The Abominable Snowmen will be released in 2022 on DVD, Blu-ray and as an exclusive Steelbook, filling another gap in missing Doctor Who episodes. A U.S. release date is pending.
Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen is a six-part story based on audio recordings of the original episodes. Most of the six-part adventure story was lost soon after the program’s original transmission in 1967 and only the audio recordings of the episodes survived.
Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen follows the Doctor as he returns to the Himalayas 300 years after his first visit to the Holy Ganta, an ancient relic he was given many centuries ago by the grateful monks at Det-Sen Monastery. On arriving, the Doctor is blamed for a series of brutal murders in the area, however companions Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield discover the true culprits – the previously peaceful Yeti that live in seclusion on the mountainside have apparently turned violent.
The Doctor must convince the monks that not only is he not their enemy, but the real foe is living amongst them. Their ancient Master, Padmasambhava, is being controlled by an alien entity known only as the Great Intelligence.
The release gives fans the opportunity to enjoy the six new fully animated presentations of this lost classic, which will be released alongside the one surviving segment episode two.
“We’re delighted to announce Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen, something Doctor Who fans have been waiting patiently for over the years,” said Russell Minton, executive producer. “We’re grateful for the surviving audio-only recordings, which we are very lucky to have courtesy of several Doctor Who fans, which have allowed us to create another exciting and action-packed chapter in the Doctor’s story.”
The original Doctor Who TV series ran from 1963-89. Due to the BBC’s shameful early practice of throwing out their precious content, many early episodes are now missing or incomplete, mostly from the Second and First Doctor eras of Troughton and William Hartnell. Recently restorations have progressed from telesnaps — still images over surviving soundtracks — to full, if imperfect, animation.
In addition to “The Evil of the Daleks” and the upcoming and previously announced “Web of Fear,” animators have re-created the lost or incomplete Doctor Who adventures “Fury From the Deep,” “The Faceless Ones,” “The Macra Terror,” “Power of the Daleks” and “Shada.” If BBC America follows its recent practice, the newest releases might follow their predecessors in being broadcast by the premium cable network … so, stay tuned!
Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen
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