As we approach the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who, revisit the story of Doctor Who, the occasional series written for the 50th Anniversary, explaining the origins of the programme.

Episode 7 - An Unearthly Series - The Origins of a TV Legend: First published 31 Jan 2013

Doctor Who: Chronicles – 1967Bookmark and Share

Thursday, 16 June 2022 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: Chronicles – 1967 (Credit: Panini)

Doctor Who: Chronicles – 1967 is the fifth issue in a lavish series of bookazines from the makers of Doctor Who Magazine.

Having recently made his debut as the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton really made the role his own in 1967. However, Doctor Who’s newfound stability was soon threatened by behind-the-scenes changes.

As Dalek creator Terry Nation withdrew the rights to use the programme’s most notorious villains, the search began to find new monsters that could fill the gap. This prompted an unforgettable run of stories, including The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Abominable Snowmen and The Ice Warriors.

In this 116-page bookazine, all-new features and rarely seen images tell the story of a year that produced some of Doctor Who’s best-loved episodes. 

Contents include articles on:

  • The year’s most significant events in the Doctor Who universe (both on and off screen)

  • Doctor Who in the popular press

  • The Dr Who Annual 

  • Special effects and production techniques

  • Wall’s Dr Who Sky Ray cards and album

  • The Highlanders, The Underwater Menace, The Moonbase, The Macra Terror, The Faceless Ones, The Evil of the Daleks, The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Abominable Snowmen and The Ice Warriors

  • … and much more!

Doctor Who: Chronicles – 1967 is on sale from Thursday 16 June, RRP just £9.99 from panini.co.uk and selected branches of WH Smith while stocks last.

It’s also available digitally from pocketmags.com priced £8.99.

 




FILTER: - DWM - Second Doctor - Season 5

The Abominable Snowmen to be AnimatedBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 23 November 2021 - Reported by Marcus
The Abominable Snowmen (Credit: BBC Studios)

The BBC has announced that an animated version of the 1967 story The Abominable Snowmen will be released next year. 

The story stars Patrick TroughtonJack WatlingFrazer Hines and Deborah Watling. Originally shown between  30th September 1967 - Saturday 4th November 1967. it was the second story of Season 5 and features the Doctor's first encounter with the Yeti and the Great Intelligence. 

Most of the six-part story is missing from the BBC Archives, with only episode two still existing. 

The release gives fans the opportunity to enjoy the six new fully animated presentations of this lost story, which will be released alongside the one surviving segment episode two.

Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen follows the Doctor as he returns to the Himalayas 300 years after his first visit to the Holy Ganta, an ancient relic he was given many centuries ago by the grateful monks at Det-Sen Monastery. On arriving, the Doctor is blamed for a series of brutal murders in the area, however companions Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield discover the true culprits – the previously peaceful Yeti that live in seclusion on the mountainside have apparently turned violent.

The Doctor must convince the monks that not only is he not their enemy, but the real foe is living amongst them. Their ancient Master, Padmasambhava, is being controlled by an alien entity known only as the Great Intelligence.

Russell Minton, Executive Producer of The Abominable Snowmen, said:

We’re delighted to announce Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen, something Doctor Who fans have been waiting patiently for over the years. We’re grateful for the surviving audio-only recordings, which we are very lucky to have courtesy of several Doctor Who fans, which have allowed us to create another exciting and action-packed chapter in the Doctor’s story.

Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen is available to order from Amazon,

 




FILTER: - DVD/blu-ray - Season 5 - Second Doctor

The Evil of the Daleks - New ReleaseBookmark and Share

Thursday, 1 July 2021 - Reported by Marcus
Evil of the Daleks (Credit: BBC Studios)

BBC Studios have announced that the second Doctor story, The Evil of the Daleks is to be released as an animated special edition on 27th September 2021.

Today's announcement comes on the 54th anniversary of the broadcast of the last episode of the original version which brought an end to the 4th season of Doctor Who. 

The Evil of the Daleks is the mostly-missing ninth and final serial of the fourth season of Doctor Who, which originally aired in seven weekly parts from 20th May to 1st July 1967. 

