I always thought it was a little off when I watched it and you have explained exactly what was off! I agree, given more time, it would have been wayyy better, time constraints always mess things up, deadlines suck :/
To this day I still miss Cosgrove Hall. Already legends with their name attached to other works like The Wind In The Willows and a noticeable evolution in their Doctor Who work from Scream Of The Shalka to The Infinite Quest and The Invasion during the 00s, it sucks that the company folded.
@@stickytapenrust6869 Oh silly me, I was under the impression from my own research that they folded due to financial troubles. Thank you for clearing that up.
I am loving these reviews, they are SO refreshing because there's very few Doctor Who outlets that actually know anything about animation or even discuss the show from a directorial pov. I really hope these continue!
I was taken aback by the 'crotch shots' used to show people were sitting or standing. I've never seen any television using 'crotch shots' before or since!
I love the fact that with the animations you can end up getting any style. Sure it means they’re not all consistent. But I adore the creativity we can get!
Yep! I'm reviewing all the animations (except the ones I've already done) so: Invasion, Reign, Tenth Planet, Moonbase, Ice Warriors, Power of the Daleks, Macra Terror, Faceless Ones, Fury from the Deep and ending on Evil of the Daleks :)
I don't think it ever gets talked about, but if you're watching classic Doctor Who for the first time, The Reign of terror animation will be the first Doctor Who animation you watch (Until they do Marco Polo) which gives the viewer a bad first impression for the animations. That's certainly what I felt watching classic Who for the first time this year. This animation made me dread the others of this style, but I was pleasantly surprised when I watched The tenth planet and The moonbase and realised just how amazing this style could be.
My general thoughts is that the tech isn’t ready yet. I’m yet to see anything that has really convinced me. It’s moving lips and eyes, but there’s a severe lack of performance. I have no issues with people making them, apart from the environmental concerns, and potential ethical concerns around stealing from artists. They’re just not my personal taste.
Honestly, the feedback here is really useful. You already commented on my Dalek’s Master Plan animation, and I definitely will take the advice into consideration when resuming progress. Great video!
you've really gone in depth josh, as usual. personally i never understood why this one was so disliked, i actually dont mind it at least there's a style to it but now i need to go back and watch again to focus on what you've brought up.
I think the artwork was mostly excellent with this animation, except I would tone down the extreme contrast between light and shadow a little bit. I also think some of the characters were slightly toothy when they talked. I suspect you’re right about them just running out of time, so a few corners were cut. I wonder how good will AI recreations eventually become, potentially rendering these animations obsolete. It would be fascinating to see episodes eventually recreated to the point where it’s hard to distinguish them from the real thing. That may be a long time off, but who knows what we’ll see in 10 or 20 years.
Yes! I was hoping you'd do a review of Reign of Terror. As an aside, the second and third episodes while available have some of the worst audio and picture quality out of all the found missing episodes. They could really do with some digital restoration. Maybe a refined animated episode 4 and the restored other available episodes would be good for a future DVD release.
Totally agree with you Josh, I’ve always thought that the artwork is amongst some of the best I’ve ever seen for the show but the editing and direction is just ridiculous and ruins the whole experience for me. It’s a real shame because they could’ve done something special with this IF they’d been given more time.
Yeah, it is definitely jankier than it should be. But, I also agree that it gets more hate than it really should. It seems to me that a "special remastered" edition could be released with a few touchups (like what you mentioned) at some point and make it much more tolerable, but on the balance, I'm happy that it exists at all, jankiness included.
The Reign of Terror was the first lost episode animation I ever saw. My university's Doctor Who club watched the dvd on a huge screen in a lecture hall. I can see the flaws now but for the memory of that screening I will always love it. The OtaKing/ Planet 55 style is so charming. I actually got the dvds of their original animated series Prisoner Zero (2016) shipped to America.
On my last rewatch I felt more kindly towards it - it helped that I properly followed the story. The editing is still laughable but just like you said, I was more taken with the artwork. It is still too overly fussy for the faces to my liking but the background art is really lovely - the crypt location really works for me. And again as with The Invasion, it has atmosphere. With Cosgrove Hall they knew the limitations and worked within them but Planet 55 were just ignorant of theirs and went for it. I can't remember where I heard/read it but I recall that individual shots were dished out to lots of people and they ended up haphazardly using whatever they had even though they weren't ready (that might have been someones assumption though).
The animation isn't great, but it's nowhere near the worst. The worst is hands down the animated Web of Fear episode. It was like it was made as some amateur college course. After that would probably be the animation for Fury from the Deep.
I do get the criticisms but honestly I can never bring myself to criticise any of the Doctor Who animations because I'm just so happy to be able to watch these missing episodes at all and I'm very appreciative of all the people who work on these animations!
