something queer going on

Day 06 – Whatever Tickles Your Fancy

As I said in yesterday's answers, I love the Second Doctor. Sadly, of his twenty-one serials, only six survive with all episodes intact, eleven have some episodes missing, and four are entirely lost. That's because the BBC used to have a policy of wiping its master tapes after a few years.

Lost episodes sometimes turn up in unexpected places (like the ones returned to the BBC by a collector who had bought them at a car boot sale). Short clips have been found in archives after having been removed by Australian television censors, and telesnaps generally exist. Best of all, audio of all episodes survives thanks to fan recordings.

This allows for reconstructions, which are in circulation for every lost or partially lost serial. So what tickles my fancy today is to tell you about ( my favorite lost story/reconstruction. )

I just finished watching the reconstruction of the Second Doctor story "The Enemy of the World." My non-spoilery review is that it's fab, with good performances all around (especially Patrick Troughton in a double role) and a complex script by David Whitaker that by Classic Who standards is remarkably tightly-plotted. There are also some truly creepy moments courtesy of a minor character who's best summarized by what Jamie says of him: "You must have been a nasty little boy." Even if you don't like reconstructions, give this one a try. This and "The Macra Terror" are the reconstructions I'd call indispensable for Second Doctor fans.

( very spoilery specifics below the cut )

Here are my responses to the meme I posted yesterday. (You can still ask about other pairings if you like; the original post is here.)

I've avoided major spoilers for recent or difficult-to-obtain canon (or in a couple of cases made them highlight-to-read) but there are minor spoilers galore.

biichan asked about ( Second Doctor/Jamie )

st_aurafina asked about ( Xavier/Magneto )

hafren asked about ( Hornblower/Pellew )

flo_nelja asked about ( Tenth Doctor/Simm!Master )

vilakins asked about ( Henderson/York )

thevera asked about ( Giles/Ethan )

entropy_house asked about ( Avon/Blake )

lullabee_lj asked about ( Eighth Doctor/Fitz Kreiner )

lullabee_lj also asked about ( Harry/Snape )

queenbookwench asked about ( Fraser/Kowalski )