Doctor Who producer reveals selection process for lost story animations
First Doctor story The Savages has just become the latest missing serial to get the animation treatment.
Last week, lost Doctor Who serial The Savages became the latest missing story of the beloved sci-fi series to be released as an animation – with a limited edition Blu-ray steelbook now available for fans.
The story – first broadcast between May and June 1966 – stems from William Hartnell's era as the First Doctor, and joins a number of other serials including The Underwater Menace and The Celestial Toymaker in receiving the full animation treatment.
If you were wondering exactly how it's decided which serials are reimagined in this medium, executive producer Paul Hembury recently explained all in an interview for the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine.
"The selection process is quite layered," he revealed. "We ask ourselves which stories are likely to be the most commercially viable – because BBC Studios invests in these projects and it's a commercial organisation.
"We also look at how much material still exists, and in the past we've considered which of the missing stories are most likely to resurface. Not that we have any inside information there!"
Speaking more specifically about The Savages, he explained that there were various photos the team were able to use for reference, adding that he though the animation is "extremely faithful" given that no full episodes from the serial survive.
"I don't believe we've taken any liberties," he said. "We've employed a certain amount of licence, partly because we believe the fans are supportive of what we do. The ultimate aim is to create an entertaining programme for the viewer, but along the way we try to do the right thing."
Meanwhile, director AnneMarie Walsh said that she was "completely committed to it being authentic" and that she and her team wanted "to be true to the original material".
She continued: "Which in the case of The Savages is the script and the audio recording of the dialogue. But I also think we do what any director would so within the medium of animation. We have that freedom, so why not use it?"
Speaking at a special screening of The Savages last month, Hembury revealed that there are plans afoot to step up production of new Doctor Who animations for missing stories.
"Rather than one at a time, what we want to do is actually to accelerate the rate at which we make them," he explained.
"What we want to do – and I believe at this stage we will do – is to get the next one started reasonably soon, but before completing that one, we start the one after that... that's the goal.
"Things are coming together quite well. We don't have a signed agreement, but we're very hopeful of being able to do more."
Doctor Who Magazine 615 is on sale now.
Doctor Who season 15 will be released on 12th April 2025, coming to BBC iPlayer at 8am and later that day on BBC One.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