It's a shame. I really like the cel-shaded artwork, it's remininiscent of the anime classic "Vampire Hunter D : Bloodlust". Just disappointing that the actual movement doesn't hold up.
My problems with this one are: - a lot of the likenesses are poor. More excusable if you animate all the episodes but here sometimes it is hard to tell - Weird jump cutting in that one scene. - Awkward close up shots - Bizzare movement The sets and costumes however look excellent! I do wish it could have been better. Luckily their later productions were better!
I watched this without the context of fan opinion etc after having seen several animations, I was excited by the art style. But I was just so confused watching scenes like 'it's probably just a chill' and it felt like there must be some error in the publishing or with my DVD. I hope when it comes time to release the collection season 1 the team are brought back to make improvements to the animation, or that it would be possible for others to match the hand drawn animation and at least fix those dodgy bits. With some improvements it could become a highly rated animation.
It suffered from a few ills: too many animators crowdsourced remotely without strong direction; little regard to consistency with the surviving episodes; too much hyper-focus on getting random movements and elements right to the detriment of flow; poor use character assets; appalling and baffling editing; being released half-cooked. The result was lumpy, clunky and jarring. All of the problems could be resolved with a more cohesive approach, but there is so much wrong it would need a scratch reset instead of revisiting this first attempt
OMG I have seldom seen the blade of a critic weilded with such thought and precision! Such grace in trying to understand the components and considering the finished artwork subjectively from the collaborative artistic process is amazing and I thank you for it. I value your considered perspective and hope that you are as happy with creating these well-researched documents as I am with watching them. Bravo! -from deep inland Canada
The terrible fast-cutting on Reign reminded me a lot of many of the action sequences in Quantum of Solace where there seemed to be an odd instance that shots had to be cut so fast that you never really got a chance to lock onto what you were supposed to be looking at. Especially in the cinema, it became really, REALLY annoying to watch. While the highly detailed graphics in this look fine as still images, personally, they really don't work in animation as everything is too...busy. I think a cleaner animation style on characters works far better.
Such a good comparison! Quantum of Solace was a really rough watch, you can really feel the writers strike in that film. Totally agree, I prefer a cleaner style too!
For me, the character design in this is a bit over-designed. Like how the skin is lit. And what’s with the glassy eyes? Everyone looks like they’re trying to hold back crying or are suffering from hay fever! The Invasion is so much better because it was animated by Cosgrove-Hall, they who had animated stuff like Dangermouse, Count Duckula, Chorlton and the Wheelies, Jamie and the Magic Torch, The Wind in the Willows, Noddy and loads of others decades before. They had decades of professional TV animation experience.
This was the first animation I saw as I was working my way through the first doctor and it almost put me off watching any others! I just found it all uncanny and weird. I'm so glad I gave the other animations a shot, as they're much better!
When you consider how much money the BBC makes and wastes on other things (the redundancy payments), the fact that a major IP like DW couldn't get far superior, full CGI animated remakes for lost episodes is just insulting. And resorting to 'new' animation studios to save costs, isn't really acceptable. By all means give that studio a lesser project to work on, but DW.. deserved better.
I watched this animation a couple of years ago and I'm struggling to remember my thoughts but I think I thought it was overly maligned. Can't disagree with your key criticisms though. Still, I'd take more Reigns of Terror over anything Digitoonz has touched.
You make some very interesting and valid points. Personally I wasn't as irritated as some people were by this animation as I just was by the animation of The Underwater Menace! Which I feel had as many shortcuts taken ( they even removed Jamie's Highlander garb for the white turtleneck he wore later in Season 4!) Nit picking perhaps, but I would like these animations to have stayed more faithful to the episodes they are based on.
It's tough not to agree with most of this. The historicals are always a challenge because of the received wisdom that they were less interesting or less popular. That shot of Hartnell which seems to be lifted from 'Unearthly Child' is almost on repeat and it just doesn't match up to the other images of the Doctor in this. I think we all learn from experience that a single shot may not be representative of what the actor actually looks like. Maybe that's one of the reasons the 1st Doctor is so prone to recasting, because we've built up this list of physical traits without thinking about how the character was actually performed.
This is very relevant to me right now. Once I finish the Sylvester McCoy era in the next week or so, I will go back and buy the 4 most recent animations [which I don't yet have] - Abominable / Toymaker / Galaxy 4 / U. Menace... which have not passed without a certain amount of criticism themselves... I always choose to watch the black and white versions of animations, so as not to take myself out of the era, and it will be especially interesting - to me - to see how Galaxy 4 in B&W compares to the really rather enjoyable condensed reconstruction on The Aztecs Sp.Ed DVD.
