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October 9th, 2019 107 comments

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Re-created Lost Doctor Who Episode Mission to the Unknown

54 years after the original BBC television broadcast, BBC Studios will premiere a new production of Mission to the Unknown, a missing Doctor Who episode that has been faithfully recreated by a team of students, graduates and staff of the University of Central Lancashire.

Mission to the Unknown will be premiered on the Doctor Who YouTube channel at exactly 5.50pm BST on the 9th October to mark the anniversary of the original broadcast of the episode, which was first aired on BBC One in 1965.

The episode will be followed by a making-of documentary short created by YouTuber Josh Snares featuring the cast and crew of Mission to the Unknown with voice of the Daleks, Nicholas Briggs, original cast member Edward de Souza and the classic Doctor Who companion Peter Purves (Steven Taylor) who played the companion to the First Doctor in the 1960s

Luke Spillane, Digital Publishing Manager for Doctor Who at BBC Studios, said: “I’m delighted that we will be bringing the story of Space Security agent Marc Cory to our 1.3 million subscribers on the Doctor Who YouTube channel as it is such a fantastic recreation, made lovingly with real craft and expertise by everyone at the University of Central Lancashire. I hope audiences around the world can imagine that it’s tea time on the 9th October 1965 as they rather excitingly watch a black and white episode of Doctor Who premiere on their television sets, mobile phones and tablets.”

The project was master-minded by Andrew Ireland, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Digital and Creative Industries at the university, and brought together a dedicated group of students from a wide range of disciplines including film and television, acting, fashion, music, design and dance to recreate the episode from the original script as authentically as possible, carefully researching and reproducing as faithfully as possible the original 1960s production techniques to re-create the classic look of the series.

Andrew Ireland, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Digital and Creative Industries at the University of Central Lancashire, said: “It is such a loss to our cultural heritage that so many episodes of 1960s Doctor Who are missing from the BBC archives. This project presented us with an exciting opportunity to address that, to explore a new way of bringing these missing slices of TV history to life, and in the process, help students learn their craft by comparing contemporary production methods with historical approaches. The project gave so many people great experiences, and it is wonderful to see the Daleks menacing a black and white jungle once more.”

The recreation caught the imagination of several Doctor Who luminaries including Nicholas Briggs, who has provided the Dalek voices for the recreated episode, and stars including Peter Purves, who played 1960s companion Steven Taylor, and Edward de Souza, who played Marc Cory in the original episode, visiting the new set to lend their support.


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107 comments

  • Dee

    November 11th, 2019 - 2:58am

    Mission to the Unknown Recreation matched with the original 1960s audio:

    https://youtu.be/kunQqDyHW_Y

    Reply
  • Lorraine

    October 30th, 2019 - 1:50pm

    This is absolutely amazing – I was blown away as to the detail and love that went into the project. I only wish they could do more. They really captured the Who spirit.

    Reply
  • Mrs Croot

    October 12th, 2019 - 11:01am

    I don’t know what this was actually for, but whether or not the students get graded on this or it was just an experience product, they deserve the highest marks on for this project!
    I never watched the recon and only listened to the soundtrack on the Dalek Masterplan vinyl, but did watch the animation. Now all of that doesn’t matter. This should be everybody’s default version!
    Once again well done!

    Reply
  • Daz

    October 11th, 2019 - 5:30pm

    This was like watching a genuine 60’s BBC Doctor Who episode, it had the correct pace, old effects and that studio feel to it. The actors were pretty good even having RP sounding accents like a lot of old TV did, I always wanted to see those weird aliens the Daleks join up with and now I feel like I have seen them I love the one that looks like a giant version of the rubber casing around a cars gear stick…but with eyes!
    The Daleks looked great really authentic and getting Nick to do the voices made it feel right.

    Well done, I’m impressed so glad you presented it in black & white too I was worried it was going to be in colour seeing the pics.

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    October 11th, 2019 - 5:26pm

    I can only imagine how delighted Edward De Souza must have been to hear about this. I doubt he would have ever expected in a million years for this episode to ever be remembered and honoured in such a way.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      October 11th, 2019 - 7:05pm

      Edward De Souza’s heartfelt comment at the very end of the making of feature, said it all.

