The First Doctor story The Savages has been animated and will be released next year.

The four-part series, first broadcast between May and June 1966, will return as an animated series to be released on DVD, Blu-ray and a limited-edition Blu-ray Steelbook next spring.

With the original master recording lost, as many of these television episodes where historically wiped after transmission, the BBC Studios Home Entertainment teams worked with original audio recordings and soundtracks of all four episodes and a team of animators to bring back to fans this long-lost story arc.

In this early story, the Doctor (William Hartnell) and his travelling companions, Steven (Peter Purves) and Dodo (Jackie Lane), arrive on an unnamed planet where they encounter two distinct people - the Elders and the Savages. They soon discover the Elders are the evil ones, draining the primitive Savages for their life source to remain young and powerful forever. This story marks the final appearance of Purves as Steven.

This three-disc release will include all four 25-minutes animated episodes in colour and black and white, as well as exclusive bonus features.

Paul Hembury, Executive Producer commented:

The story is available for pre-order on Amazon

THE SAVAGES RETURNS

In addition, BBC Studios Home Entertainment will release the new colourisation of The War Games. Originally aired in 1969, The War Games marked the end of an era for the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton), following him and his companions Zoe and Jamie as they land in a battlefield that appears to be a World War I military zone – but all is not as it seems. They soon discover that soldiers from different historical periods have been abducted and are being manipulated in a cruel game. As they work to uncover the mystery behind the War Lord and his twisted experiments, the Doctor faces one of his most difficult challenges.

For the first time, these original episodes have been meticulously colourised and enhanced with updated visual effects edited into a new, 90-minute feature-length experience to appeal to today’s modern audiences. With updated sound and a new score, this newly updated version of The War Games offers both fans and newcomers even more ways to watch the much-loved classic story. This title will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and limited-edition Blu-ray Steelbook and will air on BBC will air on 23 December 2024 on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer.

Doctor Who Village of the Angels was watched by 3.45 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.

The figure is a slight drop from last week's episode. Top for the evening was I'm A Celebrity on ITV1 with 8.03 million watching.

The seven-day consolidated figure, which includes all those who watch the episode within one week. for Episode Three: Once, Upon Time was 4.67 million. This is the lowest seven-day consolidated rating since the series returned in 2005.

However, In terms of chart position, Doctor Who is still performing strongly. It was the 6th most-watched programme on BBC Television for the week and the 19th most-watched on all British television.

Doctor Who returns this weekend for the fourth chapter in the Flux series, Village of the Angels

The episode is written by showrunner Chris Chibnall along with Maxine Alderton, who wrote last year's The Haunting Of Villa Diodati

It is directed by Jamie Magnus Stone who directed the first two episodes of this season.. 

It stars Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor alongside Mandip Gill as Yasmin and John Bishop as Dan. 

The episode can be seen in the UK on BBC One at 6.20 pm on Sunday. Full global broadcasts are listed at This Week in Doctor Who

It can be streamed on the BBC iPlayer, on Netflix, on Amazon Prime and Britbox depending on location. 

Once, Upon Time: Flux: Chapter Three achieved an Audience Appreciation Index score of 75.

The Appreciation Index or AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the programme. The score, out of a hundred, is compiled by a specially selected panel of around 5,000 people who go online and rate and comment on programmes.

Range-wise, a figure of 60 is considered poor with 85 as excellent, so in context 75 sits firmly between those two views; however it is the lowest received by the series since its return in 2005.

The average for Flux at its halfway point is 76.

Doctor Who Once, Upon Time was watched by 3.76 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.

The figure is a slight drop from last week's episode.

The seven-day consolidated figure, which includes all those who watch the episode within one week. for the War of The Sontarans was 5.10 million.

This made Doctor Who the 13th most-watched programme on British television for the week ending 7th November

Doctor Who returns this weekend for the third chapter in the Flux series, Once, Upon Time

The episode is directed by Azhur Saleem making his Doctor Who debut. 

It stars Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor alongside Mandip Gill as Yasmin and John Bishop as Dan. 

The episode can be seen in the UK on BBC One at 6.30 pm on Sunday. Full global broadcasts are listed at This Week in Doctor Who

It can be streamed on the BBC iPlayer, on Netflix, on Amazon Prime and Britbox depending on location. 

War of The Sontarans: Flux: Chapter Two had an Audience Appreciation Index score of 77.

The Appreciation Index or AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the programme. The score, out of a hundred, is compiled by a specially selected panel of around 5,000 people who go online and rate and comment on programmes.

The figure is up a percentile on the 76 received by the series opener last week, indicating a higher appreciation amongst the programme commentators.

Doctor Who returns this weekend for the second chapter in the Flux series, War of the Sontarans

The episode sees the return of the Sontarans, first seen in the 1974 story The Time Warrior. The warriors, created by Robert Holmes, have returned many times to battle The Doctor, most recently in the 2008 story The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky. 

In the episode, the Doctor teams up with Mary Seacole, played by Sara Powell. Seacole was a British-Jamaican, healer, and businesswoman who set up the so-called British Hotel behind the lines during the Crimean War. 

The episode can be seen in the UK on BBC One at 6.15 pm on Sunday. Full global broadcasts are listed at This Week in Doctor Who

It can be streamed on the BBC iPlayer on Netflix, on Amazon Prime and Britbox depending on location. 

The Halloween Apocalypse: Flux: Chapter One had an Audience Appreciation Index score of 76.

The Appreciation Index or AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the programme. The score, out of a hundred, is compiled by a specially selected panel of around 5,000 people who go online and rate and comment on programmes.

The previous series opener, Spyfall: Part One  (New Year's Day 2020) achieved a score of 82, whilst the most recent episode, New Year's Day adventure Revolution of the Daleks, achieved a score of 79. The thirteenth Doctor's era as a whole has a a current average score of 80.

The score of 76 is the lowest achieved for the series since Love & Monsters in 2006.

Doctor Who The Halloween Apocalypse has an unofficial overnight viewing figure of 4.43 million viewers. 

The overnight viewing figure is slightly down on last season's opening episode Skyfall, but higher than the majority of series 12 episodes.