Doctor Who and the Animation Dillema

 

With the UK release of Fury from the Deep, 29 out of all 97 missing episodes have been animated, meaning we are just 3 episodes away from having a third of Doctor Who’s lost history being able to be viewed in this form.  This is an incredible achievement.  Who could have thought 15  years ago we would be able to watch 10 stories on DVD from Troughton’s first two seasons, experience the exits of Ben; Polly and Victoria, watch the end of the Hartnell era and the beginning of Troughton’s time. These pieces of Doctor Who history are slowly (but surely) being filled in, allowing fans old and new to experience these stories in a new, and engaging visual way, something that is much harder to do with soundtracks and reconstructions. 

 

The number of stories from the Troughton era released on DVD vs the number released on VHS (orphaned episodes aside)

Every animation to date has its fans and critics.  Some people prefer sticking rigidly to what was intended in the 60’s, others prefer a more flexible approach opening up the episodes to perhaps a wider audience.  Some people prefer animations in black and white whilst others prefer them in full colour.  Some people prefer them in 4:3 aspect ratio, other in 16:9.  The problem is everyone (including broadcasters) has an idea as to how they would like the episodes to look, whether that would be how they are presented, the quality of the animation or the art style.

Images from the Colour, Black and White + Surviving Episodes of The Faceless Ones

You cannot please everyone, yet BBC Studios have been trying their best to do exactly that with recent releases.  For example, The Faceless Ones animation presents the episodes in several forms.  You can watch an entire 16:9 colour animation, an entire 4:3 black and white animation, a 4:3 black and white animation with the surviving episodes included and there is nothing to stop you mixing things up.  You could have 4 missing episodes in colour, widescreen whilst watching 2 surviving episodes on another disc or turn down the colour to watch the animated episodes in widescreen black and white (I don’t recommend doing the latter as the 4:3 episodes have been graded especially for black and white).  And even then if animation is not your thing, included on Disc 3 is a photographic reconstruction of the story using the surviving tele-snaps, photos, CGI, images from existing episodes and other bits and bobs produced with the options of a narrated soundtrack and or subtitles.  I think we are spoilt for choice.  

Although sadly the old DVD range animations do not come with recons (except for the VHS ones with The Tenth Planet and The Ice Warriors), I am sure that will be rectified once The Collection releases those stories.

But of course, after all that there will be some people left unsatisfied with how they can view the episodes. Fury from the Deep offers the episodes only in 16:9 and The Power of the Daleks colour version is no longer commercially available in the UK (as the colour was done separately to the animation team, leaving the quality much to be desired).  We are Doctor Who fans, of course there will always be someone unhappy!

Over the past 14 years we have seen in total 5 teams working on these productions.  Starting off with stories that only needed one or two episodes to complete before moving on stories that are completely missing.  To do this we have seen a variety of software, artists, and methods use to recreate the episodes, which in turn causes some disagreements amongst fans online over each one.

Take the recent release of Fury from the Deep as an example.  I have seen comments ranging from “It's as if the missing episodes are turning up” to “I've seen better stick figures than these characterless line drawings.”  You cannot win.

No product is perfect.  There are things about every animation I dislike. The totally inaccurate Shalka TARDIS model in The Invasion, the random close-up shots in The Reign of Terror and The Tenth Planet and I could go on.  But you must remember these are not Pixar blockbusters with a budget of millions, they are straight to DVD releases (with perhaps a one-off showing on BBC America) of a 57-year-old production.  They cannot afford huge budgets. 

Animation is an artform that is not cheap to do.  Not all styles will aesthetically please everyone.  I am sure there are bits the creatives wish they could change with every animation if they were given a second attempt, and they were given that opportunity with The Power of the Daleks.  If an animation is not to your taste, then there are always alternative ways you can enjoy the story, such as Soundtracks, Target Novels and Audiobooks to name a few.

The TARDIS is it appears in The Invasion animation.

And yes, changes might have to be made to the story to make it work in animation form.  As disappointing it might be that a memorable scene may be cut or a scene has changes that does not closely follow what was originally transmitted, sometimes these edits are necessary to reduce the amount of work the designers have to do or make a scene work better in the format of animation.  That is why it is excellent the animations now come with brand new reconstructions, which perhaps helps cater for the purists.

My only concern with the current approach is if to say Fury from the Deep, Episode 4 was found in 5 years’ time, would the animation fit in with the surviving episode and work?  The Harris’s home looks completely unrecognisable in the animation compared to the surviving set photographs.  Yes, there will always be a visual difference between animation and the live action episodes, but I fear if a recovery were to occur of a few episodes, then the existing animation might not work in context.

But that is a minor fear. The stories themselves are still missing

But who could imagine 15 years ago we could be a position to have this? I remember thinking after The Invasion we will never see another animation again.  And I remember thinking the same thing in 2015 after The Underwater Menace came out.

I for one am eternally grateful for every animation we have received to date.  I have not found a single one unwatchable.  I hope they long may continue until those 97 missing episodes perhaps become just that little bit less of an enigma. 

One day, they shall come back…