"I made a jigsaw out of your history, did you like it?" Such a great way of explaining away the Doctor's contradictory origins.

I love The Toymaker being insulted by the notion that he would cheat, he took that very personally.

I really hope we don’t have to wait another 57 years to see this guy again. “Turned galaxies into spinning tops, gambled with God and turned him into a jack in the box” BADASS

Hot take, but Neil Patrick Harris as the Celestial Toymaker might be a better villain than the Master. Easily the best part of the episode. The Toymaker is such an old and relatively obscure villain in Doctor Who and Neil Patrick Harris isn't an actor that I typically associate with sci-fi, but my god did he deliver in the role. He is both outwardly charismatic and charming, while also incredibly sinister and threatening.

You know, the Doctor realizing he can invoke "best of three" if he loses is kinda genius. It basically guarantees he survives this round and gets a second chance

I just adore Donna's "I'm already running!" She knows exactly how this all goes down, every time.

I love how the Toymaker’s face just falls as he knows that the Doctor knows his one weakness. “I challenge you to a game.”

I love how offended the Toymaker got when Donna said he would cheat, and even the Doctor defended him. Neil Patrick Harris was the best part of the specials, I hope we see him again soon.

"That is someone else's game" did send chills down my spine. What is so terrifying, so mighty, that even the Toymaker didn't want to play with it and ran away?

It's a rather genius twist that despite being capable of literally anything the Toymaker is bound by the rules of the game and what's even more frightening is that his powers are not constrained to his dimension as he manipulated reality with ease inside of Unit HQ. The only way to beat him is fair and square.

I love the Toymaker's barely restrained rage when Tenant invokes best of 3. He knows The Doctor has him beat by his own rules and it frustrates him to no end to be denied his prize

I love how at 2:22, when the Toymaker cuts his deck and gets the King, the image on there references the Toymaker's original look from when the Doctor and the Toymaker were against each other in 1966.

I think the bi regeneration happens because of what happens at 2:49. The contract for third game is set within the rules of play with the 14th doctor. So when the Toymaker tries to kill 14 with the gun he violates the contract he made with 14. Meaning 14 stays because he is still bound by the rules of play.

I love how offended the toymaker is when donna implied he might cheat. He just says "no" and then looks donna up and down judgingly and says "shame" 😂

This is the doctor who we've been missing, the music, the acting and the sheer amount of pressure we're under as two titans fight with a pack of cards, the respect each of them have for the other when Donna says the toymake will cheat and they both disagree immediately also when the toymaker lists his accomplishments, it sent shivers down my spine.

I’d like a clip of the scene before this part. That was a great scene, how The Doctor tries to compartmentalize all the other losses of his companions followed with The Toymaker dropping his accent to cut through with a cold hard “Well that’s all right then!” You could see Tennant breaking every time. That was fantastic acting.

1:46 I love this moment where theyre both like "ew, Donna, too far-"

My favourite part Is how, whilst they play the game, the toymaker drops all the pretences and outrageous accents, he treats the doctor like a true opponent, with an almost chivalric air, yet the exact second he thinks he's victorious, the pantomime is back, only for it to fall away as his triumph is underrmined, superb acting and writing to balance the absurdity with a performance that echoes michael gough. plus congrats to russel on finding the master another seeming impenertrable bind to get out of

0:50 That set of teeth looks like how an Ai would draw a mouth. Uncanny Valley at its finest

Did anyone else notice the subtle gratitude the toymaker showed the doctor for explaining he'd never cheat? These nuances are just one of the things that make NPH the perfect toymaker

I absolutely love the foreshadowing here The Toymaker teased a big future villain for the Doctor and also the return of the Master

1:56 I love how the Toymaker gets visibly upset when the Doctor speaks the truth on how the Toymaker is bound to the rules

I love Donna at the end. "I'm already running!" She clearly remembers well how it goes with the Doctor. 😂

By far my most favourite part of the episode. It’s so powerful and just shows travelling with the doctor isn’t always as wonderful as it seems. Plus a nice call back to Moffat’s era.

