September 2nd, 2022
267 comments
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Doctor Who The Abominable Snowmen Steelbook
Available to order from www.amazon.co.uk
Also available to order from www.zavvi.com, HMV via www.ebay.co.uk and other selected retailers.
The Abominable Snowmen will be released in 2022 on DVD, Blu-ray and as an exclusive Steelbook this year, filling another gap in missing Doctor Who episodes.
Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen is a six-part story based on audio recordings of the original episodes. Most of the six-part adventure story was lost soon after the programme’s original transmission in 1967 and only the audio recordings of the episodes survived. in missing Doctor Who episodes.
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.
INCLUDES
- 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
Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln.
Directed by Chloe Grech and Gary Russell (2022 Production).
Directed by Gerald Blake (1967 Production).
Executive Producers for Big Finish Creative Jason Haigh-Ellery, Mark B. Oliver and Gary Russell (2022 Production).
Executive Producer for BBC Studios Russell Minton (2022 Production).
Produced by Innes Lloyd (1967 Production).
Starring Patrick Troughton, Deborah Watling, Frazer Hines, Wolfe Morris, Norman Jones and Jack Watling.
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Mikk89
January 19th, 2022 - 7:05pmSo, reading a few of the comments about the downsides of this, I see there are several reasons why this has happened and offer an alternative…
First: BBC America withdrawing their funding, could be a blessing and a curse. From what I have read the reasons why incomplete serials are done complete in colour widescreen animation was due to them wanting a product they could broadcast on their channel (and B&W 4:3 alternative for purists and with with suriving episodes being included as either part of recons as a separate feature, or to integrate into the rest of the animation for the Woldwide Home Media Releases). Now the positives is it gives more opportunities to fill gaps in new Who schedules (example, when we had no full series of Doctor Who in 2019) so effectively gave fans some new Stories they hadn’t watched before…
But the US haven’t always had access to the same releases we have, so sales for their Home Video Release Dip. Meaning they lose money. As Gordon does tell people these are made mostly with US TV Markets in mind.
Now there are certain alternatives they could use. Several mentions have been referenced to alternative funding and animation studios, (a wish, but likely never would happen, would be the studio behind ‘Marvel Studios’ What If…?’ Series on Disney+), telesnap recons of all missing adventures. However I had recently mentioned something that no one kind of responded to. For The 2004 film ‘Shaun of the Dead’, DVD Release had a trio of narrated comic panels to explain plot holes from the film that expanded the story. Made me wonder as one of the animation supervisors for the animated projects, is DWM comic strip regular artist Martin Geraghty who has drawn comics for all 13 main Doctors since 1994. If he could get him, Mike Collins and John Ridgeway to work on a serial each it could be something cost effective to do an almost enhanced comic strip for Release on Home Media. Complete with mark acres remastered tracks. It May not be as popular but it gives another unique opportunity. Feel free to chat about the pros and cons, I iind of wanted to just put my 2 cents in for the future of both the singular releases and their inclusion on the Collection Boxsets…
Mikk89
January 19th, 2022 - 7:08pmMeant Mark Ayers… wrote this on my tablet
JLBWHO
January 19th, 2022 - 5:29pmOrdered this, excited!!
By the way are there any doctor who steel books you guys wanna see?
I’m desperately wanting a re release of series 1-2 and 9 as I missed those, I would also like to see a steel book release for the movie too.
James
January 17th, 2022 - 10:38pmI agree it would be better to just animate just the missing episodes not full stories if episode exsist.
Is nice to have consistency (all animated episodes for a story) but at the same time makes money sense to only do ones I between.
Get all the actuall missing ones done first so we have complete stories for release.
Then later down the line they could then go back, when money and time permits, and do full stories in animation for full consistency if really wanted.
Obviously with the episodes that do exsist they could brush up the sound and picture so not as grainy etc.
That leaves only 6 full stories that actually need doing completely (Marco, Myth, Massacre, Savages, Smugglers, Highlanders).
Others are just the odd 1 2 or 3, and Mission can be done with the University version
Auton
January 17th, 2022 - 6:08pmWhen I first heard that the funding by BBC America for the animations had ended I was very worried but having time thinking about it might be a blessing in disguise as the animation team can now focus on animating the missing episodes more effectively as they now don’t have to animate the existing episodes and animate it in colour which is what the Americans requested which would have wasted time and money which they could of used to animate more stories
Anonymous
January 17th, 2022 - 6:10pmWell they can’t animate anything without funding…
Book collector
January 17th, 2022 - 7:23pmFunding is still required and the budget for animations may not stretch beyond two or three. We hopefully will get more but it might have to be a simpler style.
Auton
January 17th, 2022 - 7:49pmYes obviously funding is needed but at least funding from another source will mean that the animation team won’t have to waste time and money on colour animation and on episodes that exist
Book collector
January 17th, 2022 - 8:28pmI agree about the existing episodes but stories like masterplan will still be unlikely. 9 episodes is going to take a huge budget. Even wheel at 4 is potentially too many. The most likely ones will be underwater and toymaker. Crusade may only be two episodes but there are a huge amount of characters, costumes and sets which make it unlikely. As to the colour it has been explained on the DVD extras that its easier to make it in colour then convert it.
Gordon
January 17th, 2022 - 11:44pmFirstly the contract was for stories not episodes so even if they did only the missing episodes of faceless/evil/g4/abominable it would not gave them the time and money to do other stories. Secondly the time and money spent on those existing episodes would not have covered doing other episodes. The assets of those surviving episodes were pretty much all already existing from the missing episodes. If they did another story they would have had to have created pretty much all the assets bar the regulars from scratch which would be significantly more expensive than those surviving episodes they created. You may have thought it was a waste doing the surviving episodes but bbc america would never have agreed to do them otherwise. We wouldn’t have got those stories at all. Just because bbc america are no longer funding them doesn’t mean that they will ditch colour animation. If the next backers aren’t britbox (who have exclusive streaming rights on the surviving episodes) they most certainly will be in full colour. It’s not just a case that bbc america wanted colour. Gary Russell gave an interview at galifrey one and he stated it’s easier to animate in colour then grade it in black and white than to animate it in black and white and it also doesn’t cost anything extra.
