DETAILED: Animator Jacqui Creasy and director Austen Atkinson discuss the new animation episodes. Picture by Phil Hearne
MISSING Doctor Who episodes from 1964 are being recreated on the Central Coast, using animation.
The two episodes are from The Reign of Terror series, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts in 1964 and featured the first Doctor Who, actor William Hartnell as the eponymous Time Lord.
Director of production company Theta-Sigma, Austen Atkinson, said it was extremely detailed work as the animated characters had to look as much like the original actors as possible.
The characters are hand-drawn rather than computer-generated to achieve a human likeness.
"I grew up watching Doctor Who," Mr Atkinson said. "In Britain, a vast amount of people love Doctor Who and they are obsessed with the accuracy of the show."
The original The Reign of Terror series was set in France and based on the period of the French Revolution known as the Reign of Terror.
All six episodes were lost in the BBC's stock clearance of the 1970s but copies of four of the six episodes were returned to the BBC b private collectors.
Mr Atkinson and his team are recreating the missing two episodes, parts 4 and 5 of the series, using original sound recordings, photos and scripts.
The entire six-part series, including the two animated episodes, will be rereleased in the UK and Australia on DVD.
Mr Atkinson splits his time between the UK, where his company is based, and his holiday home at Avoca on the Central Coast.
He has set up an Australian-based team, which also includes Newcastle-trained animator Chris Chapman, to work on the episodes, which will take nine more months to complete.
"I decided to bring some of the production to Australia because I wanted to spend time here," Mr Atkinson said.
"I have some of my family here and I think Avoca is absolutely wonderful. I love it here."
Theta-Sigma is working in conjunction with the BBC and Big Finish Production.
"This will be a wonderful piece of history restored for Europe and Australia to see," Mr Atkinson said.
Following their released on DVD, The Reign of Terror episodes are also expected to screen on television.