Donna is the GOAT “I’m already running”

A bit of an odd thing to notice but an 8 was the perfect card for the writers to choose for the card the doctor reveals, because it’s high enough that you have hope the doctor will win, but still low enough that there is a serious danger that he’ll lose. Even though the consequence after this game isn’t severe, we don’t know that so it adds tension.

1:25 "and they cancel" I rolled my eyes back so far I can see my brain.

The Toymaker was brilliant in this episode. We were really lucky to have Neil Patrick Harris play this character.

"Donna!" "I'm already running!" I love that exchange so much

WELL THATS ALRIGHT THEN

Say what you want about this special as a whole, but good lord this part in particular was *SUPERB* Neil Patrick Harris, in the relatively short time he gets to shine, knocked it out of the park as The Toymaker. He's braggadocious, but polite. Casually cruel, but jovial. Immensely powerfull, but not so drunk on it that he doesn't recognise a threat when he sees it. And the fact that they use this godlike being to introduce what I assume will be the main villain, The One Who Waits is genius. The fact that this guy beat The Master and apparently *God* so *effortlessly* , yet *ran* from this particular being when he noticed it is so damn creepy.

I like how they incorporated the Toymaker's more controversial aspects into the character, having him put on mocking French and German accents to parallel the original Chinese presentation of him that's been more frowned upon in recent years. The most obvious issue with it to me was him adding "ge-" to the beginning of random present-tense verbs, which in German is done to past-tense verbs. He mocks people, languages, and cultures as he sees them as nothing more than toys to play with.

Toymaker: CHALLENGE ACCEP-wait for it…-TED! ACCEPTED!!

Neil Patrick Harris is a magician, expert with cards.

Getting NPH to be the Toymaker was a masterclass in casting. With his legit magic skills and excellent acting he's just awesome.

2:43 now that was clever

2:10 - Missed opportunity for David to pull a ten card.

I loved the whole conversation the doctor and the toymaker had in this scene before they both got on with the game. Theory and speculation- The boss and the one who waits is connected. I do think a timelord is involved. Maybe Rassilon, Omega, The Rani or maybe even the valeyard. If monsters are involved then it is obviously a species that we know already. Even though the master is part of the story with him being imprisoned in the gold tooth I don’t think he’s the key to this mystery.

"That's the game of 21st century. They shout, they type, and they cancel."

I’m guessing “the one who waits” will be the story arc of series 14 next year.

"I made a jigsaw out of your history..." Veeeery curious...

I love how offended the Toymaker is at the very idea of cheating 😅

I didn´t even notice that on the card it is actually the Toymaker as the king. I just thought with "I am the king" he meant what card he drew. Ps: I really like the Toymaker as a character who has godlike powers, can do anything he wants but still follows the rules of games.

I like how offended the Toymaker sounds when she says he would cheat!

Neil Patrick Harris does a really good British accent! So clear and natural.

0:26 I love this line!

I’m rather disappointed the Toymaker never once said Challenge Accepted in this special. Big missed opportunity.

nph and dt were amazing this episode! (so was ncuti (obviously)) the toymaker was so creepy, yet lovable

“I made every opinion superior, that is the game of the 21st century.” So true, sadly so very very true.

Honestly didn't know much about Neil Patrick Harris before this, certainly hope he eventually makes another appearance.

"The Master, he was dying" is that a reference to the 13th Doctor's Master

“I gambled with God and made him a Jack-in-the-box” That’s one of the coolest and coldest lines I’ve ever heard. Also when The Toymaker shows what happened to The Master you can see The Doctor’s face drop a bit. It shows he still cares about The Master even after everything that he has done

I honestly adore it, when he speaks half german ❤

I doubted NPH’s casting at first before I knew he was a magician and had done puppetry (although obviously I knew who he was) but based on this scene alone he was great. Plus he and Tennant played pretty well off each other.

did anyone notice at 0:06 the beat sound similar to the drums the master heard in his head

the toy maker just casually dropping the first clues at the next big bad

2:27 I love so much how he delivers this line !

