Lost Doctor Who Episode Regenerates Through Animation

The lost Doctor Who episode The Power of the Daleks is getting an animated release

It’s one of the most celebrated Doctor Who adventures and yet no complete film recordings of The Power of the Daleks are known to have survived. The master negatives were destroyed in an archive purge in 1974 and the serial arc has long been among the most famous of the lost Doctor Who episodes. Today, however, BBC America and BBC Worldwide have announced that they have commissioned a brand-new animation based on the program’s original audio recordings, surviving photographs and film clips. The lost Doctor Who episodes will then be released exactly 50 years after The Power of the Daleks‘ only UK broadcast. Look for Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks to premiere Saturday, November 12 on BBC America. It will then be available the following day to stream on the BBC America App and official site.

The six-part adventure features the regeneration, or as it was then called ‘renewal,’ of first Doctor William Hartnell into second Doctor Patrick Troughton as the Time Lord and his companions Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze) do battle with the Daleks on the planet Vulcan.

Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks is produced and directed by Charles Norton, with character designs from acclaimed comic book artists Martin Geraghty and Adrian Salmon.

“‘The Power of the Daleks’ animation is the most ambitious ‘Doctor Who’ archive restoration ever attempted,” says Charles, “and we’re all very honored to be a part of such an exciting project. Intelligent, suspenseful and magnificently staged, ‘The Power of the Daleks’ is one of the great lost classics of 1960s television and a superb example of the black and white era at its finest.”

“50 years after its inception, Doctor Who continues to be a global phenomenon that perpetually reanimates itself – literally, right now,” adds Sarah Barnett, President of BBC America. “‘The Power of the Daleks’ is the latest uniquely creative storytelling to spring from the extraordinary mythology of the ‘Doctor Who’ world – there are only a handful of global franchises that have the depth to evolve in this kind of way. We are so proud to present this work to our BBCA ‘Doctor Who’ fans, who we think will go crazy for this reverent yet shockingly reinvented ‘mash up.'”

“Charles and his team are remarkably talented and passionate about ‘Doctor Who,'” says Paul Hembury, Executive Producer, BBC Worldwide, “and we are thrilled that fans will soon be able to enjoy this rather sinister but wonderful, classic story.”

Would you like to see other lost Doctor Who episodes restored in this manner? Let us know in the comments below!

Movie News

Marvel and DC

X