The Reign of Terror

The Reign Of Terror Episodes 1,2,3 and 6
The TARDIS arrives near Paris five years after the French Revolution when Robespierre is at the height of his power. The travelers soon become involved with rescuing prisoners from the guillotine, and get caught up with an English undercover spy. Ian and Barbara meet the young Napoleon.
Originally transmitted August 8-22 and September 12, 1964.

THREE BONUS EPISODES STARRING PATRICK TROUGHTON
The Faceless Ones Episodes 1, 3
The TARDIS arrives near London on a runway at Gatwick airport in 1966. Polly witnesses a murder in a hangar and is kidnapped by a representative of Chameleon Tours. When Ben also disappears, the Doctor and Jamie investigate, learning that many young people have disappeared after booking their holidays with Chameleon Tours.
Originally transmitted April 8 and April 22, 1967.

The Web Of Fear Episode 1
The TARDIS narrowly avoids becoming engulfed in a web-like substance in space. It then arrives in the tunnels of the London Underground, which are being overrun by the web and the robot Yeti of the Great Intelligence.
Originally transmitted February 3, 1968.

• "The Reign of Terror" was the final story of the first season of Doctor Who.  It is an historical story set during the French Revolution.  Sadly, episodes 4 and 5 are currently missing.

• The missing episodes will be abridged by actress Carol Ann Ford (who actually recorded the linking narration back in 1993 before the project was shelved).  Included with her narration will be sound clips, photographs and some of the only segments of existing footage (silent 8mm film).  Ford's narration will be slightly re-edited to fit with the clips included.  Whether or not the audio recordings of episode 4 and 5 will be included on CD (as has been done before for "The Crusade" and "The Ice Warriors" is unknown at this time.

• Watch for a classic 1st Doctor scene in episode 2 when Hartnell stumbles into a "chain gang" of forced labor and eventually stages his escape.

• The end of episode 6 of "The Reign of Terror" is unusual as it features a voiceover of Hartnell talking about traveling through the universe with the backdrop of space superimposed.

• Included as a bonus are the 3 remaining orphaned episodes from Patrick Troughton's era (Doctor #2).  These consist of the only existing episodes from "The Faceless Ones" (episodes 1 and 3) and "The Web of Fear" (episode 1).  The recent discovery of censor clips from later episodes of "The Web of Fear" have also been included at the end of the existing episode.  Most of these consist of various tense moments fighting Yeti that were deemed to offensive to be shown on New Zealand television.  There's at least one short clip of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart battling with the Yeti!

• "The Web of Fear" sees the return of the Yeti from their previous outing "The Abominable Snowmen."  By episode 3 a new face enters the story, Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart (played by Nicholas Courtney).  Courtney would later return to the role the following season in the Cybermen story "The Invasion" and then again as a series regular during the opening story of the 3rd Doctor era "Spearhead from Space."  Sadly, due to the destruction of all but episode one, this historic meeting only exists as an off air audio recording.

• As well as the usual high quality of restorative work done by the Doctor Who Restoration Team, a new "videoising" effect (called VidFIRE) is being used on this release.  Originally shot on videotape, then transferred to 16mm film for overseas sales, all 60's Who stories have a film look to them.  The new process restores the sharper, more "live" feel of videotape (and what would have been seen by the public when originally screened).  For more information on the VidFIRE process click HERE.

• With this release in the U.K. all existing episodes from the 26 year run of the series will have been made available on VHS.  Gee, and it only took them 20 years to release them all!