Doctor Who: Is Neil Patrick Harris Playing The Celestial Toymaker?

There's been some exciting news for Whovians this week, with the announcement that Neil Patrick Harris, star of shows such as How I Met Your Mother and Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, will appear in the upcoming Doctor Who 60th anniversary special. Harris joins David Tennant, returning to his role as the Tenth Doctor, and Catherine Tate as popular companion Donna Noble.

Reports suggest that Harris will be playing the special's villain. A few theories have begun to emerge, the most common being that the actor will be playing Classic Who villain The Celestial Toymaker, also known as The Mandarin, The Crystal Guardian, or simply The Toymaker. For NuWho fans who may be left scratching their heads, let's take a quick look at the history of the character.

The Celestial Toymaker

To date, the character has only appeared in one televised story, 1966's First Doctor adventure The Celestial Toymaker. As the story opens, the Tardis is snared by The Toymaker, leaving The First Doctor and his companions, Steven and Dodo, trapped in the Toymaker's realm, the Celestial Toyroom, where they are challenged to a game. Those who lose their game remain trapped in the Toyroom forever.

It is revealed that The Doctor had come up against The Celestial Toymaker once before in his youth, but was able to win his game and escape. To keep The Doctor from besting him again, The Toymaker has implemented what he thinks is a foolproof fail-safe: Even if The Doctor Wins, The Celestial Toyroom itself will disappear, leaving The Doctor, Steven, and Dodo trapped forever. Thankfully, The Doctor and his companions escape by activating the Tardis at the exact moment of victory, besting The Toymaker once more.

Three of The Celestial Toymaker's four parts are sadly among Doctor Who's many lost Classic episodes. Only episode four, 'The Final Test', remains, but some scenes are missing, and a few odd 'edits' have led experts to believe that the film reel was damaged.

The Nightmare Fair

At one point, The Celestial Toymaker was intended to return in a Sixth Doctor TV story, 'The Nightmare Fair', with Michael Gough set to reprise the role. Unfortunately, 'The Nightmare Fair' and a number of other scripts were scrapped when the BBC chose to put Doctor Who on hiatus for eighteen months, and the following season was reworked as 'Trial of a Timelord'. However, the story was eventually revived, first as a Target Novel, and then an Audio Drama in Big Finish's 'Lost Stories' range. While the audio version, as the original script intended, utilised Colin Baker as The Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri, Michael Gough had retired, so was replaced by David Bailie as The Celestial Toymaker.

The Doctor and Peri attend a Fair while investigating a time well the Tardis had fallen into, but are separated on a ride, which The Doctor soon discovers is now inhabited by The Toymaker. While Peri befriends Kevin, a teenage boy who also became trapped in the ride while searching for his missing brother, The Doctor goes toe-to-toe with The Toymaker in hopes of winning everyone their freedom.

Other Adventures

The Celestial Toymaker has made occasional appearances in other expanded Whoniverse material, such as books and comic strips, during which he has faced off with The Seventh, Eighth, and Twelfth Doctors. In most cases, The Toymaker falls victim to his own arrogance, always sure that he cannot possibly lose no matter how often The Doctor bests him.

While The Toymaker has not physically appeared onscreen since his debut, the character was mentioned, briefly, by Zellin, villain of The Thirteenth Doctor episode 'Can You Hear Me?', serving as a fun Easter Egg for fans of Classic Who.

Despite his singular appearance onscreen, The Celestial Toymaker is a memorable villain, whom many fans would like to see get a second chance in the spotlight. Time will tell if Neil Patrick Harris will be actor to bring The Toymaker to life again.