Book collector
January 18th, 2022 - 11:10amI did feel it was a waste to do existing episodes but once I understood why they were being done I was fine with it. For me it’s more a going forward thing, the money won’t stretch to full story animations so just stick to missing episodes. I do feel people are overestimating the budgets involved without co-funding. People are still talking about completing masterplan which at 9 episodes would have been a struggle even with extra funding.
DPHill
January 17th, 2022 - 1:51amDo you think there’s any possibility that BBC Studios are still working on one other non-bbc america release for something like the Wheel in Space or the Space Pirates? They could well use an improved 3d style animation as for web for the likes of the underwater menace and the crusade to just get them out there couldn’t they? I’m probable being optimistic about there being one more in the works even though abominable snowmen is technically the last one
Gordon
January 17th, 2022 - 7:20amEven though their contract with bbc America is up it doesn’t mean they can’t renegotiate a new contract at some point. It’s possible that they are working with shapeshifter on other animations but it could all depend on what the cost is. They had the budget for 1 episode but it’s not clear if they have the budget to do more than 1 episode of it. They do have the tech ready which is an obvious bonus though but the animation software is obviously going to need an overhall which costs money. Underwater menace might be a possibility but I imagine crusade will need outside financial assistance. It’s still got 30 odd characters and lots of locations to create. Wheel might be possible but considering they did that 10 min minisode and cybermen are a draw to potential funding partners it might be better to hold off to see if they can get a new partner first and if they can they could animate it in the style of the minisode. Considering how much of season 5 was recently released on blu ray and how well represented the non wheel stories are I don’t think there is an urgent need to put out season 5 at present which might work to its advantage if takes a little time to get a new partner for wheel
Coleman
January 14th, 2022 - 11:05amWell, this as thrown a right spanner in the works. Not only could there “Potentially” be no more Animations of Classis Who made.
BUT it will have a big knock on effect for the Blu ray Collections aswell with many of the Stories being released with only Telesnaps or maybe just Audio only.
Great.
Coleman
January 14th, 2022 - 11:09amJames, I can’t see remakes being a possibility at all, they would be much more expensive than the Animations. So If the BBC can’t get funding for the Animations I’m afraid that’s about it for Classis Who.
Mikk89
January 14th, 2022 - 6:35pmI had just had a thought about an alternative to Animated Reconstructions and Teresa’s that ultimately would be cheaper to produce for bigger serials such as Marco Polo and Dalek Master Plan. There were a few extras on Shaun of the Dead that used Comic Art to fill in plot holes for showing how Shaun escaped the zombies to distract them from the gang getting into Winchester, What Happened to Dianne after she went to try and save David and How Ed as a Zombie ended up in Shauns She’d at the end of the Movie, maybe the team that do DWMs comics could do a almost static animation of Comic like images and use the narrated soundtracks to complete them if the animations are no longer going ahead…
Gordon
January 14th, 2022 - 9:50pmEven if they can’t find a new partner I doubt it will be it for the animations. It may take a few years but Cheaper and easier ways can be found. It just will be paused rather than ending. It probably won’t be on the quality of the bbc America funded animations though. The option of just sticking to just the missing episodes is also a possibility. If shapeshifter can refine and improve their 3d motion capture that’s another possibility down the line. We also don’t know what the limit is for bbc on their own these days. It was 2 a decade ago but it could be more especially as they are doing blu ray and steelbook releases these days. Underwater menace should be affordable but I can also see a possibility of wheel in space if they only did the missing episodes in the same animation style as the minisode and reuse the footage from it as well. It’s only needing about 77 minutes of animation from completion if you don’t count the credits the footage from the minisode and that total also doesn’t include any dead air that they would also remove so it might be doable. All depends on how far they can stretch the budget on it
Book collector
January 15th, 2022 - 1:30amI think it may be possible to complete stories rather than do full animations. However out of the 6 remaining stories that have existing episodes masterplan is probably a no go due to it’s 9 episode requirement. Pirates at 5 is probably out as well. Wheel at 4 is perhaps on the cusp of whatever is possible on a BBC only budget but 4 may just be too many. More likely are underwater, crusade (but this one is still a tough one to do) and toymaker at 3 may be possible. We may though have to accept a simpler style of animation which frankly in order to get more completed stories I would be happy with.
D84
January 15th, 2022 - 11:16amI would be more than happy for “just” the missing episodes to be animated, even in just Black and white (as per the earlier releases like The Invasion, Reign if Terror, Moonbase) etc. I have often thought it a bit of a waste of money and time animating episodes that still exist in colour plus B&W and taking the time to trim the frames on the B&W to 4:3. Then again I seem to recall that was largely for American audiences who don’t seem to be able to handle the back and forth (animation Vs live action) too well.
Let’s hope they can continue and for me if we see more come out like the Web of Fear release with just the missing parts animated, even in the 3D style some people find a little odd (I think it’s fine) I will be very happy and keep supporting the range
Book collector
January 15th, 2022 - 12:11pmD84 I think that is perhaps the only way forward. I agree completely that they could save money by only animating the missing episodes and by doing them in 4:3 only. You would still have a colour version as they make them in colour then convert them to monochrome. As for the 3d web style I didn’t like it first watch but on subsequent watches it no longer bothers me and I just enjoyed the story. And if it’s a cheaper way of us getting more completed stories I’m all for it.
RPG74
January 16th, 2022 - 1:30pmAgree that animating only missing episodes would be the way forward. BBC America likely demanded full animated recons for broadcast purposes, but since they aren’t involved anymore it makes sense to go back to a simpler, moderately less expensive model. Personally I wouldn’t touch 3d animations with a barge pole, but if another company steps forward and they’re able to complete missing stories to the level of at least, say, The Invasion or The Moonbase, I’d be very happy.