The Evil of the  Daleks (Credit: BBC Studios)Following the success of the existing animations, The Evil of the Daleks fills another gap in the missing Doctor Who content lost in the purge of the BBC archive soon after the programme’s original transmission. However, audio-only recordings of all seven episodes have survived and have been used here to create a brand new fully animated presentation of this lost classic, featuring the original surviving second episode.

The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) stars alongside his travel companion Jamie (Frazer Hines). The story unfolds as the Doctor and Jamie set out to find the missing time machine, bringing them face to face with a very old enemy - the Daleks, who have a new masterplan to conquer the universe. The Daleks force the Doctor to help them on their quest to ‘humanise’ themselves into deadlier living weapons.

This particular story is notable for introducing the Doctor’s new companion Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling), first seen in the surviving second episode, and also for presenting the Dalek Emperor.

The three-disc release gives fans the opportunity to enjoy The Evil of the Daleks, available in either colour or black and white. The release will include:

  • Remastered Surviving Original Episode 2
  • ​Telesnap Reconstructions – 6 episodes
  • Audio Commentaries 
  • Audiobook, with a recorded commentary by Tom Baker
  • Making Of
  • Photo Gallery

Anne Marie Walsh, Director of the 2021 production said

It's been a privilege to work on this fantastic story with such a brilliant team - thanks to the fans for supporting our work, I hope you all enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it!” 

 

The new animated release will be available on DVD, Blu-ray and a Limited Edition Blu-ray Steelbook from 27th September 2021. Pre-orders are available now from Amazon
 
 




FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Second Doctor - Season 4

The Ice Warriors - Vinyl ReleaseBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 13 April 2021 - Reported by Marcus
The Ice Warriors (Credit: Demon Records / BBC)

The BBC is to release the Soundtrack from the Second Doctor Story The Ice Warriors as a vinyl disc

Demon Records is releasing the narrated TV soundtrack of the partially ‘lost’ six-part adventure set in a future Ice Age, starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor. 

The Doctor and his friends land on Earth in the future, and find it in the grip of a new Ice Age. They join a team of scientists struggling to hold back the huge glaciers that threaten all human life. A giant creature is discovered inside the ice and quickly comes to monstrous life – it’s an Ice Warriors from Mars! It intends to find its crashed spaceship, where a whole crew of Warriors is waiting to be revived…  

Presented across a trio of 140g Molten Ice vinyl discs, this 1967 TV soundtrack – only four episodes of which survive as film recordings - is narrated by Frazer Hines, who co-stars as the Doctor’s companion Jamie, with Deborah Watling as Victoria.

The guest cast includes Bernard Bresslaw as the Ice Warrior Varga, Peter Barkworth as Leader Clent, and Peter Sallis as Penley. Incidental music is by Dudley Simpson, and the familiar strains of the Doctor Who theme are courtesy of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

The coloured LPs are presented in fully illustrated sleeves which, when assembled together, form the cover image. Original episode billings, and full cast and credits, are included.

The discs will be released on the 4th June. 

Amazon Link

 

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FILTER: - Vinyl - Second Doctor

Fury From The Deep - Artwork and FeaturesBookmark and Share

Monday, 3 August 2020 - Reported by Marcus


Fury From The Deep - Artwork Fury From The Deep (Credit: BBC Studios)BBC Studios have revealed the artwork and extras for Doctor Who: Fury From The Deep

 

Starring Patrick Troughton as The Doctor, the new animated release will be available on DVD, Blu-ray and Steelbook from 14th September 2020.

Pre-orders are available now from Amazon.

Following the success of existing animations The Power of the DaleksThe Faceless Ones, Shada and The Macra TerrorFury From The Deep fills another gap in missing Doctor Who content lost in the purge of the BBC’s archive in 1975.   

The three-disc release gives fans the opportunity to enjoy Fury From The Deep in high definition, either in full colour or in black & white. The release will include the surviving clips from the original 1968 production as well.

Fury From The Deep is told across six episodes and stars Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling. The storyline concerns a colony of sentient, parasitic seaweed, last seen in the eighteenth century, returning to attack a number of gas instillations in the North Sea in an attempt to take over humanity.

