We are in historic times with Doctor Who. Not only is Doctor Who about to reappear on our screens for a new series with perhaps its biggest worldwide promotion to date, but there is a revolution in the air - with regards to an extremely important part of Doctor Who history.
Borne out of frustration with the inconsistency of the official Doctor Who animations produced by the BBC to fill in the gaps left by the 97 missing episodes of the programme, Doctor Who fan legend Ian Levine has decided to take the bull by the horns using the very latest advancements in technology.
Using AI and working with a team of skilled animators, Ian Levine has so far reconstructed 5 full episodes of "missing" William Hartnell stories and unselfishly, he has shared these with the world.
The reception so far has been little short of euphoric (with a few virulent naysayers). For decades many of us loyal fans of old have had to make do with the excellent Loose Cannon reconstructions. They brilliantly helped us "see" missing Doctor Who episodes using telesnaps and where not available carefully constructed composite images that give us as close to what was originally on screen as possible. A consultant on these original reconstructions was Ian Levine himself who kept the most detailed notes possible of every single Doctor Who episode right up until The Space Pirates.
Anyway, the new reconstructions produced by Ian Levine and his team are at the current cutting edge of AI technology. They are stunningly brilliant with each new one seemingly an improvement on its predecessor. Levine's ambition is to produce AI reconstructions for the 47 episodes that have not to date been animated by the BBC. Don't just take my word for it. An extremely experienced IT expert has commented that these reconstructions are pushing the boundaries of what is achievable with current AI technology - pioneering work indeed.
From The Daleks Masterplan AI Reconstruction
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Most of those who have seen these brilliant reconstructions have heaped huge praise on the work. It is absolutely mind-blowing and extremely emotional seeing these long lost classics almost back to existence. Many who have seen them have said at times it feels like you are watching a real episode - and that somehow, magically it seems to have been recovered.
Praise has come from many areas. Those who worked originally on the Loose Cannon reconstructions have said that these far surpass anything they ever did. Peter Purves who stars in all 5 of the episodes thus far reconstructed has seen them and is said to have enjoyed them.
How to see these wonderful pieces of work and keep up to date with latest developments? All episodes are being released exclusively via Ian Levine's Doctor Who Facebook group (LINK), so join up to see what all the fuss is about.
Thank you Ian Levine for doing this for all the fans frustrated by the current state of the official BBC animations. How wonderful it is that Ian is sharing these unselfishly with fans so that we can all enjoy them. As if he hasn't done enough for Doctor Who in the past, Ian Levine is now creating a wonderful legacy that we can all enjoy for the future.
From The Massacre AI Reconstruction
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