As the BBC dusted off old episodes of the original Doctor Who series for DVD release, it was discovered that more than 100 episodes had somehow vanished from the archives. Manchester-based animation house was then called in to recreate two lost installments with animation.
Working with BBC Interactive Drama and Entertainment, Cosgrove Hall animated lead actor Patrick Troughton and the rest of the cast in black and white using the original soundtracks, which did survive. The recreated episodes are from the 1968 Cyberman story thread, ‘The Invasion.’ Sophie Walpole, head of BBC Interactive Drama and Entertainment, notes that the decision to fill in those gaps was influenced by the popularity of the all-new Doctor Who series, which airs on BBC in the U.K. and SCI FI Channel in the U.S.
“In the year that the Cybermen have returned to Doctor Who, it seemed a good idea to complete one of their finest outings from the 1960s,’ Walpole says. ‘The original two episodes of the series are lost forever but we have found a unique and innovative way of presenting this classic adventure by lovingly restoring the soundtrack and setting it to new animation. It’s a gripping adventure which still remains faithful to the original.”
Cosgrove Hall’s Steve Maher served as lead animator on the project. ‘Working in black-and-white animation is dramatic and graphic,’ he comments. ‘It gave us the opportunity to employ the kind of noir lighting that only really works without color. It’s a slightly surreal experience using digital technology to recreate the visual qualities inherent in a TV show from , but a treat was Patrick Troughton’s Doctor . He has a wonderfully animatable face, so he was a gift. ‘
Maher and crew employed keyframed traditional animation and also shot digital reference video that they then rotoscoped to achieve more realistic movement in certain scenes. Cosgrove had previously worked on the 40th anniversary Doctor Who story, developing techniques that would be significantly improved with ‘The Invasion’
Doctor Who: The Invasion will be available on DVD in November. A sneak preview can be downloaded at www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2006/06/20/33077.shtml.
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