Doctor Who: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Toymaker
1. He's Not Actually Called The Celestial Toymaker
Inevitably, there will be comments that Neil Patrick Harris' character has been renamed due to 'celestial' being a racist term for a person of Chinese descent. This isn't the case, as the character has always been referred to as just "the Toymaker".
The Celestial Toymaker is the overall name of the 1966 serial, not the actual character. While the Doctor does say "the celestial Toymaker", the actual script reveals that it's with a small "c". This means that the Doctor is referring to the Toymaker's origins in the stars, rather than his actual title.
Dodo then asks "Who is the celestial Toymaker?" but she's clearly made the same misunderstanding that many others have since 1966. Script editor Donald Tosh always referred to the character as the Toymaker, omitting the "C" word entirely.
Gone too are the oriental robes that have added to The Celestial Toymaker's uncomfortable reputation as a racist story. In bringing the character back in 2023, RTD will move the Toymaker on from this problematic legacy and give us a memorable villain that lives up to the character's modern-day potential.