Doctor Who has announced a promising update for its missing classic episodes.
Dating back to 1963, the historic seasons of Doctor Who are currently available to stream on BBC iPlayer, with the exception of 97 missing episodes that aired during the show's first six years.
The missing episodes are a result of the BBC erasing or reusing tapes in the 1960s and 70s, before archiving policies were in place. The erasure helped save storage space and costs, but has left 26 stories incomplete.
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However, the stories were not completely lost as audio recordings for every episode still exist, and many of the missing episodes have been released in a new animated format.
The animations have been worked on one at a time, with the 1966 episode 'The Savages' scheduled as the next release. But production on the project could soon speed up, according to executive producer Paul Hembury.
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Speaking at a screening of the new animation at the BFI Southbank, Hembury revealed that he is "very hopeful" of striking up a new agreement with BBC Studios that would allow them to animate multiple missing stories simultaneously.
![Doctor Who - The Savages [DVD]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1740956038-81QINQcNLSL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Doctor Who - The Savages [DVD]")
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"Rather than one at a time, what we want to do is actually to accelerate the rate at which we make them," he said, (via RadioTimes).
"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."
The missing stories have been individually released on DVD and Blu-ray, but Hembury explained that future animations could instead form part of a season boxset. "That's exactly the approach that we're taking," he said.
Doctor Who returns on April 12 BBC One in the UK and Disney+ elsewhere. Classic episodes of Doctor Who are available on BBC iPlayer in the UK.
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Divya is a freelance writer with experience in entertainment and lifestyle news. Described as a "telly addict" since childhood, Divya was able to translate her interests into a BJTC-accredited, Honours degree in Journalism and Media. After working in communications and marketing, Divya joined Digital Spy as a Freelance News Reporter. She has also written for various publications including Metro, Asian World News and TwitCelebGossip; as well as interviews, features and reviews on her own blog. Divya prides herself on her TV, film and showbiz knowledge, always offering (not so) fun facts to her long-suffering friends and family. From soaps to superheroes, Divya is the go-to person for tailored recommendations and up to date information.
