Doctor Who Animating Is Required

With the release of two seasons of classic Doctor Who on blu ray last year, my thoughts turned to the first six seasons and what would be required if they want to include those on a blu ray release. For those of you who don't know, the first six seasons of Doctor Who (1963-1969) are all missing episodes from various stories. Some of those missing episodes have been animated, while others are only available in audio recordings with either telesnaps or production still photographs to give a visual. I figured I would go over what is required for each season and see how possible it is.

Season 1
An Unearthly Child - exists
The Daleks - exists
The Edge of Destruction - exists
Marco Polo - does not exist
The Keys of Marinus - exists
The Aztecs - exists
The Sensorites - exits
The Reign of Terror - four episodes exist, two episodes animated

Season One shouldn't pose a significant problem except for Marco Polo. I think the team that looks for lost episodes of BBC television believes that copies of at least some of the episodes exist for this story which is why there's been a bit of a hesitation about doing any more than a telesnap recon. At seven episodes, this would require a bit of animation but it is doable. At the very least, options exist for how to approach this missing story.

Season Two
Planet of Giants - exists
The Dalek Invasion of Earth - exists
The Rescue - exists
The Romans - exists
The Web Planet - exists
The Crusade - two episodes (2 and 4) missing
The Space Museum - exists
The Chase - exists
The Time Meddler - exists

When it comes time for the First Doctor to be released on blu ray, I could see them starting with Season Two. Everything exists except two episodes of The Crusade and like The Reign of Terror, I think those episodes could be animated without significant problems.

Season Three
Galaxy 4 - three episodes (1,2,4) missing
Mission to the Unknown - animated
The Mythmakers - does not exist
The Daleks' Master Plan - only three of twelve episodes exist (2,5,10)
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve - does not exist
The Ark - exists
The Celestial Toymaker - three episodes (1,2,3) missing
The Gunfighters - exists
The Savages - does not exist
The War Machines - exists

Season Three is where the real problems come in. Of the total 45 episodes in this season, 28 do not exist and only 1 has been animated. Even that is somewhat problematic as that animation was commissioned by Ian Levine and he is tempermental when it comes to playing with the BBC and their potential to make a profit off his work. I think this season has the potential to not be released at all with only the two individual stories that exist in their entirety being released on blu ray. I would hope that they might try something though as several of these missing stories are very good.

Season Four
The Smugglers - does not exist
The Tenth Planet - three episodes exist, one episode animated
The Power of the Daleks - animated
The Highlanders - does not exist
The Underwater Menace - two episodes (1,4) missing
The Moonbase - two episodes exist, two episodes animated
The Macra Terror - animated
The Faceless Ones - four episodes (2,4,5,6) missing
The Evil of the Daleks - all but one episode (2) of seven does not exist

Season Four is what actually got me thinking about what would be required for a blu ray release of these six seasons. The Power of the Daleks was animated last year and The Macra Terror is slated for a release this year. With Jamie, the Doctor and the Daleks all animated, I'm inclined to think the animation team may next tackle The Evil of the Daleks. If they do so, that would only leave 14 episodes with no visual and 6 of those would have existing episodes to base the animation off of (similar to Shada). If left to near the end of the blu ray season run, I could see both The Smugglers and The Highlanders created as purely animated stories, just to round out the season.

Season Five
Tomb of the Cybermen - exists
The Abominable Snowmen - all but one episode (2) of six does not exist
The Ice Warriors - four episodes exist, two animated
The Enemy of the World - exists
The Web of Fear - five episodes exist, one episode (3) missing
Fury From the Deep - does not exist
The Wheel in Space - two episodes exist (3,6), four episodes missing

With the discovery of Enemy and Web several years ago, the worst of the heavy lifting for this season has been done. Three stories are nearly missing but there are some episodes of those stories that exist. Even the one that doesn't exist (Fury From the Deep) has so many sensor clips and production stills that animating it would be less of a chore than other stories. The missing episode of The Web of Fear is known to exist as it was stolen shortly after discovery and presumably sold to a collector. That will presumably cause questioning as whether to animate the missing episode or hope for its recovery but at least there is a good start to this season.

Season Six
The Dominators - exists
The Mind Robber - exists
The Invasion - six episodes exist, two episodes (1,4) animated
The Krotons - exists
The Seeds of Death - exists
The Space Pirates - one episode (2) exists, five episodes missing
The War Games - exists

Season Six will probably the first Second Doctor series to be released as everything is in place except The Space Pirates. Given conventional fan wisdom, I can't see any significant push to get those five episodes animated but some treatment may be given to it. If push came to shove, I could see it released as an audio with linking narration and a few pictures mixed in, much like it is now. I actually didn't mind this story and wouldn't mind seeing an animation, but I know I'm in the minority on that one. Still, with only The Space Pirates holding it back and with the great popularity of The War Games to bank on, the BBC can be expected to make a push to get this season out at some point.

So overall, things are not as dire as they might seem. Three of the seasons are in good shape and could be released with just a small amount of extra effort on the BBC's part. Season Four is a work in progress and could be ready for a blu ray release at the end of the run of the existing seasons (presumably 6-9 years from now). That just leaves Seasons Three and Five that will require a lot of work. Season Five is in better shape than might be expected and I remain hopeful that it will be tackled once most of the work on Season Four is finished. That just leaves Season Three and time will tell if it is fully tackled. I could see an effort to animate The Daleks' Master Plan with a wide blu ray release of just that, but the rest will likely be put on the back burner at best. Hopefully we'll get lucky and more episodes will be found, easing the load on the animation and recovery teams.