Doctor Who: Ranking the 10 missing stories yet to be animated

Many stories are missing from the BBC archives, but only ten haven't been given the animated treatment. We rank these remaining stories in order, starting with those that might never be animated to the stories likeliest to be animated next.

There are many stories missing from the BBC archives, but only ten haven't been given the animation treatment. We rank the stories in order, from unlikeliest to most likely to be animated next.
There are many stories missing from the BBC archives, but only ten haven't been given the animation treatment. We rank the stories in order, from unlikeliest to most likely to be animated next. | Image Courtesy BBC Studios, BritBox
8 of 11

4. "The Highlanders"

This is a story that many fans would love to see brought back to life. Partly because it's the final pure historical of the '60s, which has certainly made me curious to see it. But mostly because "The Highlanders" introduces one of Doctor Who's greatest companions: Jamie McCrimmon.

The longest serving companion to the Second Doctor, Jamie is a companion that's much loved by fans of the Classic Series to this day. And it would be absolutely wonderful to see his introduction story in some shape or form.

I'll be honest, though: when I originally began writing this list, I listed "The Highlanders" much lower in my ranking. Especially when considering the reasons why Charles Norton chose to animate "The Macra Terror" over it.

"...We needed a story that didn't feature a massive number of characters. There's two stories that meet the criteria: one is [1966/67's] 'The Highlanders' and the other is 'The Macra Terror', and 'The Highlanders' features lots of tartan and location work, which is quite difficult to draw!"
Charles Norton

Honestly, those are good reasons why the story wasn't chosen to be animated sooner. But at the same time, that interview was given in 2019, when "The Macra Terror" was only just being released. We've had many animations since then, and I can't help but wonder if the story has a better chance of being animated today. We can certainly hope, at least.