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The Nightmare Fair was an unproduced TV story for the original Season 23, before it was put on hiatus.
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The Nightmare Fairfor other, similarly-named pages.
It would have featured the return of Michael Gough as the Celestial Toymaker, as well as revealing the Toymaker's previously unexplained origins. The story would have followed straight from the previous season's concluding two-parter, Revelation of the Daleks.
It was later adapted into a Target novelisation of the same name, with both the novelisation and script used for the Big Finish audio adventure adaptation.
Plot set-up
The main villain would have been the Celestial Toymaker, whose actor, Michael Gough, had been convinced to return.
The story would have continued straight from Revelation of the Daleks, where the Doctor said to Peri "All right, I'll take you to—" The ending of part two would have revealed the destination as "Blackpool", but in the finished version a freeze-frame occurred at this point, leaving the name unspoken.
The idea had come to John Nathan-Turner to set the story in Blackpool when Colin Baker opened a ride there called "Space Mountain". The story would also have been set partially there, with the Celestial Toymaker making strange things happen.
Peri would have been attacked by robot miners in a gold mine adventure ride. The Doctor would have been forced to play a video game whose outcome would decide the fate of the planet.
By the end, the Toymaker would be defeated, and the Doctor and Peri would continue their holiday in Blackpool. (DOC: The Lost Season)
Legacy
The story was later adapted into the Target Missing Episodes lost story, and would also receive a Big Finish Productions audio adaptation. Michael Gough had by this time long since retired from the acting profession, so the part of the Toymaker was recast with David Bailie.