Back in 2016 we looked at a curiosity of television history with the animation of the lost Doctor Who episode, The Power of the Daleks.  In the 1960s it was not unheard of that television stations did not retain footage of television series.  Film reels were thrown out instead of storing shows for archival purposes as we do today.  The greatest volume from one series is probably from the BBC in the UK with Doctor Who, where nearly 100 episodes were lost.  But thanks to fans recording the audio of the shows at home, plus film stills and the odd “found footage,” the stories themselves remain.  In the case of The Power of the Daleks, the BBC decided to animate the tale and distribute it for a new generation of Doctor Who fans.  Although the UK got to preview it last summer, the six episodes of the next animated lost Doctor Who story, Fury from the Deep, will be premiering to American viewers Monday, March 15, on AMC+ and Sunday, March 21, on BBC America.  It’s notable as the last of the lost BBC Doctor Who stories, and the original episode was the first time audiences ever got to see the Doctor’s trusty sonic screwdriver, which would become as iconic to the franchise as the Doctor and the TARDIS.

Fury from the Deep is the missing sixth serialized story of Doctor Who’s fifth season, which originally aired in six weekly episodes from March 16 to April 20, 1968.  It is the last missing story from the age of the missing BBC shows.

Viewers will catch up with the Doctor–the Second Doctor played by Patrick Troughton–and companions Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) and Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling) as a strange weed is infecting people at a coastal gas refinery and taking control of their minds.

No complete film recordings or master negatives of Fury from the Deep are known to have survived an archive purge in 1974.  This brand new color animation is recreated from original audio (previously released commercially), and a few photographs and surviving film clips, spliced into the final new production.

Check out this preview:

In addition to the U.S premiere Monday, March 15, on AMC+ and Sunday, March 21, on BBC America, you can order the DVD of the series here and Blu-ray here, both at Amazon (verify your player’s capabilities to make sure you have the right version for playback before ordering).

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg