The Abominable Snowmen could be the final animated offering?
The remaining Doctor Who animated specials, which have been restoring lost episodes for a new generation, have reportedly been scrapped by the BBC.
The latest entries in the series of releases include last year’s The Evil of the Daleks and Galaxy 4, following Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor and William Hartnell’s First Doctor respectively.
The collaborative project between BBC Studios and BBC America had made much progress towards giving die-hard Whovians a complete library of stories, but that looks as if it might now be cut short.
The Mirror reports that BBC America has pulled its funding from the project, meaning only the one story already in development will be released this year: The Abominable Snowmen (which recently dropped a teaser trailer).
If the report proves to be true, no doubt it will provoke an outcry from Doctor Who fans, for whom the missing episodes are a long-standing frustration.
Certain Doctor Who serials have been left incomplete due to the archiving practices of the ’60s and ’70s, which saw numerous programmes deleted for logistical reasons.
Fortunately, audio of all the missing episodes remains thanks to the diligence of the show’s fans, a number of whom have donated their recordings to the restoration effort.
If BBC America has withdrawn its support of the Doctor Who animated specials, it’s possible that another funder could step in to save the project.
Among the candidates is streaming service BritBox, which has become a haven for Doctor Who fans with its vast library of classic episodes, as well as the animated specials released thus far.
The strongest way to make a case for future entries in the series would be to throw support behind upcoming edition The Abominable Snowmen, which is currently scheduled for release on DVD, Blu-ray and Steelbook this year.
Doctor Who animated specials are available to stream on BritBox.
Thank you for your comment Vicky and one I think we can all agree on!
They should finish animating the remaining lost stories. I would buy each and everyone. Plus if they should ever find the missing episodes, I would buy it again.
I rebought ‘The Web of Fear’ after they animated the missing episode. I really would like them to animated ‘The Celestial Toymaker’.
I would like to wrie to the BBC and complain about cancelling the animation of missing episodes. Just when they were nearing the end of the Second Doctor’s Adventures with just three left to do. I pray they find more funding to continue the work. I love the Abominal Snowmen, the artwork was superb and the stoy is great. I thoroghly ennjoyed watvhing it. I love the coloured versions more
if money is a problem, where would you send money
Thank you very much for your comments Sean, and GNR certainly echo your sentiments.
Tragic news. I among many fans was looking forward to the animated episodes to complete the missing adventures. There was only ‘Marco Polo’, ‘The Crusade’, ‘Mission to the unknown’, ‘The Myth Makers’, ‘The Daleks Master Plan’, ‘The Massacre’, ‘The Celstial Toymaker’, ‘The Savages’ and ‘The Smugglers’ from the first Doctor (so 9 adventures there remaining.) Then only ‘The Highlanders’, ‘The Wheel In Space’ and ‘The Space Pirates’ remaining from the 2nd Doctor once ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ is released. I mean, come on only 3 adventures to animate and at least they would have completed the 2nd Doctors adventures for a new generation of fans. Surely that could have come to fruition. I’d understand with the 1st Doctor as he doesn’t sell as well or have as much of a fan base as the 2nd Doctor but saying that I really enjoyed the animated episodes to complete adventures and the recent ‘Galaxy 4’ was superb. 12 Adventures all up or even just the final 3 to complete Pat Troughton’s canon were all that remained. Add to that you wouldn’t have even have to do all of the episodes as a number survived as can be found on the ‘Lost In Time’ box set. Speaking of which, I think I will hold onto that set now until there is further talk of completing the remaining episodes. The sound tracks are not easy to find. Please at the very least complete the 2nd Doctors adventures.
So it seems that Michael Grade is now working for BBC America. Who else would kill off a money spinner
It would be a disaster if they cancel the production of further animations of missing Doctor Who episodes. I never got to see all of the Patrick Troughton episodes during the 1960s and I did not see any of the William Hartnell episodes during the 1960s. The animated episodes helps me visualise these missing episodes