The BBC will release partially lost Doctor Who story The Celestial Toymaker on DVD and Blu-ray, complete with animated episodes, in June.
The animation of 1966 William Hartnell Doctor Who story The Celestial Toymaker was confirmed in December last year, just before David Tennant’s 14th Doctor went up against Neil Patrick Harris’ version of the character.
The BBC has now released the artwork for the DVD and Blu Ray, which you can see here.
Thanks to Amazon, we also know that it will be released on the 10th of June.
The story, written by Brian Hayles with rewrites by script editor Donald Tosh, saw First Doctor William Hartnell and his companions Steven Taylor (Blue Peter icon Peter Purves) and Dodo Chaplet (Jackie Lane) battle the titular Toymaker, plsyed by Michael Gough, as he forces The Doctor to play the impossible Trilogic Game. Meanwhile, Steven and Dodo must work their way through a series of childish games which turn out to be deadly.
Currently, only the fourth episode The Final Test exists in the BBC archives. You can watch it on iPlayer.
BBC Studios have animated all missing episodes in both colour and black and white, and the original film elements have been fully restored.
Watch the trailer below:
The two disc set will include:
Disc One
Episodes 1-4 – Animation – Black and White
Episodes 1-3 – Reconstruction
Episode 4 – Original 1966 Episode newly restored
New Audio Commentaries
Disc Two
Episodes 1-4 – Animation – Colour
Making The Animation
Doctor Who Escape Room – Team First Doctor
Sylvester McCoy Introduction for episode 4 as per the original VHS release
Photo Gallery – PDF Material including camera scripts
It’s a good time to be a Whovian, as the new series of Doctor Who starring Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson will begin with the first two episodes dropping on iPlayer at midnight on 11th May.