Animated episodes from Big Finish Creative Limited in association with Digitoonz Media & Entertainment and Thaumaturgy are joined by a wealth of extras.

A making-of featurette ‘The Cruel Sea - Surviving Fury From The Deep’ sees original cast members Frazer Hines, June Murphy and Brian Cullingford revisit filming locations with production assistant Michael Briant, assistant floor manager Margot Hayhoe and helicopter pilot Mike Smith. 

Other contributors to this segment include writer Victor Pemberton and actress Deborah Watling. There’s also an archive audio interview with director Hugh David.

 

Additional material includes: 

·         Audio commentaries

·         The Cruel Sea – Surviving Fury From The Deep

·         Original surviving footage

·         Behind The Scenes 8mm footage

·         Animating Fury From The Deep

·         Archive interviews with Peter Day and Victor Pemberton

·         Teaser Trailer

·         Photo Gallery

·         The Slide Audio Drama

·         PDF scripts

RRP:

DVD – £20.42 / Blu-Ray - £25.52 / Blu-Ray Steelbook - £40.84

 

Fury From The Deep - Artwork Fury From The Deep (Credit: BBC Studios)





FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Season 5 - Second Doctor

Doctor Who: The Power Of The Daleks – Special EditionBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 28 April 2020 - Reported by Marcus
The Power Of The Daleks - Special Edition (Credit: BBC Studios) The Power Of The Daleks - Special Edition (Credit: BBC Studios) BBC Studios have announced a Special Edition of the animated story The Power of the Daleks will be released on 6th July 2020.

An updated version of Patrick Troughton’s first story as the Second Doctor will be available on both DVD and Blu-ray

While no complete film recordings of The Power of the Daleks are known to have survived the purge of the BBC’s archive in 1975, fresh animation in high definition breathes new life into this much-loved story.

The six animated episodes replace the 2016 physical and digital release, with new and improved animation and authentic black and white visuals. The latest release also showcases a vast array of exciting new special features, in addition to all of the VAM on the 2016 release.

New additional material includes:
  • Two new documentaries about Power of the Daleks
  • 1993 BBC audio version of The Power of the Daleks narrated by Tom Baker
  • Raw incidental music
  • Photogrammetry Featurette
  • Whicker's World - I Don't Like My Monsters to Have Oedipus Complexes
  • Daleks - The Early Years: A 1992 documentary presented by Peter Davison
  • Robin Hood - 1953 Episode: Patrick Troughton’s earliest surviving TV appearance
  • BBC archive footage from BBC regional news, BBC Breakfast, Blue Peter and Newsnight
  • Previously unreleased animation trailers and animatics
  • Easter Eggs
And old favourites including:
  • Audio commentaries by Anneke Wills on each episode
  • Animation test footage
  • Photo Gallery, including previously unreleased and rediscovered full colour on-set photos from 1966.
  • Servants & Masters - The Making of The Power of the Daleks
You can pre-order the release from Amazon UK on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Update: the press release erroneously listed The Highlanders as an extra, but it has now been confirmed that this was originally planned as an audio track but couldn't included owing to space limitations.




FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Second Doctor

Doctor Who The Faceless Ones AnimationBookmark and Share

Friday, 7 February 2020 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who The Faceless Ones Animation (Credit: BBC Studios)The BBC has released more details about the March release of the Doctor Who missing serial The Faceless Ones.

The story will be released on DVD, Blu-Ray and SteelBook on 16th March 2020 and is now available to pre-order now from Amazon.

The Faceless Ones is the mostly missing eighth serial of the fourth season of Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from April to May 1967. Starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, the story concerns a sinister race of identity-stealing aliens known as the Chameleons.

Only two of the six episodes are held in the BBC film archives with snippets of footage and still images existing from the other four. Fortunately, off-air recordings of the soundtrack also still exist, making the animation of a complete serial possible once again.

The six new animated episodes are being made in full colour and high definition and will include the following exclusive special features:
  • Photographic reconstruction of the story, including surviving footage of episodes 1 & 3
  • Audio commentary on episodes 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6
  • ‘Making of the animated series’
  • Camera script PDF’s
  • Surviving film fragments from the story
  • x5 ‘Easter Egg’ surprises
  • Coming Soon Fury from the Deep trailer




FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Season 4 - Second Doctor

Fury From The Deep animated teaser releasedBookmark and Share

Sunday, 27 October 2019 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Fury From The Deep - Steelbook (artwork tbc) (Credit: BBC Studios)BBC Studios have announced that the next missing Patrick Troughton story to receive the animated treatment will be Fury From The Deep, the penultimate adventure from the fifth season which features the departure of travelling companion Victoria.

The release was announced on the Animations Panel at this weekend's London Comic Con, and as well as all six missing episodes being animated in high definition in both colour and black and white it will also include the surviving clips from the serial, a new Making-Of, and other features still be be announced.

The story is due to be relesed on DVD and Blu-ray (including as a steelbook edition) during 2020, following on from The Faceless Ones, which was announced earlier this year, also for 2020.






FILTER: - Animation - BBC - Blu-ray/DVD - Missing episodes - Second Doctor

The Faceless Ones - New Animated ReleaseBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 4 June 2019 - Reported by Marcus
Faceless Ones (Credit: BBC Studios)
BBC Studios has announced that The Faceless Ones will be the next animated Doctor Who release.

The release follows the success of The Power of the Daleks, Shada and The Macra Terror. The Faceless Ones will be released on DVD, Blu-Ray and as an exclusive steelbook next year.

The Faceless Ones is the mostly missing eighth serial of the fourth season in Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from April to May 1967. Starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, the story concerns a race of identity-stealing aliens known as the Chameleons.

The story is the last to feature Michael Craze as Ben and Anneke Wills as Polly.

Only two of the six episodes are held in the BBC film archives with snippets of footage and still images existing from the other four. Off-air recordings of the soundtrack also still exist, making the animation of a complete serial possible once again.

The six new animated episodes are being made in full colour and high definition and will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2020. The DVD/Blu-ray release will also include surviving archive material from the original 1967 production.

The Faceless Ones is available for preorder as Blu-Ray, DVD and Steelbook.





FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Classic Series - Second Doctor

The Macra Terror Cover Art and ExtrasBookmark and Share

Monday, 4 March 2019 - Reported by Marcus
The Macra Terror (Credit: BBC Studios)The cover art and special features of the animated version of the missing Doctor Who adventure The Macra Terror, releasing on DVD, Blu-ray, special edition Steelbook and digital download on 25th March 2019, have been revealed.

Originally broadcast in four weekly parts from 11th March to 1st April 1967, and starring Patrick Troughton, Anneke Wills, Michael Craze and Frazer Hines, no full episodes of this serial are known to have survived on film. Fortunately for fans, a complete audio recording of all four parts still exists. Now, 52 years later, the four episodes will be brought back to life through the power of animation, available on disc and digital download, in both colour and black and white, from 25th March 2019.

Anneke Wills says,
Back in 1967 “There's no such thing as Macra!” was the cry; and for many years after there was no such thing as “The Macra Terror”. Now, thanks to the magic of animation, we can see the story come to life again. I can't wait to see this adventure and how gratifying to have a little more of Ben and Polly’s time with the Doctor available to be seen by new generations.
The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his companions arrive on a human colony in the far flung future. The colony appears to be a giant recreational complex - a holiday camp for rest and relaxation. Everyone looks happy and carefree but all is not as it seems. The colony has been infiltrated and brainwashed by a race of giant parasitic crab creatures called the Macra.

The Macra have only returned once since, 40 years later, coming face to face with the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) in the 2007 episode Gridlock.

