Sadly, the BBC recognised this bravery by junking the first three episodes. Now, though, we have Loose Cannon, who have made a reconstruction of the story. However, "The Celestial Toymaker" wasn't telesnapped, which means these episodes have to be composed of frames largely based on composites from promotional shoots and what can be gleaned from the surviving final episode. It's a marvellous piece of work this considered, but suffers from a lack of establishing shots of the surroundings, and the amount of action featured. For example, the first game Steven and Dodo play, pitted against the clowns Clara and Joey in a blindfolded race, consists of a fistful of frames with the action narrated by subtitles and hardly any sound. It's not Loose Cannon's fault, and they make the best possible fist of the job, but it can be slightly tedious at the same time.

The narrative is episodic, with the basic ongoing strand of The Doctor's attempts to complete the Trilogic Game in the background, while Steven and Dodo face a game in each part. This would be dull, but the games are all imaginative and well designed. The device of casting the same three actors in different roles adds to the otherworldly feeling of the Toymaker's domain, and the games themselves are good - the chairs game being surprisingly violent, while the dance floor is appropriately sinister. The Doctor's challenge, the Trilogic Game, is also a splendid piece of design work. The only real problem is Carmen Silvera's irritating voice as Clara the clown. Thankfully, she doesn't sound like this when playing the Queen of Hearts or the cook. Special notice should go to Peter Stephens as the childishly malevolent Cyril, especially in the hopscotch game. Michael Gough also gives an austere, detached performance as the Toymaker himself, summoning up an air of immortality and otherworldly arrogance. It's a brilliant rendition of a superb adversary, and it's a real shame the character never got to return. The storyline, in league with these elements, always manages to convey a sense of danger, and a respectable pace.

William Hartnell was largely absent from the first three episodes, and the device of the Toymaker turning The Doctor invisible actually fits in with the story's sinister atmosphere, as well as demonstrating the effortless power of the villain. This leaves Peter Purves very much as the lead again, and as with "The Massacre", he does so tremendously. Steven gets to be impatient early on, and then falls back on his wits when it becomes clear there is something at stake. The character is smart and determined, if a little headstrong. My opinion of Jackie Lane gets higher ever time I see her, having also watched "The Ark" since "The Gunfighters" and the tag scene of "The Massacre". While Dodo really isn't interesting enough to deserve more renown than she enjoys, Lane makes her likeable enough. It's just a shame we never really get any development for the character. When The Doctor does appear, William Hartnell does well, showing respect for the Toymaker (his previous knowledge of this being is also a welcome change from all those 1960s stories where The Doctor knows as little as his companions). The Doctor is resourceful and intelligent, even if the denouement is a little contrived - with him mimicking the Toymaker's voice to complete the Trilogic Game from the confines of the TARDIS.

The story hasn't aged particularly well, and something so based on visuals will suffer compared to a conventional story as a reconstruction (though a fair bit of its' presumed power is lost in the surviving 16mm telerecorded episode - this is one you wish had been done in colour). "The Celestial Toymaker" is less psychedelic than its' loose descendant, "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy", but the ideas and performances are still more than enough to make the thing enjoyable. Inventive and for the large part gripping, this one is recommended - but not as a first recon.

Review written: 18/07/2006