Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes Collection: (1965-1966) No. 2 [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Doctor Who's missing episodes will always be looked at with pain and frustration that we can no longer see these truly epic, emotional and well acted wobbly classics. In this second volume of missing episodes audio soundtracks we will be travelling back to the mid-sixties and some of the truly epic classics of Doctor Who. Here is a rundown of what is included in this collection;

1.The Daleks' Master Plan - 13 Episodes {episodes 2,5 & 10 exist}
2.The Massacre - 4 Episodes - {0 exist}
3.The Celestial Toymaker - 4 Episodes - {episode 4 exists}
4.The Savages - 4 Episodes - {0 exist}

So now thats all cleared up, on with the reviews;

The Daleks' Master Plan - Including the prelude "Mission to the Unknown" episode that was meant as a taster to this epic 5 hour long, 12 episode monster. The Master Plan is no shadow of a doubt an absolute classic in every sense of the meaning, the setting is 4000AD, our Solar System, the Milky Way is under threat from the Daleks {yet again} and their mates, the outer galaxy delagates, including Guardian of the Solar System Mavic Chen. Kevin Stoney the much missed actor who was as iconic to me in Doctor Who as the Brig, Benton and Yates is a treat in this story, this is not his greatest role, that surely you will agree goes to his character of Tobias Vaughn in The Invasion {1968} but nevertheless he is a powerhouse performer in this story and to me is its highlight. William Hartnell is on top form here also, the energy he exudes when acting is ferocious and quite enthralling, also of note should be ultimate Doctor Who face Nic Courtney in his first ever role in Who as SSS agent Bret Vyon. As always Nic puts in his best and shines during the first half of this mommoth journey. The story itself is simple, the Daleks want to dominate the universe and they think they have cracked it now with the use of the Time Destructor, a weapon of infinate power. As ever, the Doctor and co. try to thwart their plans and save the day. They are ultimately successful. But costs are involved.

The story is let down in the middle by the christmas episode "The Feast of Steven" and so it is probably best if you skip this omission and keep up with the main plot. The first ever on screen death of a companion takes place in this story, Katarina, who only appears for a mere 5 episodes sacrifices herself to save the others and so is sucked in to outer space, if you have seen the Loose Cannon Reconstruction of this serial, you will know how graphic the scene is. Jean Marsh makes her Doctor Who debut in this serial as SSS agent Sara Kingdom, Bret's sister no less and once she is finished killing poor old Bret for aiding the travellers she promptly joins them in the next episode.

All in all this is a great story, I wont give to much of the plot away, find that out for yourselves by getting this serial via CD or recons.com, Great serial 10/10

The Massacre of St Bartholomews Eve - Not a classic but enjoyable nonetheless and quite violent in parts, not for the kiddies this one. The overall theme is graphic and full of blood and tears, the ending is emotional and I wish that episode 4 still existed, but hey, what can you do but wait 50 years until it is found under a sofa. As with Marco Polo, I never really gave this story the time of day until recently when I have been watching all the classic serials in order of transmition. When I sat down to watch this it was with some reluctance I'll admit, I was not sure what to expect from The Massacre but after watching all 4 episodes, I was quite pleased with it, It is slow but all early historicals are, so I couldn't not like it for that reason, anyways, I quite enjoyed it afterall and will certainly look foward to watching it in the future, whenever that may be. 8/10.

The Celestial Toymaker - EXCELLENT, PURE POETRY DEAR BOY!!!. This is most probably in my top 3 Hartnell serials, The Toymaker from Brian Hayles is a masterpiece and I love every bit of it, I can only hope and pray that episodes 1,2,3 are found before I die as this is the pinnacle for me of Doctor Who's creativity and scope. I first heard this story via a BBC CD release that was a few years old, then I got my hands on a Loose Cannon Reconstruction and instantly fell in love with it, Michael Gough as the Toymaker is probably the greatest casting Who has ever performed. He exudes power and menace that other actors can't even think of, everything is perfect about this story, exept that its missing its first, second and third episodes, but the 4th exists and is by far the best of the bunch, thank the lord it still exists and has been remastered and released in the BBC DVD Lost in Time box set. I really can't recommend this story enough and I believe that it stands as one of the greatest pieces of television ever made!!! 100/100.

The Savages - Ian Stuart Black's first story of his eventual trilogy is The Savages and whilst the overall thinking was good, the result was bog standard, I used to like this story very much, until I got the Loose Cannon Reconstruction of it and actually saw it for what it was, now its sort of like Tom Baker's later years to me, good but not fantastic. It is just so standard, the plot, acting and ending is pure textbook, nothing new and exciting and far from a classic. Only listen to this serial if like me you are going through them all in order or you are a fan of this serial, then go ahead and enjoy. For me though, the Savages is a disapointment on so many levels. It should have been much better, Ian Stuart Black returned to write two beautiful classics "The War Machines" and "The Macra Terror", this story however, I will overlook coming from the great pen of Black. 5/10.

And so thats it, Volume 2 has been reviewed, I will just finish up by saying that the value of this release astounds me, you would have been paying nearly £15-20 a few years ago for just 1 CD. The quality of the sound recordings is fantastic and Mark Ayres has yet again done a brilliant job in bringing these classics back from the dead.

10/10 from me, Many thanks for your time.

M.B.

Like the episodes on these discs the PDF scripts are missing from this set. Perhaps the BBC will release them in a boxset in forty years time!

Really enjoy having the opportunity to remember the episodes that I last watched from behind the sofa when I was 6. I'm so glad that they haven't been lost entirely.