After an archive purge in the 1970s, Doctor Who lost many an episode — even entire stories. It was reported by Deadline that the BBC is bringing back the 1966 series of episodes Power of the Daleks as a special animated release.
In the 1960s, certain BBC film reels were thrown out to make space for potentially more profitable recordings, leading to the loss of many episodes of British TV, and a total of 97 episodes from early Doctor Who, including Power of the Daleks.
The six-part Power of the Daleks series is slated to feature the regeneration of the first Doctor, William Hartnell, into second Doctor, Patrick Troughton. This comes as the Time Lord and his comrades Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze) battle on Planet Vulcan with the Daleks.
The story is very important to Doctor Who fans given that it is the first story to feature Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor – a major milestone in the show’s history. The series will be available digitally through BBC’s store on November 5, with one episode being released a day for six days.
This animated rendition will be directed by Charles Norton and will feature designs from comic book artists Martin Geraghty and Adrian Salmon.
“The Power Of The Daleks animation is the most ambitious Doctor Who archive restoration ever attempted and we’re all very honored to be a part of such an exciting project,” Norton said. “Intelligent, suspenseful and magnificently staged, The 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.”