To coincide with the release of The Abominable Snowmen on DVD, Blu-ray, and Steelbook, BBC Studios has shared a great new trailer for the animated story.
The Second Doctor tale is a mostly missing serial where only one episode and the soundtrack still exist; these have now been paired with new animation. And it’s a significant release not just for the fact that this is the first appearance of the Great Intelligence (a recurring foe who reappeared in serials like The Web of Fear, The Snowmen, and The Name of the Doctor), but also because it’s looking likely that this will be the final animated missing Doctor Who for the foreseeable future.
Here’s the trailer.
And here’s the synopsis:
In the 17th century, an old Tibetan friend of the Doctor’s reached out and touched the mind of an alien disembodied energy, known only as the Great Intelligence, giving it a conduit to Earth.
300 years later, the Doctor revisits the Himalayas because he wants to return the Holy Ghanta, an ancient relic he was given many centuries ago by the grateful monks and their Master, Padmasambhava, at Det-Sen Monastery. On arriving however, the Doctor is treated as a villain – blamed for a series of brutal murders in the area. Jamie and Victoria meanwhile 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 – and the power controlling the Yeti – is living amongst them.
Most of the original 1967 master recordings of the six-part adventure The Abominable Snowmen were lost soon after the programme’s original transmission. However, audio-only recordings of all the episodes have survived and have been used here to create six brand new fully animated presentations of this lost classic, as well as the one surviving segment, Episode Two.
And here’s what the DVDs and Blu-rays include:
- Episodes 1-6 (Animated Black & White)
- Episodes 1-6 (Animated Colour)
- Restored Surviving Original Episode 2
- Photographic Reconstructions of Episodes 1, 3, 4, 5 & 6
- Making-of Documentary
- Audio Commentaries
- 8mm Home Movie Footage
- Archive interview with writer Mervyn Haisman
- Photo Gallery
- Teaser Trailer
- PDF ROM Content
The Abominable Snowmen is available now on DVD, Blu-ray, and steelbook.
