Planet of Giants "The Urge to Live" (lost unaired fourth part episode of Doctor Who serial; 1964)
Doctor Who is an immensely popular British sci-fi television series in serial (self-contained but multi-part stories) format that began airing in 1963, ran with various different Doctors until 1989 and as of 2005 is enjoying a successful revival.
However, as was the case with much of British TV in the 1960's and early 70's, many episodes of Doctor Who were wiped or destroyed in order to make room on their master tapes for newer shows, as a cost-cutting measure. This has resulted in 97 episodes from first six seasons of the show being missing. The count was once much, much higher, and it is only thanks to the dedication of fans of the show we have any of them to watch at all.
All that being said, though, there is one episode from the second season serial Planet of Giants that is unlikely to ever see the light of day - mostly because it never went to air.
Background
The four-part Planet of Giants began life as the proposed series premiere (instead of "An Unearthly Child") but was pushed back to the second season opener when then producer Verity Lambert felt it didn't provide enough characterization. It was duly filmed as the ninth serial of ten in the first production block and held over.
That is until Donald Wilson, Head of BBC serials at the time, decided that The Dalek Invasion of Earth would make a far superior second-season opener. Unfortunately, one of the main characters at the time (Susan Foreman, portrayed by Carol Ann Ford) was featured in Planet of Giants and departed at the end of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, meaning merely switching the two serials would be impossible. Thus Wilson decided to edit the last two parts of Giants (dubbed "Crisis" and "The Urge to Live") into one episode, keeping the onscreen name "Crisis".[1]
The result was an episode that, while slightly rushed, was still well-received - in particular the newfound focus on the four core cast members (Foreman along with William Hartnell as The Doctor, William Russell as Ian Chesterton and Jacquelin Hill as Barbara Wright) instead of one-offs. On the other hand, the editing resulted in the loss of most of famous TV director Douglas Camfield's first work on the show, as he had only directed episode 4, whereas episodes 1-3 were directed by Mervyn Pinfield. Camfield was however credited as the sole director of the merged version. To fill the gap at the end of the production block thpus created, a self-contained prologue, "Mission to the Unknown", was tacked onto the massive twelve-part serial The Daleks' Master Plan. Ironically enough, "Mission" would later become one of the most sought-after of the lost episodes.
Availability
Parts of both "The Urge to Live" and "Crisis" were used in the final broadcast version, but any unused footage was promptly wiped as per policy. likely this material is permanently lost. A reconstruction of the original storyline does exist, using production stills and bringing in the surviving actors (Russell and Foreman) to re-enact their perFormances, and gives a taste of what could have been.[2]
References
- ↑ Radio Times review that briefly discusses the editting Retrieved 6th Jan '22
- ↑ Mini documentary about the reconstruction Retrieved 6th Jan '22
See Also
- Doctor Who (partially lost episodes of British science-fiction TV series; 1963-1974)
- Doctor Who: "The Parting of the Ways" (lost alternate ending of science-fiction TV series finale; 2005)
- The Doctor Who Years (found "Doctor Who" BBCi documentary series; 2005)
- Doctor Who (lost pilot episodes of cancelled reboot of British sci-fi TV series; 1991)
- Doctor Who - Journey into Time radio play (lost radio program pilot; 1966-1967)]
- Shada (found unfinished Doctor Who serial; 1979)