Erato
January 16th, 2022 - 4:24pmTotally agree with RPG74 – I don’t recall reading a single comment from anyone on here saying they “love” the WOF animation or its the “best” animation so far. All I seem to read is “it’s ok” or “I don’t mind it” or “you soon forget about when you watch the other episodes”.
Personally, I want the Planet 55 style of animation back from Moonbase and Tenth Planet as I feel it’s the most faithful to the original material in terms of mood, style and the original production. I especially want that style back for any future Underwater Menace animation so it blends from the episode 4 cliffhanger into the Moonbase episode 1 resolution.
If you think about how critical fans have been towards the animation of Fury and Galaxy 4, I don’t understand why animation teams aren’t reverting back to the styles that fans have consistently praised.
D84
January 16th, 2022 - 5:48pmAgreed, I genuinely like the style of the earlier animations (Moonbase) so no complaints from me if that’s what we get
RPG74
January 16th, 2022 - 6:07pmPersonally I’d be okay with Fury or Galaxy Four style animation Erato, if that’s what was available, I was simply making the point that if another company steps forward to provide funding for future animations, I’d also be happy with an older, presumably less expensive style too (if they’re animating only the missing episodes). And I wasn’t intending to start an argument regarding the merits of 3d; it just isn’t for me, and if the Beeb decide to go that way with future releases, then I’ll pass. If other people think it’s okay for them, then that’s fine.
Let’s just hope another partner can be found for BBC Studios, and that it doesn’t take too long!
…
January 16th, 2022 - 6:30pmFury etc were only criticised by the same set of fans. I loved the fury, galaxy 4 animations. Web was fine for a tester animation which is what is is. Don’t presume your opinion is everyone’s. Perhaps if fans were less critical funding may not have stopped?
Gordon
January 16th, 2022 - 6:48pmJust because web of fear episode 3 wasn’t great that doesn’t mean future 3d projects will turn out the same. The backgrounds and sets were pretty good but character models really let it down and needed a lot more time and money for it. It’s got potential. If they do get a new backer and that backer is willing or able to sink far more money into doctor who animations than bbc america it could be massively improved it. It’s all well and good saying company’s should revert back to a style that worked for the moonbase but the companies that they use already have their own style which might be jarring or not compatable with the way that the company works. Also the style might work in black and white but might not work when doing a 16:9 colour version. Bbc America who has been funding them might not want them to use that style either as they will have their own ideas on how the animation should look. I do think just doing 4:3 and just the missing episodes might work for britbox as they have the surviving episodes for all of the remaining missing stories bar masterplan but if it was the likes of Netflix or Amazon prime or someone else that don’t have streaming rights to those episodes I can see them doing the whole thing in colour maybe even in 3d if they requested it. They would have their own set of demands for it
Gordon
January 16th, 2022 - 7:24pmI don’t understand the hate for galaxy 4. It was better than fury. Looked a little in the cheap side but the it fits with how cheap the original was.
Erato
January 16th, 2022 - 8:25pmI’m referring to the “arms” comments with regards to Galaxy 4 and Fury; I didn’t really see an issue with it tbh so only referring to comments read on forums. However, I wasn’t a fan of them making the control room and impeller room so big in Fury because I’m a purist and I like the animations to be a faithful recreation of the missing episodes.
RPG74: I wasn’t aiming to get into it either as it’s been debated many times before. The quality just isn’t there for me when it comes to 3d (currently, that is), and … described it as “fine” which is what I was referring to in my earlier comment in that I don’t believe the SE release of WOF has ignited further fan interest or excitement in the animations. I know people say it’s a “tester” and an experiment to see if 3D can work in the future but if you filled say the BFI with 500 Dr Who fans to watch that 3D episode 3 and then conducted market research after to see whether they’d buy it or not, I don’t think the results would have been good…
James
January 13th, 2022 - 7:42pmSaid that BBC America has pulled out of funding the remaining animations.
Early days yet. Everyone saying the rest won’t be animated, the collection box sets will be I complete. Still plenty of time to find a different invester.
BritBox has been mentioned alot. Considering the Classic Who is on there this does make sense for them to plug the funding gap.
BBC could stump up the rest possibly. Bbc3 coming back so could find the cash somehow.
Could also get some of thr lost episodes found somewhere or thr rumours of some being kept back by private collectors: so they may come forward with them instead of not sharing with the rest of the Whovians.
Who knows hey, who knows?
James
January 13th, 2022 - 7:44pmSad*
Incomplete*
James
January 13th, 2022 - 7:48pmAlso season 3 could have one story easily filled without animation.
Mission has been remade with the University students. This could be used.
Plus I know it would cost alot but they could plug some of Hartnells eps with David’s 1ST Doc and companions with live action remakes. I know won’t be the same but could be better then animations. Not sayong all eps. Maybe fill the smaller ones or one big one (MasterPlan).
…
January 13th, 2022 - 8:21pmJames remakes would cost even more than animations so that is highly unlikely.
Gordon
January 13th, 2022 - 11:40pmFrom what I gather bbc 3 is going to be focusing on young hip shows aimed at the 18-30 crowd. I can’t see recreations live action or animation being for the same type of audience.
James
January 14th, 2022 - 10:50amGordon: what u meant by BBC3 coming back wasn’t that they could do them to show on the channel as its aimed at a younger audience. I meant that they have found money to reinstate the channel, so they could possibly find the money to plug the funding gap left by BBC America.
… : I know they would cost alot. Was only a thought. They made some parts for Adventure in Time and space (small glimpses of Web Planet, Daleks, Uneathly, invasion Earth). Plus when Twice Upon a Time was filmed they did some scenes not shown in the episode that remade the lists bits of ep4 Tebth Planet.
Would be nice just to do the missing few from a few storys just to fill the gaps, not full sptrys. Like the 1 missing ep from Crusade.
Or go all out and fill MasterPlan as thats missing alot of eps (only 3 out of 9 currently found). Maybe for its 60th anniversay since first broadcast. Just a thought.
Got a remake of Mission already to go (University version).
