Part of Lost ‘Doctor Who’ Episode Is Being Animated

It looks like one part of Doctor Who history will soon get a chance to shine.

BBC and BFI plans to debut an animated segment inspired by The Wheel in Space, a serial from Peter Troughton’s time as The Doctor. The ten minute-long piece is from the first episode (which still hasn’t been found) of a larger six-episode serial, the majority of which still remains missing.

The Wheel in Space follows The Doctor, Frazier Hines, and Wendy Padbury on on a giant wheel-shaped spaceship, which Cybermen are attempting to steal materials from.

The serial is just one of the early Doctor Who stories that is believed to be lost from the archives, thanks to both the nature of early recording devices and of the BBC strike of the 1970s. Over the years, the third and sixth installments in The Wheel in Space have been uncovered, but most modern fans still have yet to see the full story.

The Wheel in Space is just the latest Doctor Who installment to be brought back to life in animation, including Power of the Daleks and Douglas Adams’ Shada.

As those tied to BBC and BFI have since clarified, this animated version will be an entirely standalone recreation of the episode, and is not part of a larger effort to animate all of The Wheel in Space, or restore any thought-to-be-lost episodes.

The mini-epsiode will debut as part of BFI‘s “Missing Believed Wiped” event, which seeks to debut pieces of TV content that have been lost from certain archives. But as those comments suggest, there’s a pretty good chance that the segment could make its way to some sort of home release.

Are you excited to see part of The Wheel in Space come back to life? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.