A NORTH-EAST man has saved Dr Who from being lost in time - without the need for so much as a sonic screwdriver or a Tardis.

Rob Ritchie, from Doxford Park in Sunderland, is the creative force behind the newly ‘discovered’ Doctor Who adventure, The Power of the Daleks.

The serial was originally broadcast in 1966, and was destroyed, with only the soundtrack and stills from the show surviving.

It is considered one of the most important ‘lost’ serials, as it was the first to feature the second doctor, Patrick Troughton, and was only ever broadcast once, from November to December 1966.

But from this week fans can finally see the second Doctor’s first clash with his greatest enemies, as The Power of the Daleks is released as an animated DVD from the BBC.

Up until now it was considered too expensive to recreate an entire serial in animated form, but the pioneering work of freelance animator and University of Sunderland graduate Mr Ritchie changed that.

“There are 97 missing episodes of Doctor Who from 1963 - 1969 and there have been attempts to animate the odd episode,” he said. “But the BBC had previously stated that animating an entire story – four to six 24 minute animated episodes - would not be financially viable.”

Shortly after Mr Ritchie graduated in 2012 with his degree in media production, he was asked by a BBC producer who had spotted examples of his work on YouTube if he would like to help him recreate a lost Dad's Army story.

"We took the surviving audio and recreated the visuals with 2D Animation,” said Mr Ritchie. “I was brought onboard to recreate the famous title sequence in HD Widescreen, and later asked to help with character animation.

“The Dad's Army animation sold incredibly well via the BBC Store, so naturally the BBC were eager to look at recreating other lost shows.”

The Northern Echo: TIME: Sunderland University graduate Rob Ritchie who has worked on the animated lost Dr Who series Picture: DAVID WOOD

Sunderland University graduate Rob Ritchie who has worked on the animated lost Dr Who series.  Picture: DAVID WOOD

In February this year Mr Ritchie was asked to create a demo reel, which would be used to pitch a recreation of lost Doctor Who story The Power of the Daleks to senior producers at the BBC, blending 2D character animation with 3D animated Daleks.

He delivered them a trailer featuring Daleks and a monologue by the Doctor - after only a month’s wait they commissioned the project.

“I was initially only brought on board to make the trailer and animate the Daleks for the story but when we worked out the logistics of the production I was quickly promoted to CGI animator and Lead Compositor, a job that entailed piecing the whole project together taking the character animation and placing the characters in correct places, adding the backgrounds and creating visual effects.”

The Power of the Daleks is considered the ‘Holy Grail’ of lost classic British TV shows which have been wiped from the archives. The serial marked the first time the Doctor regenerated, when ‘first’ Doctor William Hartnell turned into ‘second’ Doctor Patrick Troughton. The serial was released on DVD in black and white on Monday to reflect how it was originally broadcast in 1966, with a full colour release on December 31.

As well as the forthcoming DVD release there are 750 cinema screenings planned in the US, and 150 in Australia.

Mr Ritchie said: “The feedback has been fantastic. I just can't believe the scale of it.”

  • The Power of the Daleks is available on DVD and digital download via the BBC Store.