Matryoshka

WOW this gave me what I wanted from a toymaker story really an amazing start to the set wish there was more

hugely disappointed in this. classic who and big finish have shown two parters can work and be effective however in this story i felt like they really just didn't focus on what i wanted to hear (lots more of the toymaker). i would say that this could've been a 3 or 4 parter to flesh it out some more. i love annette badland, have done for years! she plays an amazing villain. here she is underused and its a shame cause she plays him so so so well. naomi/harry don't get a lot to do, and honestly still haven't entirely warmed up to this team as of yet unfortunately.

😄71% = Good! = Light recommendation!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

NOTES & COMMENTS:

We continue to follow the adventures of the Fourth Doctor, Harry, and Naomi as they land on Earth in the early 20th century, where we encounter a toy inventor and his playful daughter. These are the Pearsons, who are very sympathetic characters.

The story enters play mode immediately, with the Doctor and his companions involved in solving the manor's puzzles and mysteries, only to slowly work out what is going on. The Toymaker is revealed towards the end of Part 1, after which the story puts great focus on the face-off between the Doctor and the Toymaker.

The scenes with the Toymaker are so intriguing that the stuff with the Pearsons pales in comparison. That being said, the tail end of Part 1 carries a nice tension to it as Harry, Naomi, and Pearson are stuck in the Toymaker’s traps and forced to follow riddles presented by a Ouija board to make it out. This is almost like a remake of The Celestial Toymaker; the games and traps are somewhat confusing to follow in an audio format, though.

The French Madame Bisset has an eerie presence from the start, with the outstanding Annette Badland injecting plenty of personality into her. And once she is revealed as the Toymaker, she turns even more sinister and unruly, clearly having great fun playing the character.

The constant influx of traps and games, as well as Badland and Tom Baker's magnetic acting, keep this story flowing effectively, and at two parts, it is exactly the right length. Part 2 is very action-packed, and there is also quite an effective death scene. I like how the Doctor and the companions have obstacles to overcome and need to use their wits and skills to overcome the deadly traps set out for them.

I enjoyed it, but left me severely disappointed. I feel like this story works incredibly well on paper, but unfortunately neither Sullivan nor Cross are charismatic enough to carry this episode’s A plot. Ultimately what I’m most disappointed in is this, because they weren’t super captivating companions in Storm of the Sea Devils either. There was a relationship further delved into in World’s Apart, but as their dynamic developed into this second boxset, I realized it’s not really working for me. A central beat this season seems to really be building is Naomi’s growing sense of self and realization of her own capabilities. This has been present in all three episodes, but and Harry’s purpose for Naomi’s storyline is to encourage her as she solves the Toymaker’s “riddle’s three.” I have not listened to their later adventures with the 7th Doctor and 21st century UNIT, so perhaps I could get more out of them if I had. The impression I got was that their 4th Doctor Adventures was the ideal introduction to them.

Tom is on top form though. His performance is often unpredictable and engaging. Every interaction he has with Harry has felt odd, since on Tom’s side it’s just like season 12, but I don’t think this new actor is capturing Ian Marter’s charisma in the slightest. Tom’s interactions with the Toymaker are really interesting, and given the latest season of the show, I was more alert to, but also just interest in the newest actor to play the Toymaker. While I don’t think she did anything unique with the role, the scale of the godlike Toymaker against Tom’s wit and unpredictability is always interesting.

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Worlds Beyond (Unreviewed)

This is probably the first story I didn't like in Series 13. It just feels like a rehash of the original Toymaker story without the parts that made the original interesting. This story also has the downside of being overshadowed by The Giggle. I know that when they were recording this The Giggle probably wasn't even an idea in RTD's head but regardless I think it's really set the bar for the Toymaker.

Annette Badland's Toymaker is quite generic in my opnion and lacks that otherwordly godlike feel that Michael Gough and Neil Patrick Harris capture in their respective stories. Still, all the actors in this are great, especially Christopher Naylor as Harry Sullivan. He's easily my favourite part of these stories. Tom Baker is also as delightful as usual and it feels like he gets better with age.

Again, this would probably be a better story for me if it had released long before The Giggle, I went into it with a certain expectation for the Toymaker that just isn't fulfilled in this story.

Next Story: The Caged Assassin