Book collector
January 14th, 2022 - 11:23amUnfortunately James there is a huge difference between a single episode made for non-profit and by people giving their services for free and doing it professionally for broadcast standards which is what the BBC would have to do. It would be a huge budget for a what is a relatively small audience who would buy them. Plus it wouldn’t be the hartnell episodes!
Gordon
January 14th, 2022 - 2:46pmThe return of bbc 3 was paid for with the licence fee. The animations aren’t. The money isn’t coming from the same place. It’s bbc studios (the business arm of the bbc) who commission them.
Prof Horner
January 13th, 2022 - 1:20pmWell the rumour of the release of season 2 this year makes more sense now we know they probably won’t get The Crusade animated any time soon. It will be interesting to see what the blu ray teams approach will be to the sixties seasons will be from now on.
sileic
January 13th, 2022 - 10:53amThe city of deaths not extras not included where the more comedy ones; Eye on Blatchford, it’s outake, and a spoof advert about the Jagaroth spaceship.
Gordon
January 12th, 2022 - 10:50amAccording to the print version of the mirror The abominable snowman will be the last animation in the range due to Bbc America has not renewing their contract. I’d heard rumours but nothing substantial and was hoping it wasn’t the case. Hopefully another company will pick up the baton in future
Mikk89
January 12th, 2022 - 1:14pmThe only thing is, I tend to wait till BBC themselves confirm it as The Mirror (wether it’s online page or Physical Paper) is always citing sources… in fact I recall several times were a casting choice has been made on The New Series as reported by the Mirror, only to be proven false.
Gordon
January 12th, 2022 - 2:33pmNormally I would be sceptical but considering the story comes from Nicola Methven who has had an excellent track with the animations (macra,faceless,evil,galaxy and abominable was all broke first from her) there is quite possibly an element of truth to it.
Gordon
January 12th, 2022 - 2:37pmThis is what the article says:
Trought of order
The BBC has exterminated
plans to animate more lost
and Blu-ray. An insider said: “Its a real
blow for the fans, who hoped they would
60s episodes of Doctor Who.
be able to watch every story from the
In a partnership between BBC Studios
early years and BBC America, the original
“It’s a shame the funding has gone.
Four of the first six seasons
soundtracks from 25 lost
needed
one story to
be
episodes have been married
animated to complete them
up with all-new animations.
Some fans hope streaming
But BBC America has pulled
service Britbox, which has
its funding, with just one story
animated episodes alongside
with Patrick Troughton, right,
the existing live action ones,
The Abominable Snowmen, to be
could step into the breach.
released later this year.
From 1967-78 the BBC routinely
The cartoon versions were broadcast
deleted programmes to make more
on the BBC’s America subsidiary,
archive space. So 97 of the first 253
after being released in the UK on DVD
episodes of Doctor Who went missing.
Gordon
January 12th, 2022 - 2:51pmHang on that came out jumbled
Trought of order
The BBC has exterminated plans to animate more lost 60s episodes of Doctor Who.
In a partnership between BBC Studios
and BBC America, the original soundtracks from 25 lost episodes have been married up with all-new animations.
But BBC America has pulled its funding, with just one story with Patrick Troughton, right, The Abominable Snowmen, to be released later this year.
The cartoon versions were broadcast on the BBC’s America subsidiary, after being released in the UK on DVD and Blu-ray. An insider said: “Its a real blow for the fans, who hoped they would be able to watch every story from the early years.
“It’s a shame the funding has gone.
Four of the first six seasons needed
one story to be animated to complete them Some fans hope streaming service Britbox, which has animated episodes alongside the existing live action ones, could step into the breach.
From 1967-78 the BBC routinely deleted programmes to make more archive space. So 97 of the first 253 episodes of Doctor Who went missing.
Jamiouse
January 12th, 2022 - 3:28pmI really hope it isn’t true, we’re never going to get an animated Daleks Master Plan. Maybe the BBC will concentrate on ‘Special Editions’ like Web of Fear where one episode needs animating.
It really would be a huge loss if the animations stopped because of BBC America, think of the digital assets created to make the animations possible.
Gordon
January 12th, 2022 - 3:54pmI do hope if it is true it’s just a temporary measure while they either find another partner to deal with the financial side of things or they find an alternative way of filling those gaps. The shapeshifter style animation has potential but it needs a massive reworking to get it up to standard that fans would accept going forward in my opinion
Doctor Who Animations: 2006-2022
January 12th, 2022 - 7:36pmI’ve followed the animations from the beginning and I’m devastated at this revelation. I think the silence over this from all of those “in the know” unfortunately proves that the Mirror article is correct and that there is no more funding on the way. It was fun while it lasted, but once again the BBC have let us all down.
Gordon
January 12th, 2022 - 8:02pmI wouldn’t say the bbc let us down as they never promised us that they were animating them all. I don’t think it’s the end. Just the end for now. If they can find an alternative way of continuing to fund them they will no doubt continue. We have been here before twice. After the invasion we were told there wasn’t going to do any more and after the animation for the underwater menace was cancelled we weren’t getting any more classic DVDs period but they found a way to carry on
sileci
January 12th, 2022 - 9:12pmThis news is sad, I really thought we were going to see everything animated over the next few years. But you never know how soon alteranate funding may come.
There will I assume be a knock on for The Collection box sets. We already knew they were from a different team but it now seems 99.9% certain there will be sets with only telesnap recons. That is a shame as it means The Collection won’t be the ‘definitive’ relases many including me I hoped. But hey, there can aways be a The Collection Special Editions!
On the topic of the completeness of The Collection I notice Season 17 had several City Of Death extras not included; I assume will not pop up elsewhere, again a shame not everything is included.
Anonymous
January 12th, 2022 - 11:35pmCertainly going to be difficult calling the first 6 seasons of Doctor Who ‘complete’ on Blu-Ray now the animations will cease.