Paul Hembury, Executive Producer, BBC Studios says,
After the success of Shada, we were very excited by the possibility of further animations. We are therefore delighted to be able to bring fans these missing episodes in a completely new form.
Special features for the DVD and Blu-ray release include:
  • Audio Commentary: Toby Hadoke presents an audio commentary track on all four episodes of ‘The Macra Terror’, featuring cast and crew from the original 1967 production - Frazer Hines (Jamie), Terence Lodge (Medok), Anthony Gardner (Alvis), Maureen Lane (Majorette) and director, John Davies. Commentary produced by John Kelly and recorded in London on 4th January 2019.
  • Episode Reconstructions: Surviving film frames, fragments of existing footage and set photographs are brought together with the original unedited audio to reconstruct a presentation of the original now lost live-action production of ‘The Macra Terror’, as seen by viewers of BBC 1 in 1967. Produced by Derek Handley. Available to watch with or without an optional narration track read by Anneke Wills.
  • Bonus Mini-Episode: A ten-minute animated short, built around an otherwise lost Doctor Who episode from 1968 starring Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines. Directed by AnneMarie Walsh.
  • Animation Test: Prior to the project being formally commissioned, this short animation test (of a scene from episode 3 of ‘The Macra Terror’) was produced in March 2018, to investigate the feasibility of mounting the production in full.
  • Animatics: A selection of scenes showing how the new animated production of ‘The Macra Terror’ went from initial storyboards to final animation. Storyboard art by Adrian Salmon.
  • Animation Gallery: A gallery of artwork from the development, pre-production and animation of the new animated version of ‘The Macra Terror’, including character art from Martin Geraghty and background paintings from Graham Bleathman, Colin Howard and Lydia Butz.
  • Teaser Trailer: A short teaser trailer animated by Rob Ritchie, produced to promote the announcement of a new production of ‘The Macra Terror’ in December 2018.
  • Alternative Black and White presentation: The full four-part animation is also available to view in an alternative black and white format on disc 2.
  • 1992 Audio Presentation: In 1992, the BBC Audio Collection released ‘The Macra Terror’ on audio cassette, in a special release narrated by Colin Baker. It was the first time that the story had been made commercially available by the BBC and that audio-only release is included here in full. Surviving Footage: Less than two minutes of original footage still exist from the 1967 production of ‘The Macra Terror’. These film fragments have been painstakingly restored and digitally remastered for this release, with considerable improvements made to the overall picture quality and resolution of this unique footage. Film restoration by Peter Crocker.
  • Behind the scenes film: In 1967, during pre-production of ‘The Macra Terror’, film cameras visited the visual effects workshop in Uxbridge where work was underway on construction of the Macra props. Special effects props and models from other Doctor Who stories can also be seen in the workshop, including parts of a Cyberman from ‘The Tenth Planet’ (1966) and an aeroplane from ‘The Faceless Ones’ (1967). This footage is accompanied by a new audio commentary track from Doctor Who visual effects designer and BBC visual effects historian, Mike Tucker, explaining some of the effects techniques and props featured in the film.
  • Censored Scene: A reconstruction of a scene from episode 2 of ‘The Macra Terror’ that was heavily re-edited by censors for the episode’s Australian television transmission in November 1967.
  • Title sequences: ‘The Macra Terror’ saw the debut of a new title sequence for Doctor Who - the first time the programme had made such a change. The title sequence is presented here in full, remastered in HD and in a number of alternative versions.
  • Photo gallery: A collection of 36 photographs taken during the production of ‘The Macra Terror’ in 1967, featuring original design department set photographs and Radio Times publicity images. All presented in HD.
  • Production Paperwork: A full set of original camera scripts, studio schedules, floor plans and other materials are available to view by accessing disc 2 via your computer’s DVD or Blu Ray ROM drive.
Additional extras exclusive to Steelbook:
  • Gridlock: The Macra returned to Doctor Who in 2007, in this episode starring David Tennant and written by Russell T. Davies
  • Audio commentary: Julie Gardner, Travis Oliver and Marie Jones discuss the making of 'Gridlock' in this audio commentary track from 2007.
  • Doctor Who Confidential – Are we there yet?: A documentary looking at the making of the 2007 story, 'Gridlock'.
The Macra Terror (Credit: BBC Studios)The Macra Terror (Credit: BBC Studios)The Macra Terror (Credit: BBC Studios)




FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Second Doctor