The Celestial Toymaker ( TV story ) The Celestial Toymaker was the seventh story of the third season of " Doctor Who " . It was famously the story that almost wrote William Hartnell out of the series . Producer John Wiles ' original idea for dispensing with Hartnell ' s services was to have the Doctor disappear as Hartnell during the Trilogic game , then reappear as another actor . The larger truth , however , was that it was a serial that had , unlike most others , been shaped by two different production teams . Along the way it had generated unusual criticism from rights - holders of other properties — including Wiles ' own boss — who were concerned that their characters were being unhelpfully , if not " illegally " , used within the production . In fact , " The Final Test " was the only " Doctor Who " episode forced to have a continuity announcement to protect the BBC from legal action on behalf of a copyright holder . " Toymaker " saw Innes Lloyd officially take over as producer , which led to far less formal clothing for his female cast . For the first time , the female companion wears a miniskirt . The serial also suffered due to a hangover from " The Ark " that posted over budget , resulting in minimalist set design . Synopsis . The travellers arrive in a strange domain presided over by the Celestial Toymaker — an enigmatic , immortal entity who forces them to play a series of games , failure at which will render them his playthings for all eternity . Plot . The Celestial Toyroom ( 1 ) . The Doctor , who has been rendered invisible and intangible , claims it is a powerful attack that has penetrated the TARDIS . He tells Dodo and Steven to turn on the scanner , but nothing appears . However , the scanner is not broken ; it ' s just not picking anything up . He has them open the doors and , against their advice , the Doctor heads outside . Elsewhere a man dressed in the manner of a Chinese mandarin is lounging amongst toys and detritus . He is aware of the Doctor ' s arrival as well as the details on his companions . He approaches a large dollhouse and removes two small figurines of clowns . He places them on the floor and they grow to life size . He tells them to " deal with " Dodo and Steven . They lumber off . Steven and Dodo find the Doctor now visible , but they also discover a life - sized toy robot with a video screen built in its stomach . Steven sees images on the screen of himself on Kembel and in 16th century Paris . The Doctor warns Steven that this a hypnotic screen and realises that they are in the world of the Celestial Toymaker , and the screen is a trap designed to let him get into their minds . The Doctor explains that the Toymaker is an evil force that traps people and turns them into his playthings . Dodo notices that the TARDIS is now no longer in the room . The Toymaker appears and tries to get Dodo to watch the screen , which shows her on the day her mother died . Dodo suggests they escape in the TARDIS , which prompts the Toymaker to show them hundreds of TARDISes on his screen , saying , " Take your pick " , before vanishing with the Doctor . The two clowns appear and first begin to entertain Steven and Dodo , but the Toymaker returns again and explains that the two clowns are to act as their opponents . In order to win the TARDIS back , they must beat the clowns in a series of games . Every time they win they will get a TARDIS from the number of copies he has made in hope that it may be the genuine article . If they lose , they are forced to stay forever . Faced with no choice , Steven and Dodo agree . In the depths of the toyroom , the Toymaker alludes to a time when the Doctor has been here but left before the Toymaker could engage him in competition . The Toymaker explains that he specifically brought the Doctor to his world because he ' s been bored , and if he can trap the Doctor , he ' ll have a brilliant mind to play against for all time — unlike Steven and Dodo who will be kept here as toys if they lose . The game he assigns to the Doctor is called the Trilogic game . This is a series of 9 blocks piled in ascending order using two other points on the board . The Doctor has to rearrange them in that exact order on point C . He can only move one block at a time and cannot put a larger block on top of a smaller block . The Toymaker tells the Doctor he has exactly 1023 moves to complete the game ; one wrong move , and he will lose and be kept there forever . He points out a counter to keep track of how many moves the Doctor has taken . He tells the Doctor that he specifically chose this game as he feels travelling has made his mind old , lazy and weak . When the Doctor argues with this , the Toymaker says it was easy enough to trick him into leaving the TARDIS this time compared to his last visit . Steven and Dodo , meanwhile , are pitted against the two clowns , called Joey and Clara , in " Blind man ' s buff " . One teammate will move around an obstacle course blindfolded , being guided only by coded buzzes from her partner . If the blindfolded person falls over , they lose . The obstacle course consists of a swing , stepping stones , a plank , a tube and a ladder . The Doctor tries to call out to warn Steven and Dodo about the game , but the Toymaker cuts him off , and , as punishment , makes him intangible once more ( except for one hand , so he can still play his game ) . Joey goes first and effortlessly succeeds . Steven goes next , but has a hard time , especially because Joey has moved some obstacles around . Steven seems to fail , but they inspect Joey ' s blindfold , and it ' s see - through , meaning the clowns had been cheating all along . They demand a re - match , and this time Joey falls , and the two clowns collapse lifelessly . A TARDIS appears , but it ' s a fake , containing only a door behind it . Steven and Dodo find a piece of paper with a riddle on it : " Four legs , no feet ; Of arms no lack ; It carries no burden on its back ; Six deadly sisters , seven for choice ; Call the servants without voice . " They move on through the door , leaving Joey and Clara — who have now reverted back to dolls — behind . The Hall of Dolls ( 2 ) . Steven and Dodo move on through the false TARDIS into the next room , which contains different sizes and shapes of chairs in two adjoining rooms — three in one room , four in the other . The decide that the first lines of the riddle must correspond to the chairs they see in this room . The Doctor watches this unfold and , apparently familiar with the Toymaker ' s games , cries out , " It ' s chair number — " but he is cut off by the Toymaker before he can give them the answer to the game . The Toymaker takes away the Doctor ' s ability to speak and commands him to continue his game . He picks up a deck of cards and declares that he will send the Hearts Family to play against Steven and Dodo next . Dodo and Steven are visited by the Toymaker , who informs them how he deals with cheaters by letting them know what state the Doctor is in . Dodo tries to point out the Toymaker ' s hypocrisy , but he disappears . The pair are joined in the chair room by people dressed as the King , Queen , and Knave of Hearts , as well as the Joker . They realise that the line from the riddle they found earlier , " Six deadly sisters , seven for choice " , means one chair is the correct choice and the other six are deadly . The King and the Queen keep interrupting and distracting Dodo and Steven , so they go to the next room , with Steven convinced they are imaginary products conjured up by the Toymaker . In the next room they find three TARDIS shaped cabinets and one TARDIS they assume to be theirs . Inside the fakes they find seven dolls , correctly assuming them to be the " servants without voice " . Steven tries to command the dolls with his voice but to no avail , so they decide to place them on the chairs . As they attempt to do this the King and Queen return . Again Steven calls them imaginary , but they prove that they are real as well — equally as trapped by the Toymaker as Dodo and Steven are . They will gain their freedom if they win at the game . The King and Queen see the dolls and demand they be shared , so Steven and Dodo hide three of them , and the four players take one doll each . They split up between the rooms , and each tries a chair . The King puts his doll in a chair , and the chair shakes violently until the doll ' s head falls off . In the other room , Dodo throws her doll into a chair , and it is electrocuted . Steven tries another , and a blade cuts the doll in half . Back in the main room the King puts the last doll into a chair , and both chair and doll simply vanish , leaving just two chairs in their room . The King and Queen hatch a plan to use the Joker to sit on one of the chairs to ascertain if it ' s the right one . Steven and Dodo have one chair left in their room but left the extra three dolls in the room the King and Queen are in . Dodo hears the King and Queen coming and plans to sneak out to get them ; however , when the King and Queen wake the Joker , Steven sees through their plan and tries to stop them . Steven heads for the other room , and Dodo sits down in the remaining chair . In the main area of the Toyroom , the Toymaker taunts the Doctor , now on move 690 , telling him Dodo has chosen the wrong chair — the " freezing " chair . Steven notices and rushes to Dodo . She says she suddenly feels cold and cannot move . Steven forces Dodo to concentrate on him and eventually pulls her free from the chair . Meanwhile , the King and Queen try to convince the Joker to test a chair for them , but he catches on to their plan when the Knave laughs at his stupidity and runs away . Unable to agree on who should try a chair next , the two sit in one of the two remaining chairs together . For a moment , nothing happens , and it appears they have won , until the chair suddenly collapses on them . Dodo and Steven enter and realise there ' s only one chair left and sit in it , winning the game . The TARDIS lights up , but it ' s another fake . Recalling that they haven ' t solved the entire riddle , they try to " call the servants without voice " and call the remaining three dolls to them . Just then , the police box telephone rings . Steven answers , and it is the Toymaker , delivering the next clue : " Hunt the key , to fit the door ; That leads out on the dancing floor . Then escape the rhythmic beat ; Or you ' ll forever tap your feet . " There is a click , and then a dial tone . They notice the King and Queen have become playing cards once more . As the two continue on , the three remaining dolls come to life and start to pursue them . The Dancing Floor ( 3 ) . The Toymaker congratulates the Doctor on his choice of companions and decides they have earned some amusement . He selects Sergeant Rugg and Mrs Wiggs . Steven and Dodo are at the next door , but can find no way in . Dodo is frightened at the appearance of the " servants without voice " . However , the door suddenly opens on its own , and they go inside to discover a large old - fashioned kitchen populated by the familiar - looking Rugg and Mrs Wiggs . Mrs Wiggs directs them to the Dancing Floor , but the large oak door that separates them from it is locked . Though Steven is getting thoroughly annoyed at the characters sent at them , whose only job appears to be to " get his goat " , Dodo appeals sweetly to Rugg . He helps them realise the game is " Hunt the Thimble " ; the key to the door is hidden somewhere in the kitchen . The Toymaker complains that the Doctor is not playing quickly enough and orders the advance of his game twice , to move 813 . Steven and Dodo discover a third character asleep in the kitchen , who looks uncannily like the Knave of Hearts . This character is stuffed into a kitchen boy ' s uniform . Dodo again appeals to Rugg , and he chivalrously helps her and Steven search for the key . Mrs Wiggs is getting more and more irritated at the three of them tearing apart her kitchen . She eventually loses her temper , even at Rugg , at the shattering of some of her plates and cups . Rugg and Mrs Wiggs quarrel violently , while the kitchen boy wakes and takes refuge under a table , but Steven tries to keep Dodo on task . Soon food is thrown around , whereupon Dodo tries to reconcile the two , unsuccessfully . Steven catches the kitchen boy trying to escape and tries to force him to tell him where the key is , but the kitchen boy escapes and locks himself in the pantry . As the food fight continues , Rugg threatens a pie that Mrs Wiggs has made . She becomes very concerned and demands he put it down . Dodo realises that ' s one place they haven ' t looked , and when the pie is smashed on the ground , she finds the key in it . They open the door and go inside . The Toymaker appears and angrily confronts the characters , exclaiming how they have wasted their " chance at life " . He commands them to prevent Steven and Dodo finding the next TARDIS , or he will break them like the plates . To demonstrate this threat , he shatters the last remaining plate . Steven and Dodo arrive on the Dancing Floor to witness three ballerinas performing a dance . They see the TARDIS at the opposite end of the floor but realise it can ' t be so easy to get there . When they place their hands curiously over the floor , music plays and the dolls begin to dance . As Rugg and Mrs Wiggs enter , having " made up " , Steven makes a dash for it , but once the music starts , he is forced to dance , and the dolls surround him . Soon Dodo is pulled into the dancing , while Rugg and Mrs Wiggs scheme to get to the " big cupboard " first . As Mrs Wiggs begins to dance , the dolls change partners . Rugg finds he cannot resist and is soon dancing as well . Steven eventually becomes Dodo ' s partner , and they successfully jump off the floor and into the TARDIS as Rugg and Mrs Wiggs dance on , left — as the rhyme says — to " forever tap their feet " . The TARDIS is another fake . Dodo is firmly convinced that these characters