DB7

Missing Doctor Who Episodes Animated Back To Life Print E-mail
Written by James MacGregor Thursday, 22 June 2006


Doctor Who animated back into lifeDusting off their old episodes of the original Doctor Who series for DVD release, the BBC discovered that more than 100 episodes had somehow vanished from the archives. Cosgrove Hall, the Manchester-based animation house was then called in to recreate two lost instalments using animation.


Working with BBC Interactive Drama and Entertainment, Cosgrove Hall animated lead actor, the late Patrick Troughton and the rest of the cast in black and white using the original soundtracks, which did survive. The recreated episodes are from the 1968 Cyberman story thread, "The Invasion." Sophie Walpole, head of BBC Interactive Drama and Entertainment, says that the decision to fill in those gaps was influenced by the popularity of the all-new Doctor Who series, screening on BBC 1 at the moment. It also screens on the SCI FI Channel in the U.S.

"In the year that the Cybermen have returned to Doctor Who, it seemed a good idea to complete one of their finest outings from the 1960s," Walpole says. "The original two episodes of the series are lost forever but we have found a unique and innovative way of presenting this classic adventure by lovingly restoring the soundtrack and setting it to new animation. It's a gripping adventure which still remains faithful to the original."

Cosgrove Hall's Steve Maher served as lead animator on the project. "Working in black-and-white animation is dramatic and graphic," he comments. "It gave us the opportunity to employ the kind of noir lighting that only really works without colour. It's a slightly surreal experience using digital technology to recreate the visual qualities inherent in a TV show, but Patrick Troughton's Doctor was a treat. He has a wonderfully animatable face, so he was a gift. "

Keyframed traditional animation was used and the crew also shot digital reference video which was then rotoscoped to achieve more realistic movement in certain scenes. Prior to this, Cosgrove had worked on the 40th anniversary Doctor Who story, developing techniques that would be significantly improved on with "The Invasion"

Doctor Who: The Invasion comes out on DVD in November.

If you can't wait for that a sneak preview can be downloaded here