  • Phillip C Niethe

    October 11th, 2019 - 3:23am

    Will this eventually be released as an extra on a physical disc?

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      October 11th, 2019 - 3:48am

      Probably when Season 3 eventually gets released.

  • ChrisP

    October 10th, 2019 - 10:26pm

    Just watched this and really enjoyed it.
    They really got the 60s atmosphere. The 10 minute making of was a very interesting watch.

    Well done and thank you University of Central Lancashire!

    Reply
  • Alvin

    October 10th, 2019 - 5:25pm

    This is now my default version to watch when it comes to watching Mission to the Unknown.

    I think they have done an amazing job at remaking this episode,

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    October 10th, 2019 - 3:49pm

    Apparently Ian Levine has been very critical of it, sour grapes perhaps…

    Reply
    • Alvin

      October 10th, 2019 - 4:57pm

      Perhaps he was dreading it due to it being done by students, now he has seen it he’s posted on twitter that he really enjoyed it.

    • Gordon

      October 10th, 2019 - 5:02pm

      He hated the idea at first but He was very positive on Facebook about it now that he saw it

  • The Ergon

    October 10th, 2019 - 1:04pm

    I,m sure all superlatives have been covered for this faithful reconstruction. Can I ask who supplied the funding for this?. also why at the end credits ‘Next Time-Temple of Secrets’ rather than ‘The Nightmare Begins’. They could follow on from this project by recreating other episodes annually from the likes of ‘Masterplan’ and others if the sets aren,t too lavish and can keep within the allocated Budget, especially as it is recieving support from all these Doctor Who luminaries.

    Reply
    • booboo

      October 10th, 2019 - 1:12pm

      The Myth Makers was shown between Masterplan and this so temple of secrets was the next episode as far as TV viewers were concerned.

    • The Ergon

      October 10th, 2019 - 1:35pm

      I,ve just checked, You,re right, i thought it was in between the two and simply going on The lost TV Epiodes from the audio collection which is why i thought it seemed odd.

    • MJS

      October 10th, 2019 - 1:43pm

      Because in real life, the myth makers came next. Temple of Secrets was the real next episode.

    • The Ergon

      October 11th, 2019 - 12:02am

      Touche’. Its the order I,m used to listening to not having seen the originals. I was thinking of the Aztec title with the word ‘Temple’ in it. Rushed my response through without thinking.

  • Rikki Krystal

    October 10th, 2019 - 12:40pm

    Fantastic,well done everybody.
    Pure brilliance.

    Reply
  • Bryan

    October 10th, 2019 - 12:04pm

    Brave is a word mis-used many times. but not here.

    How brave of those fantastic young actors, to put themselves out there, in the biggest widest way possible,for thir first show.

    The love and dedication, everyone involved , has given to this production, would be welcomed in any west end or touring production. I am sure we will be seeing all of the names ,in other productions on and off the TV screen.

    Huge shout out to University of Central Lancaster . What a brilliant high end professional Training they promote for young people (and a few older)

    Reply
  • Doug Who

    October 10th, 2019 - 11:22am

    This was a truly wonderful recreation and felt very genuine watching it. The closest experience we’ll get to watching the original I’m sure.

    The dedication and professionalism that went into it is clear from every aspect from the sets and performances to Nick Briggs making the Dalek voices sound so authentically 60’s.

    Huge congratulations and thanks to all involved and especially Andrew Ireland for making it happen. Fantastic work!

    Reply
    • Andrew Ireland

      October 11th, 2019 - 6:36am

      Thank you! It was a great pleasure to make.

  • Gordon

    October 10th, 2019 - 9:38am

    Just got round to watching this. Absolutely superb. Feels like I’ve now seen it. Wonderful stuff. Well done to all involved

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    October 10th, 2019 - 12:32am

    Just watched it again. It’s a genuinely, heart in the right place, piece of brilliance. Gods it needs to be released on DVD though. It really deserves a commercial release. It was like watching a 60s episode.

    Reply
  • Type 40

    October 9th, 2019 - 11:49pm

    Quite simply, this is wonderful. Thanks to every single person involved in this project.

    Reply

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