There has been much reported over the last week about future animated Doctor Who releases, with both The Mirror and Radio Times making mention that The Evil of the Daleks and The Abominable Snowmen are set to be released in 2021.

Originally planned to be the last appearance of the Doctor’s greatest foe, The Evil of the Daleks is also notable for featuring the first appearance of Second Doctor companion Victoria Waterfield (played by Deborah Watling), with only the episode that she first appears in (discovered in a car boot sale years later) surviving to be returned to the BBC Archive.

The Abominable Snowmen, meanwhile, also has just one episode left standing, with the other five – featuring a story where the Doctor first meets recurring robot foes the Yeti – all still missing.

Both starring Patrick Troughton, these stories were lost during an archive purge at the BBC, with only scraps of footage of the missing episodes remaining – however, as with previously recreated lost stories, original soundtrack recordings and set photos will be used to accurately recreate the on-screen action as much as possible.

GNR understands more information about the animation teams working on the episodes and details about the release will be unveiled in due course – for now, though, fans can just get excited that more missing Doctor Who will, in some way, be returning to the canon for fans to enjoy watching.