The missing episodes are a bind
What is the best way to enjoy the missing episodes where only the audio track exists? I used a combination of the old BBC CDs with linking narration by Frazer Hines, the new animated episodes and even a couple of tele-snap reconstructions. Alas, there's no making up for the palpable sense of what has been lost. Troughton had such an expressive face that, decent though many of the animated reconstructions are, they are no substitute for the real thing. ‘Fury from the Deep', an unusual ‘Doctor Who' story in that nobody dies, is probably the best of the animations. Even during those stories with only one or two missing episodes (such as ‘The Invasion' and ‘The Web of Fear'), it still feels like more of a labour to sit through them and try to imagine what was on screen. At least the dialogue-rich dramas of the era allow you to follow the story by listening. The only one that I couldn't get into was Robert Holmes' rare misfire ‘The Space Pirates', which was a slog from start to finish. The Troughton era suffers much worse for missing episodes than the Hartnell era. Although there are hidden gems to be enjoyed, such as ‘The Macra Terror' and ‘Fury From the Deep', it's heartbreaking to ponder that only seven Troughton stories from his era exist in their entirety, and most of them are from his final season. You have to wait until his second season before you get the first complete story (‘The Tomb of the Cybermen'). And, of course, it would be the episode that introduces Nicholas Courtney as the Brigadier in ‘The Web of Fear' that is missing… Yet hearing his voice calling out in the tunnels during part three sends shivers down the spine…