are alive , but Steven is doubtful . Meanwhile , the Doctor is pleased with his companions , laughing despite the Toymaker being the only one who can see him . The Toymaker is livid with his " too human " characters . He takes out a Cyril doll , an " innocent , fat , jolly schoolboy " who he thinks will lull Steven and Dodo into a false sense of security . Steven and Dodo find the way out of the cupboard and another message : " Lady luck will show the way ; win the game or here you ' ll stay . " As they emerge from a passageway , Dodo screams when Cyril appears in front of them . Steven thinks he ' s seen Cyril before , and Cyril confirms this : he was previously the Knave of Hearts and the kitchen boy . As Cyril shakes Steven ' s hand , Steven is shocked by an electrode and pulls away ; Cyril giggles mischievously . As they realise the Doctor has reached move 902 , Cyril directs them to the next game , which will be played against him . The Final Test ( 4 ) . The last game is " TARDIS hopscotch " . Each player rolls a die at his turn and moves the number of triangles indicated . First to reach the TARDIS is the winner . Steven is very suspicious at the apparent simplicity but is pleased at the 2 - to - 1 odds . Cyril warns that the area between the triangles is electrified . The Toymaker taunts that Cyril hates to lose , so he makes sure he never does . He pushes the Doctor ' s game to move 930 . He further taunts that Steven and Dodo ' s places in the dolls ' house are prepared ; sure enough , there are chairs inside labelled " STEVEN " and " DODO " . Dodo is allowed to go first , then Steven . When Cyril plays , he sweetly informs them that if anybody lands on an occupied triangle , the first player must return to the start . After one turn , Steven is ahead at triangle 7 , having been given a free move by the die indicator . But Dodo ' s next turn lands her on Steven ' s triangle and sends him back . To add insult , the die indicator tells Steven he loses a turn . The Doctor is removed from his ban of silence by the Toymaker and confidently states that his concentration will not be broken now . Cyril appears behind Dodo wearing a gorilla mask , frightening her . In so doing he has landed on her triangle . Steven threateningly moves towards Cyril , but Cyril calls him a cheater for moving when it wasn ' t his turn . Steven and Dodo both must now go back to the start . Steven has had enough and tries to go on , but he runs into an invisible barrier and the Toymaker appears , saying that the barrier yields only to those who play the game by the rules . With no choice , they both jump back to the start and as they do , Cyril nails Steven with a slingshot . Steven rolls a six , but in his haste his momentum almost carries him onto the electrified floor . He asks if he gets a second turn for a six , but Cyril indignantly dismisses that idea : " Eh ? Certainly not ! " The Doctor is pushed forward to move 1000 . Steven loses another turn . Dodo rolls a much - needed six as well . Cyril needs a three to get home ; he rolls a two . Then , the die indicator tells him he must move to triangle 9 , putting him behind Dodo . Dodo ' s turn is interrupted when Cyril starts to cry , and Dodo spots blood on his foot . She goes over to help him , despite angry warnings from Steven . It turns out to be a ruse ; the " blood " is really red ink . Cyril exclaims that Dodo is forced to go back to the start for moving off her triangle . Cyril is exultant at his next roll , a five ; he wins ! However , as Cyril reaches one of the last triangles , he slips off and straight onto the electrified floor . There is a scream , a flash and a puff of smoke as Cyril is instantly electrocuted . When the smoke clears , all that is left of Cyril is a charred doll . Steven discovers slippery powder on the triangle ; Cyril must have placed it there himself to ensure his victory but fell into his own trap during his haste to reach home . They must yet play the game to the end , so Dodo ( ignoring Cyril ' s ruling ) rolls a four from her triangle and makes it home , though almost slipping on the powder herself . The Doctor has been rematerialised fully , and at move 1022 sees that he will win the Trilogic game . He activates the Toymaker ' s scanner to see that Steven and Dodo have won their game also . He happily goes to see if the real TARDIS is undamaged . Steven and Dodo hear the humming of the real TARDIS and the Doctor joins them . The Toymaker continues to tease the Doctor , and the Doctor is forced to admit that the three of them could be dragged down in defeat with him . When the Toymaker appears in the flesh , Steven moves to attack him , but his