Whorules
January 13th, 2022 - 2:22amThis is a huge shame but these things are too expensive for the BBC to fund solo, they certainly haven’t let fans down as they are under no obligation to do these animated episodes. Considering the reactions of a section of fandom to animation we should be grateful to have got any! I think you are right Gordon, funding may be found in the future but it may take some time. As someone else says we may get some special edition animations such as underwater menace but anything requiring more than two episodes may now not happen at all. On a personal note I’ve enjoyed being able to experience the troughton era stories in a visual medium and getting galaxy four was amazing so it’s very sad we may never get anymore. We just have to hope funding can be found elsewhere.
Anonymous
January 13th, 2022 - 9:19amTroughton is likely to have only four stories not completed with animation. ‘The Highlanders’ , ‘The Underwater Menace’ , ‘The Wheel in Space’ and ‘The Space Pirates’. Which isn’t too bad. I would definitely say the best of the Troughton era has already been animated including ‘The Abominable Snowmen’.
Hartnell however, is likely to have nine stories not completed with animation. ‘Marco Polo’ , ‘The Crusade’ , ‘Mission to the Unknown’ , ‘The Myth Makers’ , ‘The Daleks Master Plan’ , ‘The Massacre’ , ‘The Celestial Toymaker’ , ‘The Savages’ and ‘The Smugglers’. Only ‘Galaxy 4’ has been the one most recent animation for Hartnell.
Anonymous
January 13th, 2022 - 9:42amWhich City of Death features weren’t included on the Season 17 set?
Gordon
January 13th, 2022 - 10:42amI don’t think they will call it the complete season 2 or whatever they will just call it the surviving episodes of season 2. Even if they had completed seasons with animation it still wouldn’t be complete as the original episodes don’t exists. We knew they weren’t waiting on the animations to complete seasons so I wasn’t expecting everything to be done on time for the collection though I was kind of hopeful it could happen. I can see 1 2 and 6 get released over the next couple of years with recons filling in the blanks. It’s not most of us wanted but it’s probably the best we will get how things stand. The recent recons for the likes of power and fury have been very good and if the quality continues I will be happy with them. 5 will probably be about 3 years off which actually might work in its favour if it can find an alternative way of funding in time. I do suspect wheel will be the first port of call if they find an alternative funding model. Out of the remaining stories it’s the highest profile story that isn’t masterplan. It’s baffling that they stopped just before this one. With season 4 I feel it needs either the smugglers or the highlanders should be the next one after wheel animated and seeing as the highlanders probably isn’t going to be animated anytime soon I can see the smugglers being the next one after wheel. I can see underwater menace getting done without additional funding seeing as it’s only 2 episodes. With season 3 it’s a total minefield. Masterplan is a beast that would need a massive injection of cash to even try it. Myth makers the massacre and toymaker all have poor audio (the audio has been 1 of the main factors in the stories that have been chosen). It’s only the savages that seems doable right now. Hopefully by the time season 3 comes around some of these issues are fixable and they are able to fill at least some of these gaps with animation.
sileci Regarding the s17 city of death extras there was eye on blatchford and it’s 2 connecting Easter eggs it was done by a separate production company and was removed because of rights reasons. Ooo mummy on the pyramid of mars dvd was also done by the same company so I suspect that will also be gone. I’m a bit more surprised that the 6 minutes of 2017 shada studio footage of Tom isn’t included.
daz
January 13th, 2022 - 10:56amHow much did BBC America put into the project per animation?
Could £1 per dvd/br sale of other Who ranges not be put into to fund the animated range.
I am so glad we have got what we have though.
Gordon
January 13th, 2022 - 11:08amDaz Bbc america majority fund these. A good 6 figure sum I’d estimate. An extra quid to cover the animation wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to cover the additional costs
Prof Horner
January 13th, 2022 - 11:09amWell this is sad news indeed if true . How this affects the Blu ray range I don’t know. It will be particularly sad if we don’t get The Wheel in Space animated as it would complete season 5. If we don’t get anymore animations for the time being we still have four sixties seasons with just one story missing or incomplete . So we may get them with telesnaps , thought unfortunately there are no telesnaps of The Space Pirates. So maybe we that with just a sound track of that story . The real problem is season 3 with only four of the stories complete in some way. There is no way they could release that season and call it complete ,same goes for 4 goes for season 4 with two stories to completely missing and one story with half of it missing,so how that affects the possible release of that season on Blu ray remains To be seen. Still if if we don’t get anymore animations for the time being at least we have had some classics like Evil of the Daleks to enjoy. Maybe it is time for Mr Philip Davies to unearth some more lost episodes!
…
January 13th, 2022 - 11:31amSomething else we don’t know is how much profit is made off the animated DVDs. Perhaps it’s no longer enough to justify BBC America funding them?
Gordon
January 13th, 2022 - 12:15pmDon’t forget bbc america does broadcast these and thus gets ad revenue from it. I do suspect that the amount of ad revenue from broadcasting them no longer became justifiable to keep funding them. I do know the animations get 200-300k viewers which is much higher the dvd sales. They do well on the week of the release but drop out very quickly. It’s not a positive sign on dvd sales that evil which was very well regarded but you can get less than a tenner just over 3 months after release
Book collector
January 13th, 2022 - 12:27pmPutting a positive spin on this at least we have several animations we didn’t have prior to 2016. It’s disappointing but the costs involved in the BBC doing them on their own just don’t make it viable. Hopefully we will see underwater as a special edition as only two episodes are required. Crusade only has two but it’s considerably more complicated due to costume, sets and character requirements. Mission is unlikely to be released on its own and I can’t see anything over two episodes being viable. Certainly they can’t do full animations of existing episodes on the reduced budget. We can hope to get more in the future but I’m just grateful to have what we have.
The ergon
January 13th, 2022 - 1:05pmIf nothing else it keeps the audio soundtracks alive until then, the rest are practically defunct. Do they think there isnt much appetite for the historicals that it cant justify the cost of animating?
