Whovians know you can’t kill the Doctor. He just regenerates into a new form. The same is true for the Doctor Who episodes themselves. The BBC is animating the classic Doctor Who episodes from the serial “The Power Of The Daleks.” It’s one of many lost episodes that were purged from the archive in order to reuse the tapes.
Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks
The six episode serial stars the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) fresh from his first regeneration following the death of the First Doctor (William Hartnell). The Doctor’s companions Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze) are skeptical about the regeneration, known initially as renewal.
The trio visit the planet Vulcan, which has no relation to Star Trek. This Vulcan is colonized by humans though it does have its own version of heartless aliens…Daleks! Colonial scientist Lesterson (Robert James) discovers inactive Daleks and reactivates them to use as robotic workers. He does not realize they are alive and building an army.
Who’s Who
The serial will feature black-and-white episodes just as when it originally aired. Surviving audio recordings allow the original cast to reprise their roles. They’ll even appear as they did thanks to photographs used for reference. The character designs are the work of comic book artists Martin Geraghty and Adrian Salmon both of whom have drawn for Doctor Who Magazine. The animation team reunites producers Charles Norton and Paul Hembury responsible for animating the Dad’s Army lost episode “A Stripe for Frazer.”
“The Power of the Daleks animation is the most ambitious Doctor Who archive restoration ever attempted and we’re all very honoured to be a part of such a an exciting project,” Norton said. “Intelligent, suspenseful and magnificently staged, Power of the Daleks is one of the great lost classics of 1960s television and a superb example of the black and white era at its finest.”
Hembury added, “Charles and his team are remarkably talented and passionate about Doctor Who and we are thrilled that fans will soon be able to enjoy this rather sinister but wonderful, classic story.”
Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks will be available for download at the BBC Store on November 5, exactly 50 years after its first airing. It will re-air for the first time on BBC America on November 12 and then stream on BBCAmerica.com and the BBC America app on November 13. The DVD will be released on November 21, 2016.
The First Doctor regeneration appeared in “The Tenth Planet” animated by Planet 55 Studios. It’s unknown whether the scene will be reused or re-animated for “The Power of the Daleks.”