strength is turned against him , and the Doctor cools his temper and orders both his friends into the TARDIS . The Toymaker offers the Doctor a chance to serve him and share in his power ; the Doctor refuses and claims victory as he enters the TARDIS . The Doctor tries to take off , but the TARDIS controls fail to respond , and he re - emerges angrily to accuse the Toymaker of tampering with his ship . The Toymaker reminds him that the Trilogic game is not over ; he must make move 1023 in order to leave . The Doctor moves to do so , but realises he can ' t , for when he does the Toymaker ' s world will vanish , including everyone in it . The Doctor explains to his companion s that the Toymaker is immortal , and though his world may be destroyed he can merely build a new one . They must find a way to finish the game and leave safely . The Toymaker begs to be given the TARDIS , as " it would make such an interesting toy " . The Doctor asks for the Trilogic game to be moved inside the TARDIS , but the Toymaker refuses and tells them they must either stay there forever or make the last move and be destroyed . Steven offers to make the move himself , sacrificing his life to let the Doctor and Dodo escape , but the Doctor refuses to allow it , causing Steven to comment that they ' re not going to get anywhere by trying to talk their way out of the situation . The Doctor is suddenly inspired , and after presetting the controls , attempts to orally command the Trilogic game to move forward , as the Toymaker had done . His first attempt fails , but then the Doctor imitates the Toymaker ' s voice and the move is made . He instantly commands Steven to throw the master switch , and the TARDIS safely dematerialises as the Toymaker ' s world ceases to exist . They celebrate with a bag of sweets , given to Dodo by Cyril . The Doctor puts one in his mouth but suddenly yelps in pain and grabs his jaw . . . Story notes . Competition in the Toyroom . Producing " The Celestial Toymaker " wasn ' t easy , even by " Doctor Who " standards . Most of the difficulties stemmed from the fact that it arose at a time of transition in the production office . Though commissioned by the team of producer John Wiles and script editor Donald Tosh , it was ultimately completed by the new team of Innes Lloyd and Gerry Davis . The two sides simply had very different ideas about how the story should proceed . All four episodes were in fact written three different times . Brian Hayles had delivered all four original scripts , likely in late 1965 . Tosh and Wiles had immediately seen that the scripts could not be practically realised , and thus Tosh rewrote them entirely . By the time he was finished , though , he was no longer script editor . Davis , his replacement , now had to deal with the fact that Tosh had inserted the use of the title characters from a play called " George and Margaret " by Gerald Savory without obtaining permission . Since Savory was now Head of Serials , and had the power to veto scripts , he quickly rejected Tosh ' s approach to " The Celestial Toymaker " . Davis therefore had to tackle the scripts " again " . These rewrites got Savory ' s approval , but the old production team were left wondering what had happened to their scripts . Tosh opined that Davis ' approach was " much lighter , more pantomime " than his own . The results were no more pleasing to John Wiles , who wrote a memo to Savory on 25 February 1966 , after he had technically left the " Doctor Who " production office . In it , he claimed that the central battle of wills between the Doctor and the Toymaker had been downplayed to the benefit of new elements involving a more childish confrontation between the companions and the Toymaker ' s creations . Ultimately , Wiles would have liked to have seen the entire production halted , since its commissioning producer and script editor had gone — and with them , the original , more adult intent of the story . ( REF : " The First Doctor Handbook " ) However , the story ' s problems weren ' t over even after Davis ' s script had been recorded . After the transmission of " The Dancing Floor " , the BBC had to field charges from the estate of that the character of Cyril was in fact meant to be his popular children ' s character , . The problem was exacerbated by the fact that actor Peter Stephens had ad - libbed the line " My friends call me Billy " during recording . Thus the BBC were forced to take a step never taken before or since : they had to have a special continuity announcement at the end of " The Final Test " which declared that the character of Cyril was not meant " to be " Billy Bunter , but merely a character " like " him .