While fans are waiting patiently for the new season of Doctor Who, the BBC is providing us with some new old Doctor Who. A painstaking live-action recreation of a lost episode of the classic series will be released for the first time on the show’s official YouTube channel next week.
1965’s “Mission of the Unknown” is a unique entry in Who canon. As a prelude to the 12-part epic “The Daleks’ Master Plan,” it doesn’t feature the Doctor or his companions. Instead, it follows Space Security Agent Marc Cory as he attempts to warn Earth of the Daleks’ secret plans for universal conquest. Though an audio recording survives, no footage has been available for decades.
Earlier this year, however, a hard-working team of students, graduates and staff at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK restaged the entire episode, with the involvement of original stars Edward de Souza and Peter Purves and Nicholas Briggs, the voice of the Daleks in the modern series. Whovians everywhere can now see their efforts when the “Mission to the Unknown” recreation premieres next Wednesday.
For more, here’s a trailer for the special episode and an extract from the press release:
Mission to the Unknown will be premiered on the Doctor Who YouTube channel at exactly 5.50pm BST on the 9th October to mark the anniversary of the original broadcast of the episode, which was first aired on BBC One in 1965.
The episode will be followed by a making-of documentary short created by YouTuber Josh Snares featuring the cast and crew of Mission to the Unknown with voice of the Daleks, Nicholas Briggs, original cast member Edward de Souza and the classic Doctor Who companion Peter Purves (Steven Taylor) who played the companion to the First Doctor in the 1960s.
As for new Doctor Who, production is still underway on season 12, starring Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. The BBC is keeping everything under lock and key, but we do know that rhino-headed foes the Judoon will be returning. It’s also thought there will be another winter special coming either this Christmas or in the new year, prior to the full season in the spring. As always, watch this space for more.