#4-b: The Moonbase Missing Episode Notes

The Cybermen receive a slight visual upgrade...

The Moonbase is really only a semi-missing story. Episodes 1 and 3 are lost, but 2 and 4 exist in their entirety. The existing episodes were presented in generally excellent quality on the Lost in Time dvd set, which also includes the soundtracks to the two missing episodes.  The story was later given its own individual DVD release, with the missing episodes presented in animated form.

With so much of the story existing, it's a rare and welcome opportunity to truly enjoy an early Troughton story - a key story in his Doctor's development, at that.  The subtleties of his performance come across much more strongly in existing episodes than even in the best of the animated ones, and I am particularly grateful that his delivery of the famous "They must be fought" speech exists.

The animated episodes do a genuinely fine job of bringing the missing episodes to life,  Episode Three, the serial's best episode, is particularly good - In fact, the animated Episode Three is visually stronger than the existing Episode Four, to such an extent that I found the first few minutes of Episode Four slightly jarring by comparison.

Obviously, the animated episodes are the best way to experience the missing segments of the story.  But for the sake of completeness, I will briefly mention the other options:

1. Lost in Time audio tracks are presented without narration over a single still frame, which... is not ideal. Episode 1 particularly suffers, as the regulars' exploration of the moon would likely be very confusing to try to follow with neither visuals no narration.  Still, those who perservere will find all the exposition they need delivered by Hobson after the first ten minutes, while the more dialogue-driven Episode 3 should present no challenge at all. I would still consider this the least of the main ways to enjoy the missing episodes.

2. The BBC Audio benefits from the restored soundtrack, with the more visual moments effectively brought to life by Frazer Hines' narration. Though the narration doesn't fully convey certain visual moments (notably the glimpses of the Cybermen's shadows in Episode 1), it is easy to follow at all times. This was the first way I experienced the missing episodes, back before the Lost in Time set had been released, and I still find it an enjoyable audio story.

3. The Loose Cannon Reconstruction has been superseded by the animation.  Still, for those with an aversion to seeing the regulars in cartoon form, this is one of the group's stronger efforts. Clever editing and brief bits of basic CGI bring the "space plague" to life in Episode 1, while the choice to take time to edit the Cybermen's mouthplates into opening and closing when they speak makes Episode 3's reconstruction vastly more dynamic than average.  I still prefer the official release, with its full animation, but the recon stands as a fine effort.


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