Book collector
January 13th, 2022 - 1:41pmThat’s a possibility ergon. Will casual buyers be attracted to historical story animations is something I’ve thought about before. There are also a lot of who fans who say the historical stories are boring and they wouldn’t want them animated (I’ve seen comments like that) personally I think historical stories would need potentially a bigger budget and they may think it’s just not worth it. Look if it means we have 13 (or 12 if they did do underwater) stories that are are on audio then that’s a lot better than it used to be! There are 97 missing episodes. Abominable will make it 44 animated episodes. That leaves just 53 audio only episodes. And out of those there are 6 stories that have existing episodes and only 7 that are completely audio only. And we have a completed shada giving us a full Tom Baker run. I’m happy with what we have been given. I just hope some fans can moderate their response to this instead of resorting to the the usual troll like behaviour. It’s not a decision of BBC UK. They can’t force BBC America to fund these. They are separate companies.
daz
January 13th, 2022 - 2:43pmIn regards to the Season sets. They will still be complete as it will include all episodes with or without telesnaps as soundtracks. They could create simple animatics for Pirates allowing someone to do their interpretation based on any stills that remain.
Then in future if something is animated they can then be put into the sets. I just want each story to have it’s own disc tray and not be included on a disc for a complete story.
The ergon
January 13th, 2022 - 4:49pmThey could just include soundtracks or have in depth individual missing story documentaries with surviving cast or crew members as an alternative.
Book collector
January 13th, 2022 - 6:06pmErgon I don’t buy the bluray collections but for those who do buy them presumably they will feature reconstructions where they can. I’m not sure how easy it is to do reconstructions on some of the stories due to a lack of photographs from them (no telesnaps and limited studio photos) so some may even end up being just the audio perhaps? To be honest if they did reconstructions of the stories on DVD with extras I’d buy them but I’m fairly sure the response of a section of fandom would be… shall we just leave it at “not measured”…
Popplewick elsewhere talks about the animations being cancelled before, so… The first animation was invasion in 2006. Everyone was very excited about it and expected more… the next animation was 2013’s reign of terror. We then had a run of animations which ended with 2014’s moonbase. Underwater menace had its animation cancelled. We’ve been lucky to have animations from 2016-2022 and if they are now finished then that’s that. I’m hoping they may do menace. Crusade is a hope but a slim one due to costs. If we are lucky the animations may return at a future date but I’m just happy with how many completed stories we have (14 including shada and abominable)
Doctor Who Animations: 2006- PRESENT!!!
August 11th, 2023 - 3:15pmJust decided to come back here and post how happy I am after hearing that The Underwater Menace is being animated for release in 2023! The best Doctor Who related news in a very long time!!!
Prowl 1701
December 3rd, 2021 - 9:58pmZavvi is currently showing a release date for May 30th 2022. Though that could just be a placeholder date.
Gordon
December 4th, 2021 - 11:09amIt is a Monday so it could be right
Gordon
January 8th, 2022 - 9:57amHmv just sent me an email update saying it’s out 30th may
Prowl 1701
January 10th, 2022 - 9:17pmNice! Looking forward to when they announce the features and art work.
Nick
December 2nd, 2021 - 2:57pmBrilliant news. Now, how about an animated version of Scratchman with Tom, Sadie and Chris? Crying out to be done.
Mark
November 28th, 2021 - 3:05pmHi I understand that Season 17 limited edition has been delayed, but very confused regarding the absence of a “standard” edition on all retail adverts? Wheras with the animation steelbooks, there is always an instant option for pre ordering the standard blu ray packaging.
I suppose my question is, was the standard blu ray packaging only intended for seasons 10, 12, 18, 19, 23? This for me is a big deal because I wanted to invest and collect the classic era specifically as slimline standard blu rays, for many different reasons.
I had assumed they would be playing catchup on Seasons 8, 14, 26 first, but amazed at the ongoing time gap as opposed to how quickly this first batch of standards were pushed out together.
I will try to message Amazon, otherwise if anyone knows any clues on the production roadmap I would very much appreciate this. If they’ve discontinued them then I better start again on the limited editions! Hope not haha.
the ergon
November 28th, 2021 - 6:03pmSeems as though the standard Issues are being spaced out to keep the The limited edition releases exclusivity. They released the first four in pairs to reel people in who desired these. I should imagine season 26 will come sometime in the new year followed by the others intermittently.
Gordon
November 28th, 2021 - 6:28pmThe standard editions of the collection sets will always happen some time after the limited edition versions. The limited editions need to sell out first as those limited releases are the ones that cover the finance of the set and without the limited edition releases there won’t be a standard edition set down the line. Going be what is speculated some believe it’s a 2 year gap between the limited release and standard release so going by that the next standard edition (26) might be in January. At a guess the reason why they did a few quite quickly at the start was to catch up and to establish the standard versions. Don’t expect too much info from Amazon as they are only a retailer and probably don’t know much about what the future release schedule is.
Mark
November 29th, 2021 - 1:10pmI would just like to start by saying a huge thank you for the very detailed responses to my message, I appreciate this. I understand that all we can do is guess, but I think what you have both highlighted on exclusivity on the Limited Editions is most likely the actual answer.
I do believe that there must always be a standard, on the shelf accessible method for aquiring Doctor Who, especially because more than ever we have an audience that is actively curious of both the classic and new series, which is why I strongly support and buy the slimline blu rays – speaking as someone that can vividly remember the sheer costs of the individual dvds when they began about 20 years ago! I think like any film media, quite rightly we as the fans and consumers should have the choice of the standard or limited and Who is no different.
I completely agree with many of the posts from people down below regarding the re-sellers directly affecting how we consume these products, and continue to do so sadly due to the way things simply are. I’ve always felt that the animation release have always got the marketing just right – Steelbook, standard blu ray, dvd, all on pre-order.
I’m not sure if there is much more to say on this subject, but if we somehow see another batch slim-line release of Seaons 8,14,26 if by a miracle, wouldn’t that be great! Many thanks again for your replies.
