Lost Doctor Who Episodes Recovered Thanks To Animation
For a show that’s been such a pop culture phenomenon in the U.K. (and to a lesser degree here in the States) for decades and decades, it’s tragic that many of Doctor Who’s early episodes have been lost to history, or even outright destroyed.
So when a thought-lost Doctor Who episode is resurrected, in full or in part, it’s big news for Whovians. Fans of the franchise have seen some of these episodes brought back over the years, offering at least of glimpse of what would have played out in the live-action version.
First up for these Doctor Who animated episodes is “The Ice Warriors,” originally broadcast in 1967 and starring Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor. You can see one of the early work-in-progress episodes from animation studio Qurios:
Two of the Doctor Who serial’s four parts were lost, but they’re being resurrected in animated form, and using the original audio tracks, which were thankfully still accounted for.
As you might guess from the title, the Doctor Who serial marked the first appearance of the classic Who villain the Ice Warriors. If you’ve been paying attention to GFR lately, you probably already know that the Ice Warriors are returning to Who in an episode later this spring, so this will be a very cool opportunity for fans to look back at the Ice Warriors’ first appearance.
The other lost Doctor Who episode being recreated is just as cool. The fourth episode of The Tenth Planet, which originally aired in 1966, was lost sometime in the 1970s, with the only surviving clip being a brief one of First Doctor William Hartnell regenerating into Second Doctor Patrick Troughton.
Given that it’s the first occurrence of the Doctor regenerating, it’s a huge Who landmark. As with The Ice Warriors, the lost episode of The Tenth Planet is being recreated in animated form, this one by the folks at Planet 55 Studios. You can take a look at the animated version of Hartnell’s regeneration below:
The restored version of The Ice Warriors and The Tenth Planet came out on DVD in 2013.
It’s a beautiful thing that the BBC embraced animation as a way to effectively “recover” the lost episodes from the 1960s by reconstructing them visually. By using the original Doctor Who audio components and production materials, fans can still experience these missing Doctor Who stories. When it comes to this franchise, the more the better.
