Lost ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘The Faceless Ones’ is to be recreated as an animation.
BBC Studios has announced the storyline – the eighth serial in the fourth series of the classic era of the BBC One sci-fi show, of which only two live-action episodes are in existence – is being recreated in full colour animation.
The story – which was originally broadcast on BBC One in six parts between April and May 1967 – pits the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) against a race of identity-stealing aliens known as the Chameleons.
It is being made following the success of the earlier releases of ‘lost story’ animations ‘The Power of the Daleks’ and ‘The Macra Terror’.
Throughout the 1960s and ’70s the BBC wiped numerous ‘Doctor Who’ episodes – many of which are from Troughton’s era – from its archive before realising the value of such shows and has been on a mission to recover any surviving tapes in recent decades.
‘The Faceless Ones’ will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2020 and the release will also include surviving archive material from the original 1967 production.
Charles Norton – who is the animator-and-director on the ‘Doctor Who’ reconstructions – has made it his mission to recreate as many of the 26 incomplete serials as he can but admits some will be far more difficult to recreate than others.
Previously speaking to BANG Showbiz at a screening ‘The Power of the Daleks’ reconstruction, Charles said: "There are certain stories that are perhaps more doable than others. ‘The Crusade’ is an interesting one, because it’s one we’re missing two episodes from. So you look at it and think, ‘Two episodes? 45 minutes? We’ve just done two and a half hours – 45 minutes would be easy!’ Then you actually look at ‘The Crusade’, as I did a few days ago, and you realise that there are 24 speaking characters and they all have multiple changes of clothes. There’s lots of different costumes and sets. But I’m not saying it’s impossible. Nothing’s impossible."
‘The Faceless Ones’ is available to pre-order now on Amazon.
Lost Doctor Who story The Faceless Ones to become animated adventure