Mark
November 29th, 2021 - 2:12pmMy line in my message seems to have vanished regarding Britbox. I wanted to point out that Britbox is a great entry into Classic who, but like New Who, I imagine, and have concern that inevitably it will one day dematerialise. (Just wanted to include this back in as it was part of my message, thank you)
RPG74
November 26th, 2021 - 9:39amInteresting. Digital Spy are reporting this as a 4K steelbook, but since no-one else is I imagine they’re getting their facts quite wrong.
Yeti1
November 25th, 2021 - 4:40pmJust realised that the DVD & Blu-Ray listings state that this is going to be a 2-Disc set…
The press release also doesn’t mention a black & white version of the story, only colour, so with this in mind have the B&W versions of the animations been discontinued?
PS, the press release does state however that the original episode two will be included, so disc 1 could be the colour animation and disc 2 the tele-snaps with surviving episode…
Gordon
November 25th, 2021 - 6:02pmWouldn’t pay too much attention to the disc count or the lack of mention of a black and white disc. I will be gobsmacked if there isn’t 1. I’m sure it will all become clear when the full disc content willl be announced
Yeti1
November 25th, 2021 - 7:29pmHopefully you are right! It would be such a shame if they canned the B&W animation, as I always watch the B&W version with any existing episodes.
Whorules
November 25th, 2021 - 10:06pmI doubt very much that they aren’t doing a monochrome version. It’s early days yet it may be out March or April if we are lucky but even so it will be some time I presume before the listings are announced. I’m pretty sure it will be three discs. What do you think Gordon? Oh and Gordon, 53 to go!
Gordon
November 25th, 2021 - 11:38pmI’m sure it’s going to be similar to other 6/7 part animated stories. 1 disc colour 1 disc black and white and 1 for the recon. They have never not supplied a black and white animation for a colour animated story and I doubt they will start now. yes only 53 to go. Only 1 or 2 projects left to get us over the half way line.
38 hartnell and 15 Troughton episodes
Season 1: 7 episodes
Season 2: 2 episodes
Season 3: 25 episodes
Season 4: 10 episodes (4 hartnell 6 Troughton)
Season 5: 4 episodes
Season 6: 5 episodes
Coleman
November 26th, 2021 - 9:31amIf the worst comes to the worst. Just watch in Colour with the Colour control turned right down. It will be in Black and White just the same.
Auton
November 26th, 2021 - 3:44pmI very much doubt it won’t include a black and white version of the animation as that is the main version I watch with the surviving episode and I’m sure most people do as well. These animations are suppose to be a new visual version of the missing episodes so it would be very disappointing if it only includes colour as that isn’t accurate to the original production
Richard
November 25th, 2021 - 2:12pmI can’t afford to buy all the animations individually and then again in The Collection range so as I would rather only buy once I will wait.
Gordon
November 25th, 2021 - 2:00pmI recommend listening to this podcast. It has Gary Russell been interviewed about the galaxy 4 animation and Peter Crocker about the restoration of the surviving footage.
Web snowman and galaxy 4 was all commissioned at the same time and the plan was to do some of g4 then start on snowman and do both at the same time but covid happened.
https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F1164909721&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&visual=true&origin=twitter
Chris Maile
November 25th, 2021 - 3:56pmThanks for the link Gordon – a very good listen
PJH1971
November 24th, 2021 - 10:51amThe animation actually looks better here to me than the last few releases.
Paul L
November 23rd, 2021 - 11:15pmDon’t get me wrong I’m really happy this is getting released but because it’s doctor who day I was hoping and preying that the powers that be might have announced a re release for the series 9 steelbook.
Come on guys let’s make this happen please and wipe the smiles off the faces of the scalpers on eBay who are just being beyond greedy.
The dr who brand caved in eventually when they realised that the 1st blu ray collection set was way under the demand and they said ok we had no idea how popular this was going to be and they eventually righted a wrong so please dr who enterprises or whoever is in charge of the steelbook range PLEASE PLEASE re release series 9 steelbook for the many fans who don’t have this set.
Auton
November 24th, 2021 - 6:53amI totally agree, I was hopeful series 9 steelbook was going to be announced as well. But on the positive note the Abominable snowmen animation finally getting a proper announcement is amazing and I’m very much looking forward to it. I wonder what the other animation team is working on?
daz
November 24th, 2021 - 10:41amIt wouldn’t be a re-release as such. Both Series 9 and 10 (including TUAT in 10) should be released as the continuation of the Series 1 to 8 Steelbooks we’ve had. The old 9 and 10 were limited exclusives to Amazon.
I expect 9 to be released Spring 2022 with Doctor and Clara artwork on front and monsters on the back.
Steve
November 24th, 2021 - 12:39pmI wish I could get a copy of “Spearhead from Space” steelbook for less than $383.
Anthony Fisher
November 24th, 2021 - 1:07pmI don’t see it happening. It’ll turn into a cycle because once series 9 is re-released or released with new art, then they’ll be demand for 10 and then 11 and then series 1 to be re-released and so on. Maybe give it a few years and they’ll re-release them on 4k steelbook
Crosby
November 23rd, 2021 - 9:34pmLooking forward to this release I wonder if they will re-release all the other animations they have done on Blu-ray like the Tenth Planet, the invasion, Reign of Terror, The Moonbase
D84
November 23rd, 2021 - 10:04pmI expect that will come if ever “The Collection” of those seasons is released.
The big unknown at the moment is IF the team teams behind “The Collection” are willing to wait until all the missing parts in a particular season are animated before considering putting it out
Personally I would prefer they did – so that each season is complete using any telesnap reconstruction as an extra rather than the main feature
Time will tell I guess
Gordon
November 23rd, 2021 - 8:36pmNot surprised it’s being done but I was surprised that big finish creative are tackling it. Maybe they are doing wheel or something else.
I like the teaser we got. It’s very fury from the deep in style but it’s obviously going to benefit from the improvements they made and experience with galaxy 4. If it’s in the same ball park quality wise as galaxy 4 I will be happy with it.
D84
November 23rd, 2021 - 9:38pmI know Big Finish Creative are one of the teams we have doing the animations now – but who is the other team again?
