| The Tinker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Planet of Origin: | Unknown |
| Species | Immortal |
| Gender: | Unknown |
| Appears In: | The Transcendental Tinker, Scriggle |
| Portrayed By: | Donald Pleasence, Rhys Darby |
Talk Page 
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The Tinker, also known as the Transcendental Tinker, was a powerful and mysterious entity who, according to the First Inspector, was the "embodiment of the spirit of invention" (he was later confirmed to be one of the Immortals). He was portrayed by English actor Donald Pleasence in Season 3 and New Zealand actor Rhys Darby in the 2022 specials.
"The Transcendental Tinker"[]
The Tinker would habitually steal the technology of sentient beings all over the Universe, apparently out of childlike curiosity. For reasons known only to himself, he preferred to manifest as a bald, middle-aged Caucasian male human dressed as a Soho nightclub emcee.
When the Tinker steals some highly restricted Infinity Knight devices from Kayaclasch's Black Museum, the Inspector and his associates raid his realm—called "the Transcendental Testing-chamber"—to recover them. The seemingly ingenuous Tinker is reluctant to relinquish his new prizes, even though the risks from his tendency to break things while experimenting would be catastrophic for the spacetime continuum. Instead, he insists his "guests" fix assorted bizarre alien gadgets he has accumulated, which proves unexpectedly hazardous. Although the Inspector is, by his own admission, "not much of a boffin", he eventually deduces that the devices have been booby-trapped by the mischievous Immortal and manages to use them against him.
In the final scene, as the heroes leave with the recovered Kayaclaschian equipment, the Tinker swears he will have his revenge the next time they meet (although he would in fact never appear again in the classic series).
Sriggle (The Sixtieth Anniversary Specials)[]
The new incarnation of the Tinker
The Tinker would return, in a younger incarnation, to menace the Inspector, returning associate Mona Virtue, and EXOPOL London Branch leader Kurt Leith.
Trivia[]
- According to Anthony Bonham Pease, the Tinker was intended to be revealed as a member of the Inspector's own people, like the Friar who had preceded him on the programme, but this detail was lost during the unusually frantic rewrites by two different production teams while the serial was shooting.
- Competing creator rights claims between these two production teams also prevented the Tinker from becoming a recurring antagonist (and, rumour has it, the reason this serial is among the missing ones).