@@DrWhoFanJ You enjoy the reconstructions how you want to, and I'll keep on being happy that we get the choice of colour re-imaginings or Black and White 'era-correct' versions... and we'll all have a lovely time. Personally, I think that the B&W animations do a great job of continuing the fragile flickering magic of the original productions, many of which barely exist and have had to be brought back to life from obscure and degraded source materials with all sorts of experimental restoration techniques. 60's Doctor Who is rare and 'special', and cosying up with some B&W animation carries on that feeling, for me.
@ And the production teams themselves vociferously disagree with you. That’s why the colour versions are the only ones ever included on any streaming service. You are categorically incorrect to say what you have said here.
@@DrWhoFanJ Blimey, there's no live and let live with you. Is there? How about you go spoil someone else's enjoyment of Doctor Who, and not mine. In short - sod off telling me I am wrong for enjoying Doctor Who the way the provided disc options allow ALL viewers to choose to do. This is not a dictatorship.
You have to look at how the episodes were originally recorded in 1964. No cutting of close ups with "its just a chill" and any short clips from these episodes should have been used as a guide and replicated when animated. This way the episodes would fit better with the live action.
Yes! After watching the wonderful Invasion this was just awful. Looking back I can see that the artwork is beautiful and with some gorgeous set pieces but it's that ridiculous editing that is far too much! 60s Who never had that amount of cuts and shots and it is so jarring that you lose who is saying what. This has probably been surpassed in awfulness by Web 3 but both are bottom of the list for me
Great, well balanced review, Josh. Don't you just wish they'd throw a bit more time and money at the animations? I'm suspect most fans would be happy to pay just a little more for better quality! ❤ 🎉
great video 👍loving this series so far, excited to see more of the show animated stories because all I've seen is telesnap versions of the missing episodes that are animated
Is it mad I prefer all the animations prior to the American-commissioned ones? 🙈 Although those bloody jump cuts made by made Editor Scissorhands are so friggin’ distracting. Another great vid, Josh 😊
Pop over to iPlayer and have a look at the background during The Tyrant Of France about 2:15 or 2:16 in. (There are many other instances.) Why are there shadows of the candle flames themselves? *shakes head in disbelief*
I do wonder if Planet 55 had watched much anime before going into this - because I feel like there is some anime from the 90s (Evangelion comes to mind & is particularly notorious for this, but even something like Serial Experiments Lain demonstrates this I feel) where either because of time crunch or budget if you watch you can see them making choices about which scenes need "more" animation & which scenes they can get away with stills/(perhaps?) more easily animated pan shots/close-ups/re-use stock footage. But it feel like it works because they know their weaknesses & how to work around them, & even if they're low budget or facing time crunch they still manage to be visually atmospheric and interesting in a way that honestly even more recent animations like "Fury from the Deep" (comparatively recent, at least) fail to manage
This story was the first William Hartnell story my sisters watched in full, back in 2022, and I have to say, I actually think the animation being quite so frenetic and jarring actually helped them get into the story more. After three engaging enough episodes, any sense of flagging six-parter pacing gets kicked into high gear by the animation that refuses to let you take your eyes off it. We always quote 'I have evidence to present' and mime the guy showing his ring at the start of Part 4, or remember the way a bag 'flows' from one hand as it's passed to another in the rotscoping. 'It's- probably- just- a- chill' is also a favourite line thanks to the insane cutting. By the time we returned to episode 6 they were hooked, and thanks to that they're now huge fans of the Hartnell era. They've no seen every Hartnell story, even the photo reconstructions of all the missing episodes. All because of The Reign of Terror. It really goes to show that sometimes an animation having quirky moments, that never could have existed in the live-action originals, can give a story memorable qualities. Another example we often mention is 'Leader Clenting', referring to a part in The Ice Warriors where Clent bends over at 90 degrees to answer a red alert.
The actual artwork is fine...until it switches to the other style of animation. Then it looks awful, at least the animation looks awful, the backgrounds still look good. What bugged me about it more at the time was that I'd been following the progress of some fans who were making their own animations and one of them had tried to get the BBC to release something that they'd done, but the BBC told them that their work wasn't good enough...but it was better than this. Less detailed, but the animation was smoother and the character designs were just as good. I think some of the people from that fan forum work on the officially released animations nows, so that's cool.
I don't remember if it came directly from the source of Planet 55 or whether it was just chit-chat on the forums that was putting a conspiracy theory together (it's been almost 15 years after all), but *supposedly* it was Dan Hall, the producer of the DVD range at the time, who asked them to cut and edit them this way, so they'd look more dynamic and like a contemporary cartoon, whatever that means. And when the feedback of the fans came in, he was proven wrong and he let the guys be and do their job on their own terms. How much truth there is to it, I don't know. But looking at their work that came before and after it's kind of odd how the "Reign" episodes are the only ones that feel like they were put together by a hacksaw, whereas the others (including the "Doctor Who Anime" that got them the gig) shows that they know how film works and what directing is.
