Animated versions of missing Doctor Who episodes are likely to be included in the haul of over 800 episodes from the Whoniverse being added to BBC iPlayer to celebrate the show’s 60th anniversary.
When it was announced that the back-catalogue of Doctor Who would be coming to the streaming service, alongside spin-off material like The Sarah Jane Adventures and Doctor Who Confidential, many fans wondered what would happen with the 97 episodes of Who missing from the archive due to the 1960s and early 1970s policy of junking tapes; while there’s still some question over stories where no animations have been made (and the BBC hasn’t confirmed either way about animated adventures), it nonetheless seems that animated missing episodes will be put on iPlayer.
This is, of course, excellent news as it means more people will get to enjoy stories featuring the First and Second Doctors.
So far, missing episodes have been listed with the tag, “Sorry, this episode is not currently available”; existing episodes, and animations, meanwhile, are accompanied by the message, “This episode will be available soon”. Soundtracks and audio recordings exist for all episodes, and many of these have been added to animations, which, on iPlayer, have titles like “The Reign of Terror: A Bargain of Necessity (Animated)”.
Okay, so which will be on there? BBC iPlayer will be the home of animated episodes of:
- The Reign of Terror
- Galaxy 4
- The Tenth Planet
- The Power of the Daleks
- The Moonbase
- The Macra Terror
- The Faceless Ones
- The Evil of the Daleks
- The Ice Warriors
- The Web of Fear
- Fury from the Deep
- The Invasion
Reportedly, more up-to-date animations like The Abominable Snowmen and The Underwater Menace will also be available.
In cases where episodes exist but also have animated counterparts, both versions will be available.
Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Class, Torchwood, and Doctor Who Confidential will be on BBC iPlayer from 1st November, and we can’t wait!
