April 11th, 2024
167 comments
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Doctor Who The Celestial Toymaker Animated Steelbook
Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk, www.zavvi.com, www.hive.co.uk and HMV via www.ebay.co.uk
BBC Studios continues to offer Doctor Who fans the opportunity to extend their collection by announcing the latest release Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker on DVD and Blu-Ray. The two-disc set contains the third season story as well as special features. This classic series stars the First Doctor, William Hartnell and companions Peter Purves as Steven Taylor and Jackie Lane as Dodo Chaplet, with Michael Gough as the Toymaker.
Fans of Doctor Who have long lamented the loss of the original 1966 master recordings of all except one of The Celestial Toymaker. BBC Studios have carefully created an animated presentation of this lost classic story using off-air audio recordings of the missing three episodes.
The Celestial Toymaker sees the Doctor and companions separated when they come up against The Toymaker. While the Doctor plays the Trilogic Game, Steven and Dodo are forced to play seemingly childish but ultimately dangerous games with the aim of being reunited and getting back to the TARDIS.
All episodes have been animated in both colour and black and white and include original film elements which have been fully restored.
Special features include:
Disc One
- Episodes 1-4 – Animation – Black and White
- Episodes 1-3 – Reconstruction
- Episode 4 – Original 1966 Episode newly restored
- New Audio Commentaries
Disc Two
- Episodes 1-4 – Animation – Colour
- Making The Animation
- Doctor Who Escape Room – Team First Doctor
- Sylvester McCoy Introduction for episode 4 as per the original VHS release
- Photo Gallery
- PDF Material including camera scripts
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D84
June 14th, 2024 - 11:19amWatched the full animation in colour last night and am very impressed with it.
The drawing style is a little blocky when compared to say Macra / Evil – but I feel it suits this story well. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to, and watching this with visuals and I feel its a very good “interpretation” / recreation.
Roll on the next story.
If further stories have been commissioned – I can see the next one coming out to be a BBC Studio’s creation (Anne-Marie’s team) rather than Shapeshifter / BFC as they could have been working on something for a good 8/9 months now since completing work on UWM.
Hope we hear something soon – just to confirm the range is continuing
Gordon
June 17th, 2024 - 8:27amThey hinted there was more coming from the underwater menace team at the bfi so there is definitely something
SV7
June 17th, 2024 - 5:40pmPossible silly question incoming: You mean the screening of Toymaker at the BFI, right Gordon?
If so, very exciting!
Gordon
June 17th, 2024 - 7:39pmThe underwater menace screening. I wasn’t including the celestial toymaker as that was another team. So at least 1 more to come from the menace team
Erato
June 13th, 2024 - 3:44pmThere’s no way on this Earth WoF3 should have been released with the limitations it had at the time when you consider how much the animation has improved only a few years later for this release.
A Web of Fear special edition DVD released last year for the 60th anniversary/10th anniversary of its recovery would have made much more sense and faced less criticism.
Anon
June 13th, 2024 - 5:54pmEssentially it was a try out for the animation though. A single episode on a story, the only one with only one missing it was a way of testing the technique. I have watched it a few times now and frankly it’s not as bad as people say it is.
Babelbro
June 13th, 2024 - 2:18pmBased on Gordon’s words below; Hypothetically, were the next animation to be “The Smugglers”, that would then just leave “The Highlanders” as the last story to fill in for the entirety of Ben and Polly’s stories – but apparently – from the vocalised struggles online from officials as to how complicated Scottish Kilts are to animate, it sounds as if The Highlanders would actually take longer to animate for the BBC than the whole of The Daleks’ Master Plan itself!
If, by some miracle the next three stories were ‘The Smugglers’, ‘The Highlanders’ and ‘The Wheel in Space’, that would be Seasons 4 and 5 completed in regards to animation, HD telesnaps, photo recons and freshly restored audio based on all available sources today.
Then – with the heightened rumours of a Season 6 Collection seemingly not far away, that would be all of William Hartnell’s final Season episodes, and the whole Patrick Troughton era done, in terms of remastered source material.
scotel
June 13th, 2024 - 5:24pmThe Highlanders was a problem for the original animation style, but it has been mentioned that the motion capture style does not have that same problem (which makes sense, you aren’t having to change the pattern every time the fabric moves, you have a 3D model which is already taking care of that hassle).
Bellal
June 13th, 2024 - 6:19pmOh yeah. Good thinking. The team behind Celestial Toymaker might be earmarked for Highlanders then at some point. As long as every story gets released in some form I’m happy
Babelbro
June 13th, 2024 - 7:03pmAgreed with both replies;
I personally prefer Telesnaps, Photo recons + surviving footage over the Animations – however if the Animation funding / commercial model is helping to get the audio reworked and surviving material in higher quality, then I feel that’s fair; it’s no different to having updated CGI versions of Classic Who on the last 20+ years of discs – the point being that a different Director is installed, often with a different vision to the original Director, and these Animation projects that the BBC team work on and market are helping to get many of these stories moving, while The Collection range carries on as-is, which again I think is the right decision.