As bad as people say??? Who say'd? I'mma fight'em! Wasn't this one by the guys who did the Doctor Who anime demo? Sure I can see some cheapo puppet-warp and a lot of sequence re-use, but I loved the dynamic anime feel! Well, I say this after watching only the first 34 seconds, so I'll watch the rest now... Alright. Everything you said seems correct, dogdamnit! I still like it a lot, though! How can we complain about direction and jarring theatremation in between the budget special effects of the regular episodes?! - it's just great to have it complete as far as I'm concerned. Hopefully they'll release a re-done special edition in the future to milk more money out of us. Also, Is Planet 55 from Newcastle, NSW? Weren't they the ones who threatened to leave if they couldn't have fibre to the premises NBN to shift their animation data files around?
I honestly think this animation is okay, beyond maybe the strange and bizarre facial movements. Maybe it’s my general liking for the serial allowing me to forgive it.
Celestial Toymaker is the worst animation... This was just a lil bit arty farty and lacked a connection with the audio. That seasickness feeling is a great description. Who fans deserve an animation studio that knows what they are doing but the BBC would rather farm the work out to first year animators and cut the budget.
Nah. The ice warriors is the worst one. Everyone is animated like it’s a cutout animation like in captain pugwash(which would have been fitting with that style). I think it would have been better with planet 55’s artstyle and animation.
@@BlueSkyBS The story has only been released in a visual format twice. The VHS only presented the surviving episodes, and the DVD presented the two missing episodes only as animations.
I want to live in the world where Planet 55 was well funded, and did Underwater Menace and Galaxy 4. I feel like they likely had plans for Galaxy 4(considering it had an episode come back at the same time as UM) but after their planned underwater menace animation was cancelled, that and any potential future ones got canned.
![[UNCUT] The Loyal Pin ปิ่นภักดิ์ EP.15 (3/4)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IVwR87OH0_A/mqdefault.jpg)
I always thought it was a little off when I watched it and you have explained exactly what was off! I agree, given more time, it would have been wayyy better, time constraints always mess things up, deadlines suck :/
Josh Snares saying "missing from the BBC archive" is like a hot mug of cocoa on a cold winter's day
Should make a drinking game out of it.
And to anyone reading, if you do decide to this, please drink responsibly. Do it with cocoa
Haha! It feels as nice to say as it is for you to hear! Thanks for watching :)
...and when they mention the Web 3 animation on top of it then it's like being covered in comfy blankets next to the fireside.
I’d much rather drink from the mug where Josh says “returned to the BBC archive.” 🍺 🙂
To this day I still miss Cosgrove Hall. Already legends with their name attached to other works like The Wind In The Willows and a noticeable evolution in their Doctor Who work from Scream Of The Shalka to The Infinite Quest and The Invasion during the 00s, it sucks that the company folded.
It wasn’t folded as that implies it went bust. ITVplc wound it down and closed it… for whatever reason!
@@stickytapenrust6869 Oh silly me, I was under the impression from my own research that they folded due to financial troubles. Thank you for clearing that up.
@ They did and didn’t. ITV owned them and deliberately closed them down to cut costs. It’s not like they went bankrupt.
@@stickytapenrust6869 That really is such a shame.
The world's a scary place right now, but having a new Doctor Who animation review from Josh helps me feel better ❤
I am loving these reviews, they are SO refreshing because there's very few Doctor Who outlets that actually know anything about animation or even discuss the show from a directorial pov. I really hope these continue!
Oh thank you, Hamish! That’s very kind
Yeah I think it’s important to include the restrictions on production rather than throwing random insults etc
I was taken aback by the 'crotch shots' used to show people were sitting or standing. I've never seen any television using 'crotch shots' before or since!
😅😅😅
@@ljayscott 👀
There are some programs that feature crotch shots, but they tend not to be children’s programs. 😉
TOTP did, but that was usually crotch shots of barely-legal girls “dancing”.
If the assets still exist, I hope it can be reworked for the collection box set
I've always thought that Hartnell in this animation looks like the old version of the woman from Howl's Moving Castle.
I see it! Haha
The Witch of the Waste? Yeah, I see it.
Without the huge warts!
Great video, hopefully we'll get Reign v2.0 once we get the S1 Collection (some day...)
I love the fact that with the animations you can end up getting any style. Sure it means they’re not all consistent. But I adore the creativity we can get!
In a dark week you are a shining light of positivity and passion :).
Oh thank you! It’s been a hell of a week!
@@JoshSnaresit has! But vids like this always cheer me up :)
Your commentary and observations are appreciated, as well as your candor. Here's hoping future animations will take note.
Planet 55 perfectly captured the look and feel of 60’s Doctor Who especially with their later animations which only got better.
