Doctor Who's lost William Hartnell story Galaxy 4 'to be recreated in animation'

The four-part serial starring William Hartnell as the First Doctor originally aired in 1965 and was one of a large number of Doctor Who stories junked by the BBC in an age before home media and streaming.

A number of these missing stories have since been recreated with new animated visuals being set to the surviving soundtrack – and Galaxy 4 is next on the list, The Mirror reports.

BBC Studios declined to comment when contacted by RadioTimes.com.

Opening Doctor Who's third series, Galaxy 4 saw the Doctor and his companions Steve (Peter Purves) and Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) encounter two very different alien races – the female Drahvins and the monstrous-looking Rills – as well as the robotic Chumblies.

Only one episode – the third – is currently thought to exist in its original form, having been found in a private collection in 2011.

If Galaxy 4 is indeed being restored as an animation, it will mark only the third William Hartnell Doctor Who serial to get the treatment, following The Reign of Terror and The Tenth Planet.

There have been 10 animations based on surviving soundtracks from the Patrick Troughton era, mostly recently Fury from the Deep (released September 2020).

Between 1967 and 1978 the BBC would routinely junk archive programmes. As a result of the cull, 97 of 253 episodes from Doctor Who first six years are currently missing, leaving 26 serials incomplete.

Doctor Who will return to BBC One later this year. You can purchase a series of the existing Doctor Who animations on Amazon. Visit our Sci-fi hub for more news or take a look at our TV Guide for what to watch tonight.