Doctor Who... In Colour....

On the BBC News website (and, perhaps, elsewhere): Final black and white Doctor Who to air in colour

The last black and white Doctor Who adventure to be broadcast on TV has been remade in colour.

The War Games, a 1969 10-episode epic, was the swansong for Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.

The show has been turned into a 90-minute film colourised by a team led by fan Rich Tipple from Saltdean, near Brighton, and will be screened on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer on Monday.

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I'm not sure I want to know how a 10-episode epic has been compressed into 90 minutes (though this is probably not what has happened), particularly as:

The episode will feature the Second Doctor's never-before-seen regeneration into the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee), alongside recovered footage not seen since the original broadcast.

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Ive seen Wagames . Epic stuff and a great send of for the second Doctor.

And for those of you watching in black and white, Jon Pertwee's behind Patrick Troughton.

"The episode will feature the Second Doctor's never-before-seen regeneration into the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee), alongside recovered footage not seen since the original broadcast. "


Does that mean footage that was shot but not aired?

They may indeed be time lords because, to judge from that picture in the article, Noel Gallagher (R) hasn't aged a bit.

KGeo777 said:

Does that mean footage that was shot but not aired?

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Pertwee isn't on the cast list of The War Games, so probably not. However, there was a bonus feature on The War Games DVD which "gave a glimpse of an unreleased fan serial of the same name filmed primarily** in the 1990s". Troughton had died before production of the serial began in 1991, so archive footage*** was used for him. Pertwee's scenes were filmed the year before he died in 1996.


** - Apparently, there was a lengthy post-production period throughout the first two decades of the 21st century.

*** - I'm going to assume that this footage was in black and white (so would have to be colourised). Episode 1 of the fan fiction serial starts in black & white -- it's on YouTube -- but soon becomes colour. (At this point in the fan serial, the Doctor is not being played by Troughton or Pertwee, but I won't say why, if only because what we'll see on Monday (i.e. tomorrow), or on iPlayer later, may not match the fan serial's plot.)

I think the decision to cast Pertwee had not been finalised by the time The War Games was shot. In Spearhead From Space one of the first scenes is him stumbling out of the Tardis.

So presumably the regeneration is a modern reproduction.

Matteo said:

I think the decision to cast Pertwee had not been finalised by the time The War Games was shot. In Spearhead From Space one of the first scenes is him stumbling out of the Tardis.

So presumably the regeneration is a modern reproduction.

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Yes, but it doesn't look bad.

Astro Pen said:

They may indeed be time lords because, to judge from that picture in the article, Noel Gallagher (R) hasn't aged a bit.
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For some reason, I expect these three to suddenly break out into a song.

BAYLOR said:

For some reason

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Because they're all dressed as choirboys.

I have a vague memory of Patrick Troughton as the Doctor. I recall the Yetis with the silver ball in their bellies. My next recollection is Jon Pertwee escaping hospital in a wheelchair. It will be interesting to watch this and see if it stirs some other memories.

I can't recall watching any of the early transitions (if, indeed, they were shown at all).

And as there are quite a few Doctors of whom I saw nothing at all, I know I didn't see their transitions.)

Found the original Troughton regeneration.

I remember Troughton (who was probably my doctor, and most especially with Jamie and Zoe) becoming Pertwee.
The Pertwee/Baker transition was very well done. The shapes of their faces are very similar. So the morf, without any morfing technology, was very easy and convincing.
Baker to Davison was rather clumsy but covered by the famous line from TB "but the moment has been prepared for." and his gigantic grin.
The next few I don't remember particularly, except Colin Baker to McCoy. Some weren't shown, and weren't even imagined until later. (to and from McCann and Hurt.) And then all the newer ones seem to have been hidden behind blast of energy and exploding bits of Tardis.