Loving these - hope you cover all the animated missing episode stories
Really enjoyed listening to your review/take on this!
Hope you do another video reviewing the Ice Warriors animation as well!
Yep! I'm reviewing all the animations (except the ones I've already done)
so: Invasion, Reign, Tenth Planet, Moonbase, Ice Warriors, Power of the Daleks, Macra Terror, Faceless Ones, Fury from the Deep and ending on Evil of the Daleks :)
Thanks Josh for the honest review. I am preparing to watch this story so will decide between this and LC Recons of those episodes.
Great video again! Sure I'll call this a guilty pleasure. I love the story more than most and how the animation compliments the setting and tone
I don't think it ever gets talked about, but if you're watching classic Doctor Who for the first time, The Reign of terror animation will be the first Doctor Who animation you watch (Until they do Marco Polo) which gives the viewer a bad first impression for the animations.
That's certainly what I felt watching classic Who for the first time this year. This animation made me dread the others of this style, but I was pleasantly surprised when I watched The tenth planet and The moonbase and realised just how amazing this style could be.
Josh - this is such a unique pull - but I’d love to see a video on your thoughts about AI recreating missing Doctor Who episodes in the future.
My general thoughts is that the tech isn’t ready yet. I’m yet to see anything that has really convinced me. It’s moving lips and eyes, but there’s a severe lack of performance.
I have no issues with people making them, apart from the environmental concerns, and potential ethical concerns around stealing from artists.
They’re just not my personal taste.
Honestly, the feedback here is really useful. You already commented on my Dalek’s Master Plan animation, and I definitely will take the advice into consideration when resuming progress. Great video!
you've really gone in depth josh, as usual. personally i never understood why this one was so disliked, i actually dont mind it at least there's a style to it but now i need to go back and watch again to focus on what you've brought up.
The day will come when anything will be possible regarding filling in the lost episodes, whens another matter..
I think the artwork was mostly excellent with this animation, except I would tone down the extreme contrast between light and shadow a little bit. I also think some of the characters were slightly toothy when they talked. I suspect you’re right about them just running out of time, so a few corners were cut.
I wonder how good will AI recreations eventually become, potentially rendering these animations obsolete. It would be fascinating to see episodes eventually recreated to the point where it’s hard to distinguish them from the real thing. That may be a long time off, but who knows what we’ll see in 10 or 20 years.
Yes! I was hoping you'd do a review of Reign of Terror. As an aside, the second and third episodes while available have some of the worst audio and picture quality out of all the found missing episodes. They could really do with some digital restoration. Maybe a refined animated episode 4 and the restored other available episodes would be good for a future DVD release.
Not on the DVD they don’t.
Totally agree with you Josh, I’ve always thought that the artwork is amongst some of the best I’ve ever seen for the show but the editing and direction is just ridiculous and ruins the whole experience for me. It’s a real shame because they could’ve done something special with this IF they’d been given more time.
Yeah, it is definitely jankier than it should be. But, I also agree that it gets more hate than it really should. It seems to me that a "special remastered" edition could be released with a few touchups (like what you mentioned) at some point and make it much more tolerable, but on the balance, I'm happy that it exists at all, jankiness included.
The Reign of Terror was the first lost episode animation I ever saw. My university's Doctor Who club watched the dvd on a huge screen in a lecture hall. I can see the flaws now but for the memory of that screening I will always love it. The OtaKing/ Planet 55 style is so charming. I actually got the dvds of their original animated series Prisoner Zero (2016) shipped to America.
That’s nice!
On my last rewatch I felt more kindly towards it - it helped that I properly followed the story. The editing is still laughable but just like you said, I was more taken with the artwork. It is still too overly fussy for the faces to my liking but the background art is really lovely - the crypt location really works for me. And again as with The Invasion, it has atmosphere.
With Cosgrove Hall they knew the limitations and worked within them but Planet 55 were just ignorant of theirs and went for it. I can't remember where I heard/read it but I recall that individual shots were dished out to lots of people and they ended up haphazardly using whatever they had even though they weren't ready (that might have been someones assumption though).
The animation isn't great, but it's nowhere near the worst. The worst is hands down the animated Web of Fear episode. It was like it was made as some amateur college course. After that would probably be the animation for Fury from the Deep.
ngl, I really loved the Web of Fear animation...considering I saw it in black and white. I would assume the coloured version is...not as good?
I do get the criticisms but honestly I can never bring myself to criticise any of the Doctor Who animations because I'm just so happy to be able to watch these missing episodes at all and I'm very appreciative of all the people who work on these animations!
Hey Josh. Do you think they’ll redo this animation for the collection box sets.
I doubt they'd have the budget to redo it, but they might clean up a few shots? I don't know! Hopefully :)
It's a shame. I really like the cel-shaded artwork, it's remininiscent of the anime classic "Vampire Hunter D : Bloodlust". Just disappointing that the actual movement doesn't hold up.