Many big franchises I’m fond of, such as Star Wars, or Terminator – outright refuse to release original theatrical versions of the films, or deleted scenes in half decent picture quality. For the Doctor Who Animation range to be including such surviving material *with* their main advertised product is highly, highly appreciated, and I hope if they can, that they never ever overlook giving their consumer the choice of which version to watch (I’ve already heard that the photo recons + surviving episode of ‘The Celestial Toymaker’ are all very very decent quality).
Rory
June 17th, 2024 - 10:50amIf Smugglers is next then that could put S4 in contention for release in a couple of years time, with Highlanders as a recon.
I’d like them to do another S3, such as Myth Makers or Savages, to fill out a couple of those gaps and make S3 more viable as a Collection release.
So, my ideal release order for the next couple of animations would be Smugglers (BBC Studios), Highlanders or Space Pirates (Shapeshifter), Savages or Myth Makers (BBC Studios).
That makes S4, 5, and 6 viable with release with one or no stories recon only.
D84
June 11th, 2024 - 3:42pmWith this one now out (not received my copy as yet) anyone had any leaks or mentions on if there may be further animations beyond this one?
What / when etc?
Gordon
June 11th, 2024 - 5:49pmJust the long rumoured smugglers. Heard there is supposed to be an animation anouncement between July and September. An obscure story (so no Marco/masterplan/wheel) but not sure how true it all is.
scotel
June 11th, 2024 - 6:14pm“What” will be pure speculation and rumours, but “when” is probably much easier to answer. The Underwater Menace took 15 months to produce so that’s the sort of gap you should be expecting between animations: so start of 2025.
Bookcollector
June 11th, 2024 - 7:01pmAgree it will probably be March 2025 (unless work has been ongoing) personally I’d like either the smugglers or the myth makers
Gordon
June 11th, 2024 - 7:24pmBear in mind they had to spend time to get replacements in as not everybody returned and also get everything set up again as there had been a gap between evil ending and menace starting. If they are just going into the next animation everything should be good to go. Also smugglers had less characters and sets than so it might take less than 15 months to do
Bellal
June 11th, 2024 - 8:05pmI do think complexity quite simply will decide on what comes before what, regardless of how much a story is wanted. Realistically the smugglers, savages, space pirates, wheel are the most do-able. I’d love Marco Polo myself but I can’t see it happening for a long time. Hopefully there isn’t too long a wait for an announcement
SV7
June 11th, 2024 - 9:44pmI really hope that the rumours about Smugglers being animated are true. I finished Toymaker earlier today and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely looking forward to this range continuing.
Bookcollector
June 12th, 2024 - 12:45amAgreed sv7 the animation was great. More please!
Bellal
June 12th, 2024 - 7:41amAgreed. Was pleasantly surprised by Toymaker. A really enjoyable animation. Long may they continue, completing missing who
D84
June 12th, 2024 - 9:23amNot watched my copy as yet but encouraged by your good views thanks guys
I agree – long may these continue to get us closer to a full archive on the shelf
SV7
June 12th, 2024 - 9:39amIt might take a while, but I’m confident that one day we will all have a complete run of Classic Doctor Who on our DVD & Blu-ray shelves.
Ten years ago, that would have been an impossibility.
D84
June 12th, 2024 - 9:49amTrue SV7
I can see the teams focusing on the easier to do / better audio quality stories first before the longer stories / more characters ones
MIKK89
June 12th, 2024 - 3:05pmI Am Never One to Usually Say That I’m Glad they didn’t stick to the Studio Photos, as it shows how the production team on the animations want to keep close to original production look.
But This works as I do believe that if they had had a Bigger Budget, This would have been pretty much what would have been… in fact, this version, it shows the Toymaker as a Sinister threat, Much Closer to Neil Patrick Harris version in 2023’s The Giggle.
Shape Shifter has come a long way since their single episode helping for complete animation from 2019’s Special Edition of Web of Fear…
Bookcollector
June 13th, 2024 - 6:06pmSv7 in 2016 I watched all of the troughton era starting in January with the audio version of power (pre-announcement of animation) and ending with power animation in the November.
At that time I had to listen to:
Power of the daleks
The Highlanders
The underwater menace (well half of it as the DVD reconstruction was useless!)
The macra terror
The faceless ones
Evil of the daleks
The abominable snowmen
Fury from the deep
The wheel in space
The space pirates.
And now just eight years later I would only have to listen to:
The Highlanders
The wheel in space
The space pirates.
Just how utterly amazing is that! We have been so lucky to get these animations.
SV7
June 10th, 2024 - 8:18pmI’ve just finished Episode 1 in black & white and I absolutely loved it. Completely and utterly bonkers! Though I can understand why some people haven’t taken too kindly to the animation style or creative choices.
The soundtrack restoration is also phenomenal, it’s night and day compared to the 2001 narrated soundtrack CD release.
Also, bizarrely, under play all, you can watch the animated Episodes 1-3 with the original Episode 4. That wasn’t an option on The Underwater Menace and I thought it might have been discontinued from future releases as well, so nice to have that option back.
So far very good. Long may these animations continue!!!
Rex F
June 10th, 2024 - 9:50pmIt’s different source material to the CD. Some good quality recordings turned up in the last few years, and you can find out more by searching for the Randolph tapes. (Thank you, Randolph, whoever you were.)