The final thirteen Doctor Who missing storylines: The case for each

Go back in time to 1968 and tell someone who’s been watching and enjoying Patrick Troughton’s Doctor, that in fifty year’s time the majority of his stories will be given new life as animations. At the beginning of the month, The Evil of the Daleks were announced, and The Abominable Snowman is also on the way (it’s not been officially announced, but it’s next, trust me). That gives us 13 stories until every single Doctor Who story is available on DVD. Which is INSANE. So let’s break them all down and I’ll try and figure out the order they’re going to be made, because make no mistake, I can guarantee that all of them are going to be made –

The case for… Marco Polo

Marco Polo looks like he’s been sent to the principal’s office and the Doctor’s his very disappointed granddad.

The show’s first lost epic, Marco Polo is a sprawling seven part serial that’s been lost to legend. The narrated soundtrack exists of course, as does the novelisation, but the original tapes are missing even though the rest of the premier season is pretty much intact. Despite this serial’s popularity, I don’t think we’re getting this any time soon. For starters, animation is expensive, and there’s seven parts to handle. The Evil of The Daleks is based on Dalek models that already exist, plus it’s not purely historical with dozens of costumes and location changes. Marco Polo literally takes place over MONTHS. It’s a huge story. And with no surviving episodes or even any footage (unlike Evil), all we have are telesnaps and behind the scenes photographs to animate this vast adventure. That’s a pretty big hurdle. It’ll happen one day, but I think the animation team will want to tackle other historicals first before doing this, one of the crown jewels of missing serials.

March (Of the Cybermen)- Ben’s Big Cyber Bonanza

The Cybermen, first introduced in 1966, are Doctor Who’s second oldest and persistent foe. There are many different versions and interpretations, but the Cybermen are always tragic figures who in the right hands can be brilliant villains and characters. Chris Chibnall is planning to bring them back in Series 12, with the “Lone Cyberman” already being teased in both Fugitive of the Judoon and the trailer and today we got a glimpse of the beautiful new Cyberman design for the two part finale, Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children. So to celebrate my favourite Doctor Who monster, we’re going to discuss all sixteen Cybermen television stories so far, plus an audio sidetrack. We’re not doing any story where the Cybermen are featured but not about them or as a main villain (such as The Five Doctors or The Pandorica Opens) or Cyberwoman from Torchwood, mainly because I haven’t seen it and have no intention of doing so thank you very much. So with that aside, let’s chronicle the Cybermen throughout Who’s history-

• The Tenth Planet