The British science fiction television series Doctor Who is often labeled as the “most successful” science-fiction series of all time thanks to its talented cast and entertaining story. However, there was one issue in the series: the villain Toymaker. The recurring character first made an appearance in The Celestial Toymaker, the seventh serial of season 3 of Doctor Who. The portrayal of the character was considered racially insensitive and has been criticized for being offensive.
Writer Russell T Davies, who wrote the 2023 specials of Doctor Who recently acknowledged this, explaining that there was not much awareness back then, resulting in poor portrayal of the character. The writer assured that the problem has been tackled as actor Neil Patrick Harris’ iteration is much more refined.
Russell T Davies acknowledged the controversy surrounding Neil Patrick Harris’ character in Doctor Who
The Toymaker, also known as the Celestial Toymaker, was first introduced in the seventh serial of season 3 of Doctor Who, The Celestial Toymaker. The character returned roughly 60 years later in the third 60th-anniversary special and as per the writer Russell T Davies, the character has now changed (via TheDirect),
“It is said, and I understand this, that there was a history of racism with the original Toymaker, the Celestial Toymaker, who had celestial… And I did not know this, but ‘celestial’ can mean of Chinese origin, in a derogatory way – It also means from the sky. But it can also mean Chinese, and in a kind of imperial way, in a British Empire sort of way. And there’s a lot of debate about why was the original Toymaker, who was a white man, dressed up as a Chinese Mandarin? Why? And that’s not the actor’s fault. I’m not blaming the actor at all. He was just… I don’t know how much of that was unconscious at the time.”
This time, actor Neil Patrick Harris plays the character in the third and final of the 2023 60th anniversary specials, The Giggle, of Doctor Who. As years passed, the character was brought into the spotlight for being problematic. Fans mainly pointed out that it was racially insensitive for a white man to dress up as a Chinese Mandarin.
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Toymaker’s controversy is the reason why the character returned
Russell T Davies further explained that he planned to bring back the character mainly because of its controversy, adding that it would’ve been ignorant of them if they didn’t acknowledge it,
“I think you have to do it, because I can absolutely guarantee you, on transmission, people will pipe up, saying, in 1966, this was a racist character. And if we haven’t acknowledged that in some way, we look ignorant, I’m very, very aware of it, and it’s baked into him and that’s part of the reason bringing him back. He’s a villain, of course, he’s going to do terrible things, and that’s one of them. I did not want to whitewash the Toymaker then, so I gave him this side of putting on accents. He’s a murderer. He’s a mass murderer. So, I like the fact there’s that very slight thin thread of him playing with race, playing with voices, playing with accents, using it as an attack.”
This iteration of the character was loved by the fans and was certainly an upgrade from actor Michael Gough’s portrayal. Based on its overall broadcast ratings, Doctor Who is one of the best science fiction television series of all time, earning various prestigious awards. The trilogy of special episodes that aired to celebrate the program’s 60th anniversary was broadcast from 25 November to 9 December 2023 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and Ireland and on Disney+ internationally.
