{"id":47238,"date":"2024-03-05T21:00:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-05T20:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2003111"},"modified":"2024-03-05T22:17:48","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T21:17:48","slug":"doctor-who-restoration-expert-defends-experimental-celestial-toymaker-animation","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/doctor-who-restoration-expert-defends-experimental-celestial-toymaker-animation\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who restoration expert defends \u201cexperimental\u201d Celestial Toymaker animation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Ayres, who restored the original soundtrack, has acknowledged that the new technique might “divide opinion”. <\/p>

By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 05 March 2024 at 20:00 PM<\/p>

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The latest \u2018lost\u2019 Doctor Who<\/a> story to be restored with new animated visuals is 1966\u2019s The Celestial Toymaker<\/a>, with a motion capture technique being applied alongside the existing soundtrack.<\/p>\n

The visuals have been provided by Shapeshifter Studios, and mark a departure from previous restorations of missing episodes, which have featured a more traditional animation style.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a screening of the new animation at BFI Southbank, audio engineer Mark Ayres \u2013 who has restored and enhanced the original soundtrack \u2013 described the technique as \u201cexperimental\u201d, and explained that it allows for greater fluidity of on-screen movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis, basically, is all done with motion capture, so they\u2019ve got actors in to act all the parts along to the soundtrack,\u201d said Ayres.<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all synchronised to the soundtrack \u2013 sometimes it doesn\u2019t work and I have to tweak the soundtrack where the dialogue hasn\u2019t quite synchronised. But it is a new technique, it is a motion capture technique, and it means the characters are far more fluid.\u201d<\/p>

Ayres acknowledged that the \u201cdifferent\u201d animation style might \u201cdivide opinion\u201d, but added: \u201c[We\u2019ve] put an awful lot of hard work into it \u2013 I\u2019m proud of it and the animators in Australia, they have really worked hard on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same technique was previously used to animate the missing third episode of 1968 story The Web of Fear<\/a>, to a mixed reception from fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it was very controversial then and they admit it didn\u2019t quite work,\u201d Ayres said. \u201cIt was a trial on a one-off episode, but they\u2019ve refined it a lot since then.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a new technique, and they\u2019ve spent an awful lot of time developing the technique and improving it while they\u2019ve been doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Doctor Who\u2019s The Celestial Toymaker.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC Studios<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

This new version of The Celestial Toymaker \u2013 which is available to pre-order<\/a> on DVD and Blu-ray \u2013 will also feature better quality audio than fans have heard previously, with earlier releases having to rely on what Ayres called \u201ca very dodgy recording\u201d.<\/p>\n

The new recordings, Ayres said, are \u201cmuch better than we\u2019ve had before for this story\u201d, and were remarkably\u00a0discovered at a landfill site.<\/p>\n

Ayres\u2019s work included not just restoration of the existing tapes, but also the addition of new sound effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have enhanced the soundtrack a lot on this [\u2026] but I\u2019ve kept it all very in-keeping,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve tried to be very faithful to the original sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n