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News Peter Purves: UCLAN students remake "Mission to the Unknown"

The Nth Doctor

The Nth Doctor

Wanderer in the Fourth Dimension
Premium Member
Peter Purves tweeted the following message on Twitter this morning:

"Mission to the Unknown - a complete remake by UCLAN students. The sets are built, the costumes made, the 3 day multi camera shoot begins this morning at 08.30. It is hoped the BBC will release it on DVD. This is serious painstaking work."

According to Sci-Fi Bulletin, Purves, Edward de Souza (Marc Cory in the episode), and Nicholas Briggs are all attending the shoot.

Sounds wonderful. I hope the BBC allows the rest of us to see it!
 
The Nth Doctor said:
Sounds wonderful. I hope the BBC allows the rest of us to see it!
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Not to be a downer, but I think the BBC will have the same reaction as they did to Ian Levine's "Shada" -- "Thanks, but no thanks." I'd like to see it, don't get me wrong, but I'm just thinking of what's likely to happen.
 
Wunderbar!

I had forgotten about this project and I haven't read my entertainment news since this morning, so I hadn't seen this story pop up yet. Thanks for sharing. :D

I gotta say, the trailer looks pretty damn good.

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Nice!! That is truly superb and first rate and I'll be there on day one.

Indeed, the teaser alone is so much better (and in spirit to the original) than the whole of that remake of "The Power of the Daleks" from a few years ago. I sat through that remake for a while, of which had someone deciding it would be a big thrill to change enough plot elements to "modernize" it -- right down to the planet the events are happening on, no less and you can guess which planet it was changed to - hint: It's a 5-letter word and meant to appease the younger kids who've seen the bulk of DW on modern day Earth because it's easier to scribble out any old schlock than to get them to engage in imagination and suspension of disbelief, never mind the galaxy is a big place and by now modern day Earth is way too cramped and already was by 2006 -- that even the term "remake" becomes more an (unintentional insult) to the original author of the story than any homage or spirit of said author's original work.
 
Allyn Gibson said:
Not to be a downer, but I think the BBC will have the same reaction as they did to Ian Levine's "Shada" -- "Thanks, but no thanks." I'd like to see it, don't get me wrong, but I'm just thinking of what's likely to happen.
Click to expand...

That is probable, but I am hopeful there is enough interest that can be built upon and something then made official and launched as such. MtoU really looks like a win.
 
It's being put on a BBC approved YouTube channel, and I understand the makers had to satisfy some BBC conditions before that could happen, so...
 
Just saw this was being released elsewhere.
The trailer looks fantastic. 9th October release date.
 
Oh, damn, I completely forgot, even though I marked it in my calendar and everything! :lol: :o

Going to watch it right now.

Edited to add (jump to the five-minute mark for the actual episode):

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I watched a fan recreation of the surviving telesnaps and audio of this episode about a decade ago, but I don't remember much about it aside from the war council meeting. I decided not to review those same stills so I could go into this video recreation with a fresh outlook.

With that in mind, I have to say I'm very impressed by this production. It genuinely felt like it was an episode that was produced in 1965. The costumes, sets, props, special effects (particularly Garvey's transformation into a Varga and the Daleks' blasters), camera movements, even the acting style all felt like a classic Doctor Who episode circa 1960s. Until I look at the old telensnaps, I can't comment how closely they adhered to the original costumes, sets, and props (aside from the Daleks which looked spot-on, of course), but they all looked authentic even if they aren't 100% accurate.

The Making of video is also worth watching, which breaks down the process of recreating the episode as accurately as possible and features brief interviews with Edward de Souza (the original Mark Cory), Peter Purves, and Nicholas Briggs.

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It was surprisingly authentic to the period, really a very convincing recreation. The acting was a bit stilted, but then, it often was in the original.

I'm a little disappointed that they shot it out of sequence over several days, rather than doing the whole thing as a single nearly-live runthrough like in the old days. But I guess it's the result that matters.

Honestly, though, "Mission to the Unknown" isn't what I'd call a good episode. It's talky and static, all plot and exposition with little character or drama, and the science and worldbuilding are dire. It treats the galaxy and the Solar system as interchangeable, and even claims the Daleks are from the Solar system. The entertainment value here came from the authenticity of the production rather than the underlying story.
 
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