode.

Next up: The Gunfighters