After a very generous year of Doctor Who offerings; from animated recreations of Evil of the Daleks and Galaxy 4 to the currently excellent Doctor Who: Flux, now is a good time to be a Doctor Who fan. Now with the reveal of another 2nd Doctor animated story on its way, this was indeed a great 58th anniversary for the beloved sci-fi show.
As most fans are already aware, 97 episodes of classic Doctor Who from the 1960s have been lost to time due to the original tapes being deleted years ago from the BBC’s archives. This has forever been damaging to fans of the first two doctors since almost half of their adventures are either completely missing or incomplete.
Thankfully, the stories have never been completely lost, as audio of all the missing stories does still exist thanks to fan recordings. Through the surviving audio, a number of companies commissioned by the BBC have taken cracks at reconstructing the missing stories in animated form.
The latest to receive this treatment is the upcoming six-part story The Abominable Snowmen, which is set to release next year! Only episode 2 of the original serial exists within the BBC archives, but this new animation will seek to recreate the entire story in a re-imagined way. Watch the first teaser here:
The Abominable Snowmen originally aired from September to November 1967, and saw the 2nd Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his companions Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling) and Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) arrive in the Himalayas in 1935, only to discover some gruesome murders at the hands of hairy beasts.
But as the story progresses, all is not as it seems. The monks living in the mountains claim that the Yeti had turned violent after years of living harmoniously with humans, and another sinister other-worldly force seems to be at play. Long-time fans of the show will duly be excited, for this story is of course the first time in the show’s history that the Great Intelligence and its iconic Yeti were first introduced.
Suddenly they become savage. Did we not wonder why?
Khrisong – Doctor Who, The Abominable Snowmen
The full complete adventure is already available to pre-order on Amazon UK in either DVD or Blu-ray/Steelbook form, so you best get yours secured now before the horde of Whovians lap them up. The physical release will contain both the fully animated version of the story as well as the only surviving episode from the original serial.
We’re delighted to announce Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen, something Doctor Who fans have been waiting patiently for over the years.
We’re grateful for the surviving audio-only recordings, which we are very lucky to have courtesy of several Doctor Who fans, which have allowed us to create another exciting and action-packed chapter in the Doctor’s story
Russel Minton, executive producer of The Abominable Snowmen
Are you excited for The Abominable Snowmen? Will you be picking up a copy? What other missing Doctor Who serials do you think deserve an animated reconstruction? Personally, I’m still holding out hope for The Celestial Toymaker being next! Let us know in the comments below!
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