Here it is, the news we’ve been waiting for!
BBC Worldwide are to release animation of lost Doctor Who serial, The Power of the Daleks on Saturday 5th November, exactly 50 years to the minute after it was first transmitted on BBC One at 5.50pm on Saturday 5th November, 1966.
It’s one of the Doctor’s most celebrated adventures and yet no complete film recordings of The Power of the Daleks are known to have survived. The master negatives were destroyed in an archive purge in 1974. The brand new black and white animation is based on audio recordings of the programme using the original cast, surviving photographs and film clips.
The six half-hour episodes feature the regeneration, or as it was then called ‘renewal’, of First Doctor, William Hartnell into Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, as the Time Lord and his companions Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze) do battle with the Daleks on the planet Vulcan.
The Power of the Daleks is being produced by the team behind the highly successful animation of lost Dad’s Army episode A Stripe For Frazer, first released on BBC Store in February this year. The producer and director is Charles Norton, with character designs from acclaimed comic book artists Martin Geraghty and Adrian Salmon, both of whom have worked for Doctor Who Magazine.
Charles Norton says:
“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 an exciting project. Intelligent, suspenseful and magnificently staged, Power of the Daleks is one of the great lost classics of 1960’s television and a superb example of the black and white era at its finest.”
Paul Hembury, Executive Producer, BBC Worldwide says:
“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.”
The Power Of The Daleks will be released on BBC Store on Saturday 5th November followed by the DVD on Monday 21st November.
You can pre-order the DVD from Amazon and HMV for £13.50 and £13.99 respectively. You can also register your interest in the BBC Store download here. But you want to see more of the animation, don’t you? Maybe in comparison to original photos, right? Well, we have some beautiful stills for you!
So there we have it, The Power of the Daleks will soon be able to stand alongside your other Doctor Who DVD’s. Are you excited? ‘Cause we are!