This episode was one of my favorites, NPH is always such a stylish villain and he outdid himself! And I'm so glad David didn't regenerate in the normal way. I couldn't have handled it again. ALSO, great minds think alike! There's a theory to make Matt Smith come back.. Since Matt wanted to come back as The Master.. I thought of this.. The Master is a Timelord, just gone rogue, so he is prone to regeneration as well. Revisiting old faces now is possible, as shown here by Mr. Tennant. I thought, "Maybe it's possible to sort of *mix up* The Doctor's memories/life with The Master's, so The Eleventh Doctor's face is an incarnation of The Master. It would be so nice of RTD or the crew caught a glimpse of these theories to bring Matt back.

The Toymaker a man that treats the universe like a game board and can turn reality upside down was afraid of something that is even more powerful than just what is it

He loves the red heads " Wink "

I am convinced after watching this amazing performance alone that Neil Patrick Harris would make an amazing Mr Myxzpltk (5th dimensional imp/Superman villain). Everything about his performance as the Toymaker just exudes Mr Myxzpltk's character, fun and omnipotent power especially with the reality wrapping mixed with Neil's charisma

The specials were so much fun to watch - kudos to everyone involved.

0:56 While I’m probably wrong, I really want this to be Omega. I believe the theory that the “Could have been king” is Omega, and the creatures featured in the second special, definitely fit the description of the creature in his army, the “Never were’s” is a fitting name.

I love that he yells Donna's name and she's like "I'm already running!!!"

I find it hilarious when the Toymaker basically referenced & made fun of modern society “That’s the game of the 21st Century, they shout and they type and they cancel.”

A Scotsman and an American both putting on English accents for this scene 😅

"Everybody wins and everybody loses". That was brilliant. And so very Toymaker.

1:17 How exact is this scene on how people act on the internet today. Maybe Social Media is the Toymaker's greatest threat to us all.

great scene, love the "the one who waits" mention, and watching this according to the subtitles (the toymakers says "i saw hiding and i ran" ,it's at 1:00) that i didn't pick up when watching the full episode the one who waits is an it, so i think that it's some kind of creature or entity, not a person. i hope that dr who puts the scene before this on youtube (the puppet show), that was great and loved when the toymaker said "well that's alright then". hope the toymaker comes back at some point (not as much as the daleks, cybermen or master, more like the ood or davos etc., the ones that make two or three appearances every so often)

That No!! For Shame. From the toymaker makes me laugh constantly. The delivery and facial expressions really sells it.

"The one who's waits?" The Valeyard

The only phrase to make this better "Challenge accepted"

So, nobody saw that little thing on 0:40 that talks about the Master and after that at the end of the special, a hand took that tooth 🤔

0:33 While this is likey a hyperbole, I have a few idea on who he means by “God” if this isn’t a hyperbole: -The Grace, Great old ones who exist in a state of non-existence outside of time and space, although I highly doubt it is them as they seem to be too powerful for the Toymaker. But then again, he did later mention in this episode that he already bested the guardians of time, their agents, so who knows maybe he did beat them? -The miracle worker who appeared in the Torchwood show and claimed to be God -The Creator from “People to the Power”(a Doctor who comic),in that comic God himself appears or ateast Doctor who’s verison, God(in that story)created the universe for his equivalent of a science project, and he himself is not unique entity but instead a member of a species. While it’s unlikely that this comic is canon, the “God” who appears, does share many similarities to the Grace. -The counterpart to the Beast, this is just an idea but since the beast is a great old one, it possible that like he inspired all the legends of the devil, there may be a counterpart to him who inspired the idea of God/gods, maybe he’s the light that the disciples of the light follow.