I feel so alone here. I LOVE the animated episodes.
Edit: Also, as always the GOAT delivers great nuance.
I remember my only criticism for the Reign of Terror animation was that there were too many close up shots and not enough mid to wide shots.
My problems with this one are:
- a lot of the likenesses are poor. More excusable if you animate all the episodes but here sometimes it is hard to tell
- Weird jump cutting in that one scene.
- Awkward close up shots
- Bizzare movement
The sets and costumes however look excellent!
I do wish it could have been better. Luckily their later productions were better!
I watched this without the context of fan opinion etc after having seen several animations, I was excited by the art style. But I was just so confused watching scenes like 'it's probably just a chill' and it felt like there must be some error in the publishing or with my DVD. I hope when it comes time to release the collection season 1 the team are brought back to make improvements to the animation, or that it would be possible for others to match the hand drawn animation and at least fix those dodgy bits. With some improvements it could become a highly rated animation.
Can you make a video about tegan and nyssa that is about there love for each other
It suffered from a few ills: too many animators crowdsourced remotely without strong direction; little regard to consistency with the surviving episodes; too much hyper-focus on getting random movements and elements right to the detriment of flow; poor use character assets; appalling and baffling editing; being released half-cooked. The result was lumpy, clunky and jarring. All of the problems could be resolved with a more cohesive approach, but there is so much wrong it would need a scratch reset instead of revisiting this first attempt
OMG I have seldom seen the blade of a critic weilded with such thought and precision! Such grace in trying to understand the components and considering the finished artwork subjectively from the collaborative artistic process is amazing and I thank you for it. I value your considered perspective and hope that you are as happy with creating these well-researched documents as I am with watching them.
Bravo!
-from deep inland Canada
The terrible fast-cutting on Reign reminded me a lot of many of the action sequences in Quantum of Solace where there seemed to be an odd instance that shots had to be cut so fast that you never really got a chance to lock onto what you were supposed to be looking at. Especially in the cinema, it became really, REALLY annoying to watch. While the highly detailed graphics in this look fine as still images, personally, they really don't work in animation as everything is too...busy. I think a cleaner animation style on characters works far better.
Such a good comparison! Quantum of Solace was a really rough watch, you can really feel the writers strike in that film.
Totally agree, I prefer a cleaner style too!
Another great review Josh 😊 I really liked the animation of reign of terror 😊
You know it’s possible Hong Kong still has the Doctor Who episodes that the BBC gave them
For me, the character design in this is a bit over-designed. Like how the skin is lit. And what’s with the glassy eyes? Everyone looks like they’re trying to hold back crying or are suffering from hay fever!
The Invasion is so much better because it was animated by Cosgrove-Hall, they who had animated stuff like Dangermouse, Count Duckula, Chorlton and the Wheelies, Jamie and the Magic Torch, The Wind in the Willows, Noddy and loads of others decades before. They had decades of professional TV animation experience.
Definitely not the worst but I'm glad this animation style improved for The Tenth Planet and The Moonbase
This was the first animation I saw as I was working my way through the first doctor and it almost put me off watching any others! I just found it all uncanny and weird. I'm so glad I gave the other animations a shot, as they're much better!
Didn’t you mentioned that episode 4 and 5 has been destroyed during civil war in Cyprus?
When you consider how much money the BBC makes and wastes on other things (the redundancy payments), the fact that a major IP like DW couldn't get far superior, full CGI animated remakes for lost episodes is just insulting.
And resorting to 'new' animation studios to save costs, isn't really acceptable. By all means give that studio a lesser project to work on, but DW.. deserved better.
I watched this animation a couple of years ago and I'm struggling to remember my thoughts but I think I thought it was overly maligned. Can't disagree with your key criticisms though. Still, I'd take more Reigns of Terror over anything Digitoonz has touched.
You make some very interesting and valid points.
Personally I wasn't as irritated as some people were by this animation as I just was by the animation of The Underwater Menace! Which I feel had as many shortcuts taken ( they even removed Jamie's Highlander garb for the white turtleneck he wore later in Season 4!)
Nit picking perhaps, but I would like these animations to have stayed more faithful to the episodes they are based on.
Worst of William Hartell is The Gunfighters. Blah. Star Trek Specter Of The Gun was better they had real horses in it.
It's tough not to agree with most of this. The historicals are always a challenge because of the received wisdom that they were less interesting or less popular. That shot of Hartnell which seems to be lifted from 'Unearthly Child' is almost on repeat and it just doesn't match up to the other images of the Doctor in this. I think we all learn from experience that a single shot may not be representative of what the actor actually looks like. Maybe that's one of the reasons the 1st Doctor is so prone to recasting, because we've built up this list of physical traits without thinking about how the character was actually performed.
