The Celestial Toymaker, the lost Doctor Who adventure with William Hartnell and a classic villain, has finally been added to BBC iPlayer. Previously only available via physical media after its release on DVD and Blu-ray in 2023, the special episodes are now available to stream for free in the UK.
The story follows Hartnell as the First Doctor along with his companions Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) and Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane) as they face off against Michael Gough’s villainous Toymaker.
The synopsis reads: “Arriving in the strange world of the Celestial Toymaker, the Doctor and his companions find themselves trapped there and forced to play a series of deadly games.”
Before being restored via animation, The Celestial Toymaker was known as a lost Doctor Who story following the wiping of the original 1966 master tapes, with the BBC archives only containing episode four.
Consisting of four episodes, the animated instalments are titled The Celestial Toyroom, The Hall of Dolls, The Dancing Floor and The Final Test.
BBC
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Fans of the sci-fi series in the UK can find all four episodes by heading to BBC iPlayer and looking for season 3 of Doctor Who (1963-1996).
Marking a change from previous lost episodes, which were done in a more traditional and cartoonlike animation style, the restorations for The Celestial Toymaker used motion capture, with visuals provided by Shapeshifter Studios.
Speaking about the new style, audio engineer Mark Ayres called the move “experimental”, explaining the process behind the animation.
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“This, basically, is all done with motion capture, so they’ve got actors in to act all the parts along to the soundtrack,” he said (via Radio Times).
“It’s all synchronised to the soundtrack – sometimes it doesn’t work and I have to tweak the soundtrack where the dialogue hasn’t quite synchronised. But it is a new technique, it is a motion capture technique, and it means the characters are far more fluid.”
“[We’ve] put an awful lot of hard work into it – I’m proud of it and the animators in Australia, they have really worked hard on this,” he added.
The Celestial Toymaker is available to stream via BBC iPlayer.
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