BBC Studios, out now

The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive in Tibet where the Yeti are causing problems for the local monks…

If this is truly the last of the animated reconstructions of missing BBC Doctor Who episodes – at least for some time to come – then the range goes out on a real high, with Gary Russell and his team at Big Finish Creative providing us with a version that honours what was made in 1967 while still taking advantage of some of the strengths of the animated medium.

Sure it’s not precisely what was on screen 55 years ago – it never could be, even if it slavishly followed every telesnap – and there are a couple of creative decisions that might surprise viewers (as one of them did at the BFI premiere – although from the reaction of the audience it would seem it was a change that generally went down well). As has been well documented already, the representation is now far more accurate, making Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling and Jack Watling the only Caucasian characters, as they would have been.

It’s in full colour and 16:9 widescreen; there is a 4:3 monochrome option available, as well as a beautifully restored episode 2 and an enjoyable reconstruction of the other episodes. The windmilling arm problem seems to have been solved, and there’s a lot of good naturalistic movement (there are always going to be those who seem to think the cult niche reconstruction of a six decade old BBC children’s show is going to attract a Netflix-level budget but we’re not going to see that in my lifetime!). Mark Ayres has once again done an excellent job cleaning up the soundtrack, with no inclination to alter some of the real inconsistencies of the original (go from the end of episode 4 to the start of episode 5 to spot one of the most obvious).

It’s a story that I remember far more from the Target novel – which does seem to have been a particular favourite of my generation of fan judging by the photos that pop up from time to time on line – and Russell and co. maintain the tension of the serial that Terrance Dicks rendered in print. There’s even a sequence that couldn’t have been shown on TV at the time (referenced in the documentary).

The extra material includes fascinating commentaries moderated by Toby Hadoke, which don’t confine themselves to what’s on screen, and one of Chris Chapman’s best behind the scenes documentaries, which focuses on the original show rather than the animation. Hadoke and Frazer Hines anchor this, with one particularly lovely moment early on and input from across the decades. There’s even material from the infamous BSB Doctor Who weekend…

Verdict: A fine Doctor Who story, given a terrific treatment. 9/10

Paul Simpson

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