I'm bored. I love to play games, but there's no one to play against.

The Celestial Toymaker is Doctor Who's first stab at abject surrealism, one that turned out to be an unqualified successful prototype for later years in the program's life, taking the symbols of childhood and turning them into a nightmarish prototype of The Crystal Maze. It's also the one where they casually drop the N-word.

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.

Trying to experience this story today will yield disappointing results for newcomers unaware of its archival status, all but the final episode of this serial is lost to time. Very little remains of the other 3 as no tele-snaps were taken of its broadcast and the audio recordings of the missing episodes are of poor quality, however, we do have some stunning behind-the-scenes photos, often in glorious colour, that offer us a tantalising glimpse into what once was.

Regardless, of the little we have of The Celestial Toymaker, I would still recommend checking out this rather fantastical and divisive affair from Who's past, even if it is exceptionally reliant on non-existent visuals. Much of Doctor Who could arguably be more appropriately classified as science fantasy than as science fiction, but every so often there would come along a story that ventured an unusually long way in that direction, The Celestial Toymaker marks the first of these forays into the realms of pure fantasy.

The highlight of this story is undoubtedly Michael Gough as the titular villain, despite his limited screentime he exudes a level of menace and dread throughout even when he's not onscreen, helped tremendously by his powerful voice. William Hartnell is barely in the thing, he was on holiday for half of it, but the little time he does have he shines as always. Peter Purves' Steven and Jackie Lane's Dodo get way more to do here than the average adventure, really spearheading the story but it's clear Lane has been given so little to work with that it rather spoils this dynamic, Purves' Steven however still rocks cementing him as the best companion of the Hartnell run.

Despite The Celestial Toymaker's prominent reliance on action, it often comes as a double-edged sword, as the games in question are horrifically boring. The story manages to balance out this weaker shortcoming with an underlying concept that is ripe for exploration in all forms of media - that of a deceptively welcoming domain presided over by a god-like being who engages visitors in a series of potentially lethal games to relieve the boredom of his immortal existence.

The Toymaker himself has been revisited many times since. He's a fascinating villain, no matter the quality of his stories and his battles with the Doctor often being the result of fabulous writing in a battle of wits, but his onscreen return would take another 57 years to come to fruition...

If you can get past the limitations imposed on this story by the fact it's almost non-existent, The Celestial Toymaker makes for a relatively fun stab at taking a break from the norm of Who in favour of a whimsical fantasy full of fantastical design.

Make your last move, Doctor. Make your last move.