There's a lot of things to love about being a Doctor Who fan. However, there's also a lot to hate too - especially if you're a completionist. One of those is knowing that you’ll never be able to watch every single episode, even if you want to. The BBC's policy of junking so many episodes in the '60s and '70s – not just of Who, but of many other shows - still stands out as their biggest lack of foresight.
Of course, there have been ways for fans to still enjoy these missing stories. Perhaps the earliest was reading Target novelizations. Another was listening to the surviving audio soundtracks, as they were gradually released on CD in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.
However, in terms of enjoying the stories visually, there have been two options: photo reconstructions and animation. The first provided a clear idea of what the episode must have looked like through still images. Animation at least helps to bring these lost stories to life in a fresh way.
Recently, another option has presented itself: AI. Ian Levine’s unofficial AI recreations have been known to the fandom for a while now, although the videos aren’t listed on YouTube and the links are only shared with those who have joined a Facebook group dedicated to these AI reconstructions. However, a new video has been released demonstrating these new recreations. You can view the video yourself here.
A new alternative?
The idea of bringing missing episodes to life via AI isn’t necessarily a bad one, so long as it's done well and other tools are used to help bring lost stories to life. While I doubt it’d ever be quite as good as watching the real episodes, in time, it could feel close to it.
But based on the video, that time isn’t right now. There are some moments that work, some that show the promise of what AI could achieve. But for the most part, it’s hardly the same as actually watching a ‘60s episode.
There are too many instances of characters looking strange, plasticy, or even some moments when they look nothing like the original actors. A lot of movement feels artificial and just fails to convince. Overall, these clips feel less like watching actual ‘60s episodes and more like watching slightly animated photo reconstructions, at best.
The most distracting moment was a clip of the Second Doctor talking to Victoria. It doesn’t feel like he’s making eye contact with his companion for one moment, and it’s genuinely off-putting as a result.
AI might one day be effective at bringing lost episodes to life. But right now, these clips highlight that we’re still a long way from it working even remotely convincingly. For the moment, both animation and photo reconstructions still stand out as the best options for watching lost episodes in a visual way.