10 Best One-Time Only Doctor Who Villains

8. The Celestial Toymaker (The Celestial Toymaker)

Doctor Who The Celestial Toymaker
BBC Studios

A Doctor Who villain who's almost as old as the show itself, the Celestial Toymaker first appeared all the way back in 1966, and hasn't been seen again since.

Played with relish by the late Michael Gough (who most will recognise for his portrayal of Alfred in the 1989 and 1990s Batman movies), the Toymaker's shtick is that he loves to play games, forcing other unfortunate beings to become his playthings.

While the Toymaker isn't physically imposing or particularly frightening, there's just something so alluring about villains who are clearly enjoying themselves - especially clever villains who are clearly enjoying themselves. Think Moriarty or the Joker, only with less murder. The Toymaker could go toe-to-toe with the Doctor in a battle of wits on any day of the week, and it would be a highly entertaining stand-off to watch.

Sadly, The Celestial Toymaker (the serial in which the villain appeared) is mostly missing from the BBC archives, so there aren't many Toymaker scenes that are available to watch. The perfect excuse to revive him for a new episode!

In this post: 
Doctor Who
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!