Magical.

Perhaps, that’s the only word.

It’s August 2012 and we’re revelling in a magical William Hartnell adventure from the monochromatic era of humming, overheating cathode ray tubes and pea-souper smog. Complete with clasped-hook cloak, Hartnell diligently performs as the brusque alien with an extraordinarily advanced yet flawed time-space ship, DOCTOR WHO – PLANET OF GIANTS is a wonderfully evocative three-parter that opened the second season (ah, ‘older’ fans will relish that wording instead of the current labelling of ‘series’) but it would seem that the Louis Marks penned story had had a traumatic (or, perhaps, difficult or circuitous) route to air.

Originally planned as the first-ever broadcast story (eventually replaced by DOCTOR WHO – 100,000 BC: AN UNEARTHLY CHILD), the story could not be developed sufficiently enough to warrant the financial investment and was shelved. However, it was re-commissioned with Louis Marks submitting a four-episode script that, under the direction of Donald Wilson (BBC’s Head of Serials), was truncated to three episodes as it deemed to be “too slow” in dramatic action.

With its first release on DVD (single-disc), BBC DVD has delivered a pristine print and aurally clean version of DOCTOR WHO – PLANET OF GIANTS that is a welcome addition to the ever growing back catalogue, and whilst it may not be the most emotionally stirring, intellectually taxing stories in the history of the drama series it has some credibility for its ahead-of-its-time viewpoint on agricultural chemical & pesticide use and consequences.

In the first of DOCTOR WHO DVD its kind, DOCTOR WHO – PLANET OF GIANTS has been “reconstructed” with more episodes than it originally had. Assiduously, taking the script of the abandoned fourth episode (that has been combined into a new third episode) reconstruction experts (led by the legendary DOCTOR WHO fan, Ian Levine) has recorded a new soundtrack and amalgamated existing film material to “match” in order to create an all-new 25-minute episode. Unsurprisingly, the result is genius and a credit to the production team (and to the BBC for approving the venture; a venture that should be repeated for other ‘missing’ episodes).

The story of this reconstruction, REDISCOVERING THE URGE TO LIVE, is fascinatingly documented with interviews with Levine (“…a labour of love, … and work with your heroes…”), BBC DVD features producer, Ed Stradling, actors Toby Hadoke and John Guilor (voicing the role of the First Doctor, who described working with the original cast as like “…working with The Beatles”), and CLASSIC SERIES actors & original TARDIS companions, Carole Ann Ford (“…a very talkative story…”) and William Russell (“…my memory is entirely with a box of matches the size of telegraph poles…”). Even if the prospect of enduring an episode, that was originally deemed to be to dull and slow, is too daunting I recommend indulging in a caffeine drink as you will be wholly rewarded.

Opening with the upbeat dance tune of “John Smith and the Common Men” (from DOCTOR WHO – 100,000 BC: AN UNEARTHLY CHILD), in SUDDENLY SUSAN, the perennially charming Carole Ann Ford – recorded in 2003 – charts the development (or not, depending on your point of view) of her character, Susan, across the first and second seasons of the series. Asserting the potential dramatic fact that the character could have been “…hundreds of years old…” (A Time Lady with regenerative abilities?), Ford recalls the series’ filming, her working relationship with William Hartnell (“…we were genuinely fond of each other…” and “…there was an edge to his performance… an unexploded bomb…”), on her fame (“…it got quite frantic at time. It was like being a pop star…”), on her favourite story (“…just beautiful…”) and, of course, DOCTOR WHO – PLANET OF GIANTS (“…part fun, part nightmare…).

Unlike the contents of a disappointing Christmas Cracker complete with its tawdry & cheap contents that cost a mere handful of ‘coppers’, THE LAMBERT TAPES is a filler ‘featurette’ that delivers an explosion rather than that lukewarm ‘snap’ when opened.

Certainly, if it was not for the tenacity and courage of her convictions then DOCTOR WHO may not have endured for nearly five decades; Verity Lambert deserves all the plaudits that both fans and the television industry can offer. In this documentary, with Lambert recorded in 2003, she re-outlines the original premise of the series and the Doctor’s character (the NEW SERIES producer’s should take not) and how her lead actor “…embodied the character…” and how the minuscule financial budget forced her team to “…use their imagination…”

Continuing to analyse the genesis of the series, Lambert confirms that the BBC Head of Drama, Sidney Newman was “…a huge supporter of DOCTOR WHO…” but initially “…hated the music but admitted he was wrong later…” Additionally, she refused to agree with media critics that the series was too scary but criticised the BBC Executives of the 1980s for its erroneous shifting the series around the broadcast schedule that resulted in viewers unable to consistently follow it (even though she described the production of later episodes as “…very camp. It didn’t work for me”).

The COMING SOON feature is for the CLASSIC SERIES revisit to the 2001-released DVD, DOCTOR WHO – VENGEANCE ON VAROS. If there was one story that could be re-edited as a single 45-minute episode then this would be the first candidate, however this re-evaluation release does not do so. It is released on 10 September 2012.

DOCTOR WHO – PLANET OF GIANTS includes the usual PHOTO GALLERY, PDF MATERIAL and RADIO TIMES material in addition to a supplementary commentary from the 1964 crew.

STUDIO COMMENTARY highlights.

Moderated by Mark Ayres (yes, he does sound like Toby Hadoke), memories from the distant past are cajoled forth from Brian Hodgson (Special Sounds), Sonia Markham (Make-up), Clive Dig (Vision Mixer Editor) and David Tilley (Floor Assistant).

On PLANET OF GIANTS, Clive Doig: Not one of the greatest.

On a single sound effect within the TARDIS, Brian Hodgson: My only contribution to the story.

On the provision of make-up, Sonia Markham: Relatively easy for this one, apart from dirt on the faces. Always the worry was Bill Hartnell’s wig.

Fact: The story was originally titled, DOCTOR WHO – THE MINUSCULES.

On William Hartnell, Sonia Markham: He was nervous about his lines and what to do. Once he got to know you, he was friendly.

On the director of episode three, Douglas Camfield, Clive Doig: New generation of director.

On the surface, DOCTOR WHO – PLANET OF GIANTS could be regarded as a dull, dreary and pedestrian story (I hesitate to the use the phrase ‘adventure’ in its literal term), but its merits overwhelming outweigh its obvious shortcomings (remember, it was 1964 and television was still in its infancy).

With this refresh re-appraisal, fans will be able to not only witness the magnificence of Hartnell’s definitive Doctor and the reconstruction of a truly ‘lost episode’ that, ironically, never was.