The 70s brought along a whole new era for Doctor Who when the first colour transmission was made.
The Pertwee era was made up of 5 seasons. When the films were made both Black and White, and Colour Versions
of each story existed. The only episode to of been lost in both formats being "Invasion" (Part one of "Invasion Of
The Dinosaurs") when it was mistaken for a part of the Patrick Troughton story "The Invasion". Thankfully this episode was returned
by a collecter (only in it's black and white form).
Which Episodes Are Complete and In the BBC Archive At This Time?
Other than this mistake several other stories were deleted only in their colour form. This is the status of Pertwee Episodes back in 1978:
Season 7
| Story Title |
No. Of Eps In Story |
Eps Known To Exist (In Colour) |
| Spearhead From Space |
4 |
Eps 1,2,3,4 |
| The Silurians |
7 |
None |
| The Ambassadors Of Death |
7 |
Ep 1 |
| Inferno |
7 |
None |
Season 8
| Story Title |
No. Of Eps In Story |
Eps Known To Exist (In Colour) |
| Terror Of The Autons |
4 |
None |
| The Mind Of Evil |
6 |
None |
| The Claws Of Axos |
4 |
Eps 1,4 |
| Colony In Space |
6 |
None |
| The Daemons |
5 |
Eps 1,2,3,5 |
Season 9
| Story Title |
No. Of Eps In Story |
Eps Known To Exist (In Colour) |
| The Day of The Daleks |
4 |
Eps 1,2,3,4 |
| The Curse Of Peladon |
4 |
None |
| The Sea Devils |
6 |
Eps 4,5,6 |
| The Mutants |
6 |
Eps 3,4,5,6 |
| The Time Monster |
6 |
None |
Season 10
| Story Title |
No. Of Eps In Story |
Eps Known To Exist (In Colour) |
| The Three Doctors |
4 |
Eps 1,2,3,4 |
| Carnival Of Monsters |
4 |
Eps 1,2,3,4 |
| Frontier In Space |
6 |
Eps 1,2,3,6 |
| Planet of The Daleks |
6 |
Eps 1,2,4,5,6 |
| The Green Death |
6 |
Eps 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
Season 11
| Story Title |
No. Of Eps In Story |
Eps Known To Exist (In Colour) |
| The Time Warrior |
4 |
Eps 1,2,3,4 |
| Invasion Of The Dinosaurs |
6 |
Eps 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Death To The Daleks |
4 |
Eps 2,3,4 |
| The Monster Of Peladon |
6 |
1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Planet Of The Spiders |
6 |
1,2,3,4,5,6 |
Thanks to two major discoveries most of these episodes have been recvered. The first set were discovered In Canada In NTSC format:
. 1980 - The Curse Of Peladon - Episodes 1-4 of 4
. 1980 - The Time Monster - 1-6 of 6
. 1981 - The Claws Of Axos Eps 1-3 of 4
. 1981 - The Mutants Eps 1-2 of 6
. 1981 - Death To The Daleks Ep 1 of 4
. 1983 - Colony In Space Eps 1-6 of 6
. 1983 - The Sea Devils Eps 1-5 of 6
. 1983 - Inferno Eps 1-7 of 7
The second big find was at ABC TV in Australia. These episodes were in PAL format:
. 1984 - The Time Monster Ep 6 of 6
. 1984 - Frontier In Space Eps 1-6 of 6
There were numerous copies of each episode of "Frontier In Space". Along with these finds there are two other small finds. One was in 1983, when a Black and White Invasion of The Dinosaurs Episode 1 was handed in by a collecter. The other was in 1992 when a PAL, colour version of "
Death To The Daleks" episode 1 was discovered at BBC Pebble Mill in Birmingham, England.
In 1992 numerous Pertwee episodes (that still only existed in their black and white forms) were restored to colour by superimposing the colour signals from betamax recordings and the luminance signals from the Betacam copies of the existing black and white episodes. A computer system mated these signals allowing for the black and white recordings to be manipulated into a watchable colour format. The following episodes have been prosessed:
. The Silurians Eps 1-7 of 7
. The Ambassadors Of Death Ep 5 of 7
. Terror of The Autons Eps 1-4 Of 4
. The Daemons Eps 1-3,5 Of 5
All the episodes that remain in their black and white formats today are not compatable for recolourisation although over half of "The Ambassadors Of Death" has been restored successfuly and several short extracts from "The Mind Of Evil" also exist along with approximatly one minute of PAL footage from "Terror Of The Autons".
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