Did they do Evil? (If BFC did Web and Galaxy 4)
Gordon
November 23rd, 2021 - 9:57pmThe other team is the bbc studios team and is headed up with Anne-Marie Walsh and has done evil, faceless etc
Anonymous
November 23rd, 2021 - 10:52pmBBC Studios. Is it too late to hope for Dalek’s Masterplan for the 60th…
Gordon
November 24th, 2021 - 9:10amIf they started masterplan straight after evil (July 2021) it would give them just over 2 years bearing in mind to have it out in time for the anniversary they would need to have it done 1-2 months before release. Considering the sheer amount of characters sets and costumes I think it might be a struggle to get it done in time.
D84
November 24th, 2021 - 9:18amAh yes thanks Gordon & anonymous
Would it be wild and out there to suspect and hope they are now building out their existing 10 minute version of Wheel in Space to a full 6 episodes?
As with all these things I imagine they have recognised their own improvement over the last few years (Macra > Evil) so may just want to start again but, they have some of the character prints pre existing and its quite a self contained (base under siege) story so not exactly controversial in terms of choice (difficult backgrounds and characters etc)
Just a thought…………….
Anonymous
November 24th, 2021 - 12:14pmThanks for your thoughts, Gordon.
I’m sure, like most, I’ll be grateful for whatever they manage to recreate. I’m sure, at least commercially speaking, Wheel in Space is a fair shout. Very excited to see Abominable next year!
Doctor Mysterio
November 24th, 2021 - 7:01pmI wonder if the DMP will come out spread over two releases to help justify costs? Either way, it can’t come soon enough!
Bobby Fackrell
November 23rd, 2021 - 7:15pmYes! Love this one, can’t wait.
I’m one of the minority who prefer this one to Web of Fear
Doctor What
November 23rd, 2021 - 8:15pmNope, I do too. I love Web, but there’s something about The Abominable Snowmen that just gives it the edge, I dunno whether it’s because of Terrance Dick’s brilliant writing in the Target book version or whether it’s because it piques my interest for long enough with the audio version, there is something
Bobby Fackrell
November 23rd, 2021 - 10:36pm‘Now Victoria this is one of those moments where discretion is the better part of valour, Jamie has an idea!’
Classic!
I love the monks, it a great setting for the Yeti as well, the Intelligence is really chilling in this one, Web is a little repetitive and the scene where they hang the doctor outside the monastery is brilliant.
‘And as for you Travers!’
Prof Horner
November 23rd, 2021 - 7:07pmI don’t have any problem with big finish doing Abominable Snowmen.its only web of fear episode 3 with it’s bizarre body movement which gives the impression that that they are suffering from some unpleasant medical condition, that I don’t like. hope that means we get Wheel in Space next year as Meaning season 5 gets finished sooner rather than later.
Lee D
November 23rd, 2021 - 7:33pmI didn’t mind Web animated, but there is a bit of work to be done on the neck and continual arms waving thing, I’m sure these will be worked out.
Coleman
November 23rd, 2021 - 6:53pmI’ll order in a couple of months time, then I might get it delivered 4 days early.
the ergon
November 23rd, 2021 - 8:02pmColeman you have to let these things go. Maybe youll drop on lucky next time. Anyway youll most likely get the next wave of figures early as a consolation.
Coleman
November 24th, 2021 - 11:02amWill do mate, was still feeling abit sore from the last Steelbook.
I’ve ordered straight away as usual, I like to support these projects so hopefully we will have a full set of old stories one day.
The ergon
November 24th, 2021 - 12:29pmIts got to be wheel in space next dont you think? Failing that mission to the unkbown featuring excellent uclan version. Id like those underwater episodes animated. Drives me mad as it is. Maybe celestial?
Coleman
November 24th, 2021 - 1:21pmTo be fair ergon I thought “Wheel” was going to be animated years ago, ever since that original ten minutes was officially made. Not sure what happened?
Children of davros
November 24th, 2021 - 2:25pmIt was never planned Coleman, only that short edited version of episode 1 was produced. The animation team at the time said it was an example not a tease of a forthcoming release. I don’t think it will be long before it’s done unless they decide to hold onto a major monster as the final troughton release.
Robert Watkins
November 23rd, 2021 - 6:40pmDisappointing it’s a Big Finish animation, not impressed by Fury or Galaxy Four
Prowl 1701
November 23rd, 2021 - 8:56pmCompletely agree.
Children of davros
November 23rd, 2021 - 10:10pmFury and galaxy were great.
Doug Who
November 23rd, 2021 - 11:44pmMust agree with you Robert. This is the missing story I was looking forward to most so a little disappointed it’s this team. The animated ‘Evil’ was very good so was hoping this would be the same animators.
I fully understand the budget constraints but the odd anatomical proportions are so distracting in the BF attempts. The need to ‘fill’ the widescreen ratio doesn’t help either. Having said that, from the clip, the backgrounds do look a vast improvement on those from ‘Galaxy 4’.
Lee D
November 23rd, 2021 - 6:13pmCan’t wait for this story, I also have no complaints as thoroughly enjoyed Galaxy 4 and I’m saving Evil for a special day!!
D84
November 23rd, 2021 - 4:00pmWoo hoo, another happy whovian, on Doctor Who day. No complaints from me. Promptly ordered
Prowl 1701
November 23rd, 2021 - 4:16pmSame animation as Fury, so disappointing . Still getting it though, want to support the range and get them all animated!
anon
November 23rd, 2021 - 3:51pmthis looks brilliant!
happy Doctor Who day everyone
Lee D
November 23rd, 2021 - 6:14pmHappy Dr. Who day too!!
Sons of Skaro
November 23rd, 2021 - 3:42pmWorst kept secret. I’m glad they finally announced it.
Gordon
November 23rd, 2021 - 8:25pmSo badly kept that even Frazer told me he did extras for it at a dvd signing last month. Then asked me to stay quiet.
MJS
November 23rd, 2021 - 3:35pmNice news on Dr Who Day!! Ordered!