1:47 A slightly ironic phrase, since The Reign of Terror was never tele-snapped (as far as we know)
I like your insights on these. Backdrop is cool too
Thanks :)
This is very relevant to me right now. Once I finish the Sylvester McCoy era in the next week or so, I will go back and buy the 4 most recent animations [which I don't yet have] - Abominable / Toymaker / Galaxy 4 / U. Menace... which have not passed without a certain amount of criticism themselves... I always choose to watch the black and white versions of animations, so as not to take myself out of the era, and it will be especially interesting - to me - to see how Galaxy 4 in B&W compares to the really rather enjoyable condensed reconstruction on The Aztecs Sp.Ed DVD.
You really shouldn’t. The animations were designed to be watched in colour. The B&W versions shouldn’t even exist.
@@DrWhoFanJ You enjoy the reconstructions how you want to, and I'll keep on being happy that we get the choice of colour re-imaginings or Black and White 'era-correct' versions... and we'll all have a lovely time. Personally, I think that the B&W animations do a great job of continuing the fragile flickering magic of the original productions, many of which barely exist and have had to be brought back to life from obscure and degraded source materials with all sorts of experimental restoration techniques. 60's Doctor Who is rare and 'special', and cosying up with some B&W animation carries on that feeling, for me.
@ They should have all been in colour, and the BD versions are always superior.
@ And the production teams themselves vociferously disagree with you. That’s why the colour versions are the only ones ever included on any streaming service. You are categorically incorrect to say what you have said here.
@@DrWhoFanJ Blimey, there's no live and let live with you. Is there? How about you go spoil someone else's enjoyment of Doctor Who, and not mine. In short - sod off telling me I am wrong for enjoying Doctor Who the way the provided disc options allow ALL viewers to choose to do. This is not a dictatorship.
The worst? What about The Web of Fear?
Yeah, that was the worst by far. No idea who thought CGI that looked like a PS1 game was a good idea. The ragdoll physics were the worst.
A decent animation, but not up to the quality of The Invasion.
Tenth Planets episode 4 was awful agree Invasion s episodes where better in so many ways
You have to look at how the episodes were originally recorded in 1964. No cutting of close ups with "its just a chill" and any short clips from these episodes should have been used as a guide and replicated when animated. This way the episodes would fit better with the live action.
I happen to like the story and the animation.
Yes! After watching the wonderful Invasion this was just awful. Looking back I can see that the artwork is beautiful and with some gorgeous set pieces but it's that ridiculous editing that is far too much! 60s Who never had that amount of cuts and shots and it is so jarring that you lose who is saying what. This has probably been surpassed in awfulness by Web 3 but both are bottom of the list for me
Great, well balanced review, Josh. Don't you just wish they'd throw a bit more time and money at the animations? I'm suspect most fans would be happy to pay just a little more for better quality! ❤ 🎉
I thought the animation was a bit rushed, and i understand why because why had to remove some and that made some odd zoon in's in some scenes
Great video. I loved this animation..
I’m not very discerning I thought it was fine 😂
is anyone wondering why we havent had the next one announced
No, because we know BBC America has pulled the funding on any more animations.
i utterly adore the gorgeous aesthetics and it feels so uniquely twitchingly alive. It's thrilling to watch for me and iz my fav Doccy Who animation.
The editing in these animated episodes actually gave me a headache, that's how rapid it is
Honestly, it's a damn shame. Reign of Terror is missing because it's an absolute gem of an episode.
a story.*
great video 👍loving this series so far, excited to see more of the show animated stories because all I've seen is telesnap versions of the missing episodes that are animated
Do you think the will try AI soon?
I think with current copyright concerns it’s a bit of a legal minefield. But never say never. I don’t think it’s currently in the plan.
Is it mad I prefer all the animations prior to the American-commissioned ones? 🙈 Although those bloody jump cuts made by made Editor Scissorhands are so friggin’ distracting.
Another great vid, Josh 😊
Pop over to iPlayer and have a look at the background during The Tyrant Of France about 2:15 or 2:16 in. (There are many other instances.) Why are there shadows of the candle flames themselves? *shakes head in disbelief*
I do wonder if Planet 55 had watched much anime before going into this - because I feel like there is some anime from the 90s (Evangelion comes to mind & is particularly notorious for this, but even something like Serial Experiments Lain demonstrates this I feel) where either because of time crunch or budget if you watch you can see them making choices about which scenes need "more" animation & which scenes they can get away with stills/(perhaps?) more easily animated pan shots/close-ups/re-use stock footage. But it feel like it works because they know their weaknesses & how to work around them, & even if they're low budget or facing time crunch they still manage to be visually atmospheric and interesting in a way that honestly even more recent animations like "Fury from the Deep" (comparatively recent, at least) fail to manage
The lead animator on the production was Paul "Otaking" Johnson, so I'm guessing there was quite a bit of influence.
