The Tenth Planet - Far from being all over... (18/11/13)

[Andrew Curnow]

Moving quickly on from my 'not even a pun' title, it looks like (no big surprise really, but nice to have it confirmed) The Tenth Planet WILL be having its final episode animated:

The First Doctor’s final adventure The Tenth Planet is to have its lost fourth episode animated for DVD release, doctorwho.tv can exclusively reveal.

Teased yesterday at the Gallifrey One convention by Dan Hall, commissioning editor of the classic Doctor Who DVD range, The Tenth Planet sees both the introduction of the menacing, dead-eyed Cybermen, and the departure of the First Doctor, William Hartnell. The final episode has been missing from the BBC Archives since the mid-1970s, and will be reconstructed using the same Thetamation process used to recreate The Reign of Terror episodes 4 and 5.

Dan Hall said: "It’s a real thrill to be bringing such an iconic Doctor Who episode back to life. Without the events established in The Tenth Planet episode 4, there would be no Doctor Who as we know it!"

The release date is currently scheduled for late 2013.

(News story nabbed from www.doctowho.tv, which I found via Twitter - how modern of me!!)

[Nyder]

Thanks Andrew - not totally unexpected, but welcome nevertheless :-)

[Dirk Gently]

Very interesting & good news. Shame they are sticking with that animation studio though.


Still, in may be 10 years time they'll do a "real movement animation" of the episodes....well I can dream.

[Stuart Wallis]

Very interesting & good news. Shame they are sticking with that animation studio though.

Perhaps they'll learn from their mistakes... At least it's being done.

[Andrew Curnow]

Hopefully they'll take on board the almost-universal comment that there's just too much movement on the two Reign of Terror episodes, to produce something maybe a bit more sympathetic to the existing episodes.

Also, I think I'm right in saying that there are telesnaps for Tenth Planet 4 aren't there, which they didn't have for Reign? So, again hopefully, they may be able to use that as a sort of storyboard/template for what they're doing.

[SiHart]

Care? Why should I care?

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[Andrew Curnow]

That's the first such witty reply on this thread, but won't be the last I'm sure. No - it's far from over!

[Si Hunt]

In his panel today Dan noted how Ep 5 of Reign even was better than 4 and that TP will represent an advance and their further experience in producing the animation. Basically, they're getting better all the time.

Also the regeneration sequence WILL be animated so as not to take people out of the experience, its two discs and there is loads of extras.

Si.

[Stuart Wallis]

Also the regeneration sequence WILL be animated

Now that's going to open some debate, one way or another!

[Jason Thompson]

Now that's going to open some debate, one way or another!

Very probably, though there seems little to debate. Most episodes have some clips. If you animate an episode and suddenly switch mid-way through to a video clip, then back to animation that's very distracting. As long as the regeneration clip is included on the DVD somewhere...

Actually that's one thing I was disappointed by on the Reign of Terror DVD (in addition to the badly done animation): the 8mm clips were not present. I know they're on the Lost in Time set, so it's not a huge omission in the grand scheme of things, but it would have been nice to see them on the DVD of the relevant story.

[SiHart]

I've always been underwhelmed by the story. Its pretty nonsensical, Derek Martinus' direction is rather clinical and uninvolving and generally it's rather shoddy. There are far better episodes worthy of animation than pt 4, much as it'll be nice to have it completed.

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[Stuart Wallis]

Very probably, though there seems little to debate. Most episodes have some clips.

True, but fans being fans...

[SiHart]

There's a glimpse of the end of the episode here: http://www.doctorwho.tv/whats-new/ar...-animated-clip

And while it's fine, somehow it doesn't feel quite as mysterious or as odd as the cine film extracts we've seen.

[Dirk Gently]

Of course what we really need is for them to animate Power of the Daleks as well, just to see the regeneration in its full effect obviously.

[SiHart]

Well yes, that would be the ideal extra for The Tenth Planet (and indeed a far, far superior story to this one which is mostly a muddled bag of shite)

[Larry]

I've always been underwhelmed by the story

Same for me lets face it take out the regeneration and Tenth Planet is a fairly dull story.

There are far better episodes worthy of animation than pt 4, much as it'll be nice to have it completed.

2

Agreed I can only assume it's been chosen ahead of others simply because it's the 50th anniversary. Personally because we have already had animationfor a Hartnell story I would much of prefered to see a Troughton story [The Moonbase] having it's missing episodes annmated.

[Dirk Gently]

I would much of prefered to see a Troughton story [The Moonbase] having it's missing episodes annmated.

Ice Warriors perhaps?

[Jason Thompson]

And while it's fine, somehow it doesn't feel quite as mysterious or as odd as the cine film extracts we've seen.

I wonder how much of that is down to the fact that the 8 mm cine film extracts look odd anyway, simply as an artifact of the way they were made, though. I cant image the original videotape of the episode looked quite so odd and mysterious as the 8 mm clips do.

[SiHart]

Maybe. That did cross my mind as I was typing.

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[Si Hunt]

Do I ever cross your mind?

Si.

[SiHart]

Well yes as it happens.

[Stuart Wallis]

Oh my!

[Dave Tudor]

Indeed!

I know we're pretty used to that scene, but I do like the animation style they've used - it'll be interesting to see how the rest of it looks, especially the way they animate the Cybermen themselves (even if they hardly actually feature in this episode, if I remember correctly).

Have to say, though, although I do like this story, I agree that it is not as good as 'The Moonbase' which, although it's pretty much a remake, does it far more effectively.

[Stuart Wallis]

And how often can you say that of any remake or sequel? (Although I have to say, Tenth Planet's not great, but it's not as bad as all that IMHO.)

[Rob McCow]

Looks like the Tenth Planet is going to have a special feature - The Power of The Daleks in full colour and widescreen format*!

All that and The Underwater Menace too... Could be the box set of the decade!

*Of course, it could just be a rumour.