Can we expect the same for Doctor Who? (Picture: BBC)

This week the BBC will be unleashing a ‘missing’ episode of classic sitcom Dad’s Army, which has been animated for the BBC Store.

Coinciding with the release of the movie based on the show, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Bill Nighy, this previously missing story has not been seen since its first broadcast nearly 47 years ago.

The audio for A Stripe For Frazer remains and now the visuals have been brought to life by animation for fans in the UK.


A handful of episodes of Dad’s Army are currently ‘missing’ due to the BBC’s trashing policy in the sixties and seventies (before the lucrative advent of the home video market).



Another popular BBC classic, Doctor Who, has fared much worse in this regard – with a gobsmacking 97 episodes destroyed. Occasionally, a lost episode or two will be found (usually courtesy of a foreign country who bought a copy many years ago and did not destroy) but this is a rare occurrence.

But given the interest in Dad’s Army, could this mean Whovians will be treated to some unseen hits from the past too?

Back in 2006, BBC Worldwide entered the foray of animating missing episodes with the DVD release of the Patrick Troughton classic featuring the Cybermen, The Invasion. This continued with more releases such as the First Doctor’s final episode The Tenth Planet, and the Second Doctor adventures The Moonbase and The Ice Warriors.

So this is not a new phenomenon for Doctor Who, it’s a tried and tested formula which shifts DVDs in their thousands But what are the obstacles facing animated productions of this kind?

Niel Bushnell, an author and animator who worked on the film Space Jam and numerous Doctor Who projects, told Metro:

‘Animation is often very time consuming and labour intensive.

Trying to recreate lost episodes of Doctor Who complicates the process further as you’re recreating something that existed as opposed to just creating something without restrictions.’

BAFTA-nominated director Chris Chapman, who helmed many Doctor Who documentaries and the animation for The Ice Warriors, exclusively told Metro about the problems involved: ‘The challenge is always money. As these releases have never been for broadcast, budgets are tiny and that forces you in to a more stripped-back approach. Budget has been the reason so far that you’ve not seen more Doctor Who animations.’ ‘I’m very interested to see that the Dad’s Army animation is selling direct from the BBC Store – if that opens it up to a wider audience and makes more money than it would via the old DVD model then there could be life in the old Doctor yet!’ With so much material out there existing in audio format only, it seems that Doctor Who is ripe for this animated treatment and may be the only way fans see classic stories from their favourite Doctors. Metro have contacted the BBC for comment.

The 30 minute flash-animation of A Stripe For Frazer will be available exclusively on BBC Store from Feb 4, 2016.

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