This story was the first William Hartnell story my sisters watched in full, back in 2022, and I have to say, I actually think the animation being quite so frenetic and jarring actually helped them get into the story more. After three engaging enough episodes, any sense of flagging six-parter pacing gets kicked into high gear by the animation that refuses to let you take your eyes off it.
We always quote 'I have evidence to present' and mime the guy showing his ring at the start of Part 4, or remember the way a bag 'flows' from one hand as it's passed to another in the rotscoping. 'It's- probably- just- a- chill' is also a favourite line thanks to the insane cutting. By the time we returned to episode 6 they were hooked, and thanks to that they're now huge fans of the Hartnell era. They've no seen every Hartnell story, even the photo reconstructions of all the missing episodes. All because of The Reign of Terror.
It really goes to show that sometimes an animation having quirky moments, that never could have existed in the live-action originals, can give a story memorable qualities. Another example we often mention is 'Leader Clenting', referring to a part in The Ice Warriors where Clent bends over at 90 degrees to answer a red alert.
The actual artwork is fine...until it switches to the other style of animation. Then it looks awful, at least the animation looks awful, the backgrounds still look good. What bugged me about it more at the time was that I'd been following the progress of some fans who were making their own animations and one of them had tried to get the BBC to release something that they'd done, but the BBC told them that their work wasn't good enough...but it was better than this. Less detailed, but the animation was smoother and the character designs were just as good. I think some of the people from that fan forum work on the officially released animations nows, so that's cool.
I don't remember if it came directly from the source of Planet 55 or whether it was just chit-chat on the forums that was putting a conspiracy theory together (it's been almost 15 years after all), but *supposedly* it was Dan Hall, the producer of the DVD range at the time, who asked them to cut and edit them this way, so they'd look more dynamic and like a contemporary cartoon, whatever that means. And when the feedback of the fans came in, he was proven wrong and he let the guys be and do their job on their own terms. How much truth there is to it, I don't know. But looking at their work that came before and after it's kind of odd how the "Reign" episodes are the only ones that feel like they were put together by a hacksaw, whereas the others (including the "Doctor Who Anime" that got them the gig) shows that they know how film works and what directing is.
As bad as people say??? Who say'd? I'mma fight'em!
Wasn't this one by the guys who did the Doctor Who anime demo? Sure I can see some cheapo puppet-warp and a lot of sequence re-use, but I loved the dynamic anime feel! Well, I say this after watching only the first 34 seconds, so I'll watch the rest now...
Alright. Everything you said seems correct, dogdamnit! I still like it a lot, though! How can we complain about direction and jarring theatremation in between the budget special effects of the regular episodes?! - it's just great to have it complete as far as I'm concerned. Hopefully they'll release a re-done special edition in the future to milk more money out of us.
Also, Is Planet 55 from Newcastle, NSW? Weren't they the ones who threatened to leave if they couldn't have fibre to the premises NBN to shift their animation data files around?
I honestly think this animation is okay, beyond maybe the strange and bizarre facial movements. Maybe it’s my general liking for the serial allowing me to forgive it.
I like The Reign of Terror
Celestial Toymaker is the worst animation... This was just a lil bit arty farty and lacked a connection with the audio. That seasickness feeling is a great description.
Who fans deserve an animation studio that knows what they are doing but the BBC would rather farm the work out to first year animators and cut the budget.
Nah. The ice warriors is the worst one. Everyone is animated like it’s a cutout animation like in captain pugwash(which would have been fitting with that style). I think it would have been better with planet 55’s artstyle and animation.
It might sound like a fantasy but hopefully we get to see an updated animation of these two episodes from the current production crews.
Babe wake up Josh Snares uploaded a new banger!
🥰
The first DW animation that made me give up watching it in favor of digging out the old telesnap reconstructions.
There hasn’t been a telesnap reconstruction for this story.
(And the word is "favour".)
@@DrWhoFanJ Mate, just because you haven't found one doesn't mean they don't exist. I mean, segments of them are on TH-cam if you look for them.
@@BlueSkyBS The story has only been released in a visual format twice. The VHS only presented the surviving episodes, and the DVD presented the two missing episodes only as animations.
I've only seen a few clips of this animation but yeah it's editing is so bad and off putting. It's sadly why I haven't watched this story fully yet.
Galaxy 4 is still so much worse.
I want to live in the world where Planet 55 was well funded, and did Underwater Menace and Galaxy 4. I feel like they likely had plans for Galaxy 4(considering it had an episode come back at the same time as UM) but after their planned underwater menace animation was cancelled, that and any potential future ones got canned.