Doctor Who Bringing Back Forgotten Villain And It’s The Perfect Time
Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary Specials are less than three months away, and the audiences are super excited about David Tennant and Cathrine Tate’s appearance as the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna Noble, respectively. While we’re also expected to meet the Fifteenth Doctor, there hasn’t been any talk about the upcoming specials’ villains, at least up until now—Russell T Davies, the retuning showrunner of Doctor Who has decided to revive the Toymaker, a villain the audience last saw in 1966.
Neil Patrick Harris is set to portray one of the Doctor’s most iconic villains, who’s often referred to as the Celestial Toymaker because he creates elaborate and deadly games and challenges for his own amusement.
Enter the Toymaker, a powerful and enigmatic being with god-like abilities, portrayed by none other than How I Met Your Mother‘s Neil Patrick Harris. The Doogie Howser, M.D. star is set to portray one of the Doctor’s most iconic villains, who’s often referred to as the Celestial Toymaker because he creates elaborate and deadly games and challenges for his own amusement.
It’s worth noting that Davies has previously announced Harris’ involvement and casting and that the specials trailer offered some clues about Harris’ villain coming back to Doctor Who.
Though his true name remains unknown, his title of Toymaker is well deserved in the Doctor Who universe, as the villain forces his victims to play sinister games in his own domain, called the Celestial Toyroom
Furthermore, long before BBC officially confirmed Harris’ involvement with Doctor Who, fans spotted the actor sporting multiple costumes in various promotional material for the upcoming special, hinting at the appearance of an interdimensional villain with an affinity for toys and games. The Toymaker was last seen on Doctor Who back in 1966’s Classic Who serial titled “The Celestial Toymaker,” which was the characters’ first and only appearance in the show.
Though his true name remains unknown, his title of Toymaker is well deserved in the Doctor Who universe, as the villain forces his victims to play sinister games in his own domain, called the Celestial Toyroom—a surreal and ever-changing place where he constructs intricate and often lethal puzzles and games.
Of course, the games were always rigged in the “host’s” favor, and losing the games would result in the only possible outcome. No, it’s not death; instead, Toymaker would turn his victims into toys and trap them forever in his own twisted domain.
In his previous run-in with the Doctor, the Toymaker even made several references to their previous encounters when the Doctor ventured into the Toyroom. For those that aren’t really acquainted with the Doctor Who universe, the eponymous Time Lord actually changes bodies and personality traits from time to time—think of it as previous lives, but more complex.
The Toymaker was last seen on Doctor Who back in 1966’s Classic Who serial titled “The Celestial Toymaker,” which was the characters’ first and only appearance in the show.
Their previous encounter in the series involved the Toymaker challenging the Doctor to a game, which he then ultimately lost, and the Toyroom was eventually destroyed.
This poses numerous questions about the character’s return to the Doctor Who universe, but as we’ve seen from the origin stories of Daleks and Cybermen, Doctor Who has no issues in retconning its narrative elements.
At the same time, the series is great, retaining original iterations of retconned narrative elements as canon under the prescription of timey-wimey shenanigans. Considering that we’re discussing a television show whose premise is based on space-time travel, the retcons are perfectly acceptable and within the established canon.
