The Doctor is best known for traversing space and time. Occasionally, crossing between live action and animation is also on the T.A.R.D.I.S. itinerary.

Back before cloud services could solve almost all archiving problems, studios would sometimes have to purge old films and footage to make room for newer programming. While it seemed like an excellent way to save space at the time, the BBC’s use of this practice cost fans the chance to see 97 episodes of the original run of Doctor Who.

There is always hope, though, as audio tracks of some of these episodes were saved, and have even been turned into animated features. Most of these lost episodes featured the second Doctor, Patrick Troughton. Two of his earlier adventures, Power of the Daleks and The Wheel in Space have already received the animation treatment. Now we're finding out that next year, we’ll be able to see and hear the melodic tones of Troughton’s recorder in The Macra Terror, an animated re-telling of the 1967 four-episode serial of the same name.

Video of Coming Soon: The Macra Terror | Doctor Who

The Macra are giant killer crabs that are brainwashing a future society into mining a toxic gas that is vital to the Macra’s survival. Let’s be honest “giant killer crabs” was enough of a hook to get us to watch. The above trailer makes them look scary enough already. Throw in some brainwashing on top of that, and you’ve got the makings of a Doctor Who horror-like classic.

Even though we’ll never be able to see The Macra Terror in its original form, some five decades later, letting people passionate about the Doctor recreate its magic just further establishes the lasting hold the show has had on pop culture. Don't you think?

The Macra Terror will be available on DVD in March 2019.

(via iO9)