Love it when an enemy has rules it has to abide by but still be very powerful, so the doctor can be terrified but still be able to work out how to outsmart him. And not too complex. He's binded by the rules of the game. Simple and effective writing people instantly understand. No gibberish explanation from Jodie that makes no sense unless you watch it 5 times.

That "I'm already running!" Is the best part honestly~

I am rewatching this scene and MY GOD Niel can play! In 2:38 he is showing A LOT of emotions. First, when Tennant says in 2:38 "I won a game" and Niel Patric was showing confusion. Then anger And then in 2:48 "Best of Three" he is showing worriyng and disgust. In 2:51 he had shown hate, regret, and then "idea pop-up" in a fraction of second! What an EMOTION TOYMAKER

The two games we got were cutting cards, and bloody catch. Nothing like the scary and intricate games the first time we met the Toymaker.

I like how offended The Toymaker gets when Donna accuses him of cheating. He may be a sore loser, but he would never undermine his own games. That's his personal game, creating situations and rules that best his opponents fair and square. For what good is a victory made with fixed rules? And besides, fixed games are the easiest ones to beat.

I have only just found out that NPH is an accomplished magician and actually did the card tricks himself. Amazing.

“The one who waits.” Who is that? Who the one that the Toymaker fears?

If Doctor Who had Star Trek's Q... Seriously, the Toymaker gives me Q vibes throughout the episode. For those that don't know: Q is a recurring character in Star Trek The Next Generation. He originally claims he's there to put humanity on trial, but he mainly just enjoys messing with the crew. Like the Toymaker Q is a near omnipotent being that subverts reality because he's feeling like it. He uses this power to create twisted little games for the crew. I kinda hope Doctor Who will treat the Toymaker similarly to how Trek uses Q. Have him show up on occasion to mess with the Doctor. Because I don't wanna wait another 57 years for more wild games.

I think the Doctor drawing the 8 of clubs wasn't at random, it actually foreshadowed the ending of the episode through its meaning! In cartomancy and other aspects, the 8 of clubs basically represents the arrival of a turning point in a person's life, and encourages the strength and wisdom to follow the path to self discovery that comes from it. There are better descriptions online, these are just my words, but if you knew that beforehand, you could tell later that it related to the bigeneration and the Doctor deciding to finally stop and fix himself, the result of which being the next Doctor. It's a really clever detail!

1:00 would the toymaker ever really tell the doctor he has a weakness?

Great scene. I hope they eventually drop the whole scene from the beginning, on this channel. But, this moment is awesome, and sets up for another big villain. NPH really shined here, and not just because of his Master golden tooth.

0:35 Was the Toymaker responsible for the Timeless Children backstory? The Spy Master could've been the Toymaker all along He had the Master locked up in his tooth. Imagine Missy begging after she was shot by the other Master. Then all the masters/mistress laughing at the end as the lady picked up the ring.

I feel like this is one of the best antagonist monologues I have seen in a while. I keep coming back to this scene for that. NPH really sold the role.

i like how if a character has a sort of gimmick they actually embrace it. like how the toymaker likes making reality into a game for his own fun. but more than that he actually enjoys games and has a code about playing games. yeah sure they say his existence is binded to the rules of the games, but at the same time they show how the toymaker is actually enraptured by play and he seems genuinely offended when donna says that he'll cheat

Loved this!

Great episode, Toymaker was really incredible

This made me want to rewatch A Series of Unfortunate Events

I love the “No! Shame.” part so much lmao

We need a full clip of the spice up your life part 😂

Can everyone just take a second to take in that there was one individual that scared the Toymaker and made him run? “The one who waits.”

"The one who waits, is almost here"

I'd totally forgotten the Toymaker had mentioned 'The one who waits' oh my god I feel so stupid now

Toymaker is awesome, Neil Patrick Harris played the role perfectly

“The one who waits” I would love if it turned out to be the Valeyard 😮

"WELL THAT'S ALRIGHT THEN"

What yours guesses about the “one who waits” the Toymaker mentioned? If I had to pick one villain, then I would probably say Sutekh, it’s that or some other godly villain.