The Celestial Toymaker - Episode 4: The Final Test

Another incomplete story, this time the last episode is the only surviving one. And it's in pretty poor shape, audio- and video-wise. Crackling audio, jumps in the film. Not good. But the episode itself is entertaining enough. Thank goodness it's in black and white, because Steven and Dodo's outfits are terribly tacky enough without having to suffer the color versions. Michael Gough is excellent as the evil Toymaker. Shame he never returned to the role, especially considering it nearly happened until the program was put "on hiatus" in 1985. Plans were underfoot for "The Nightmare Fair" to rematch the Toymaker with the Doctor in his sixth incarnation. Oh, well. Also unfortunate that William Hartnell is absent for a large portion of the story, thanks to another holiday. Cyril is rather irritating in this episode, which to be fair is what he's there to do: irritate. The stuff with the games is fun enough. And Steven, at the end, seems to be familiar with the TARDIS controls, and in fact dematerializes it. Has anyone besides the Doctor or Susan shown this much knowledge of the TARDIS before? A final verdict: classic story? Nah, but decently entertaining.

Next up is "The Gunfighters". Yikes.