No episodes
of this serial are known to survive. If any should resurface and be released
at a later date, please purchase such an official BBC video release to
complement our reconstruction.
Support
The BBC Video Releases.
Bonus
Material
As
well as the reconstruction we are able to bring you the following goodies…
Celebrity
Introduction
Peter Purves returns to Loose Cannon Productions to introduce the reconstruction of The Savages, which was last story in which he featured as popular companion Steven Taylor. Learn more about Peter's work
in our Hall of Fame...
Production
Featurette
Also included
on the tape is a short 'mini-documentary' describing events surrounding
the production of the story, Narrated by Peter Purves.
As a bonus
feature we managed to grab a chat with former make up artist Sonia Markham
backstage at the Flight Through Eternity Convention who recounts her memories
of make up, William Hartnell and ping pong balls!
Special
Note:
No episodes
of this serial are known to survive. If any should resurface and be released
at a later date, please purchase the official BBC video release to complement
our reconstruction.
As part of
our ongoing programme to spruce up the older recons, "The Savages" was
the next candidate for a facelift. A story memorable for the departure
of Peter Purves as companion Steven Taylor and Fredrick Jaeger's wonderful
imitations of The Doctor.
The new version
has better quality telesnaps, improved quality clips, Specially Created
material and occasional composites as well as an introduction by Peter
Purves. Our revised version og The Savages looks a much more polished
production!
Synopsis:
Materialising
on an idyllic world, the Doctor, Steven and Dodo are welcomed by the apparently
highly civilised Elders and taken to their capital city. However, on a
tour of the city Dodo discovers that the Elders have a terrible secret.
The Elders'
advanced society is maintained by draining the life force and energy from
a group of primitive Savages who share the planet. While the Doctor decides
he must try to prevent the exploitation of the Savages, the leader, Jano,
has other plans.
Reviews:
Review
by Paul Hawkins
Having just finished watching the recon - I felt I just had to leave feedback.
The Savages was a story I knew virtually nothing about until seeing this
recon - all that really sprung to mind before if you had mentioned the
story to me was the very few publicity shots that exist of the story and
the telesnaps. But now after watching the recon, I feel I can say I have
"watched" a missing story - I know now what the story is about and Loose
Cannon have - yet again created a recon which very successfully gives
you the feeling of watching the story in it's original state.
BRILLIANT job guys - you have done a grand job yet again!!
Review
by James Inglis
A
fantastic LC recon that brought to life a fantastic story! This very different
First Doctor story was my first ever Loose Cannon reconstruction and I
was not disappointed.
The story it's self is one of my favorites; it starts with a good cliffhanger
from the end of the Gunfighters and the cliffhangers throughout the rest
of the story are very good. It moves along at a good pace and some of
the ideas in it I thought were terrific eg. light guns. I also thought
Steven's departure was very well done and really does the character justice
(which is more than can be said for Dodo's departure in the following
story). Also I thought that the incidental music in this story was fantastic;
and really helped to move the story along especially when the recon is
made of mainly static images.
As for the reconstruction, I really thought the LC team did a top quality
job on this story. The telesnaps are crystal clear and they are put together
nicely. And the audio quality was brilliant, I could hear everything from
start to finish. I also thought some of the animations used worked really
well eg. doors closing, spears being thrown. Finally the 8mm clips were
incorporated very well and really help to improve the last few minutes
of episode 4.
But the best thing about this release was the Peter Purves interview.
He told some very interesting stories about William Hartnell , Jon Pertwee
and his time on Blue Peter among other things, and I think this has got
to be my favorite interview on any LC release. And the interview with
make up artist Sonia Markham was also a nice bonus to finish off a wonderful
LC release.
Story
9/10
Recon 9/10
Review
by Tony Coburn
One
of the most bizarre and different episodes of the Hartnell era, 'The Savages'
is a clever and inventive story that flows a lot better than some 'classic'
1960's episodes. Considering the amount of material to work with, the
LC team have done a remarkable job with this one. If this was a surviving
story, it would become one of my favourites of the Hartnell era because
of its unique nature. The telesnaps are very clear, the audio is very
good and I was most impressed with the CGI effects on Jano's guards' Light
Guns, even though their helmets looked...well...like a bad, recycled BBC
prop!
For
people who haven't seen this episode, it is definitely dramatic in the
sense that the 1st Doctor is plunged into an incredible amount of danger
(more so than any other of his stories). The reconstuction, for me, was
thoroughly enjoyable (so good that i couldnt stop watching - saw all 4
parts in a row).
10/10
for LC team! Great job! Recommended!
Review
by Kevin Chilvers
I
have always had a soft spot for this story. It was the first ever target
novel I received for Christmas. It was 1986 and I had become a fan at
the end of Peter Davison's run of stories. The novel amazed me and drew
me into the black and white world of Doctor Who. I wanted to find out
more, about all the previous stories, and brought the magazine, more books,
and well, now the house is full. But I was frustrated at the lack of knowledge
I could acquire about the Savages, my first, old, Doctor Who. As I grew
up, I read more and found out that this story didn't exist anymore, so
all I had was that novel, oh and the soundtrack, but that didn't seem
that exciting. Until I found Loose Cannon!
I
watched the whole of the Savages in one sitting yesterday and what a fantastic
reconstruction it is. I was hooked. My first "old Who", at last,
to watch. The guys who do these stories are genius and I will be slowly
completing my collection (better not work them into the ground -it's all
in their spare time).
If
you are wondering whether or not to order one of these stories, do so,
and start here. Fan wisdom says that this story is slow and dull, well
the reconstruction certainly isn't. It's also crystal clear and very well
put together.
Thanks.
A very happy fan
Review
by Tony Coburn
One
of the most bizarre and different episodes of the Hartnell era, 'The Savages'
is a clever and inventive story that flows alot better than some 'classic'
1960's episodes. Considering the amount of material to work with, the
LC team have done a remarkable job with this one. If this was a surviving
story, it would become one of my favourites of the Hartnell era because
of its unique nature. The telesnaps are very clear, the audio is very
good and i wa smost impressed with the CGI effects on Jano's guards' Light
Guns, even though their helmets looked...well...like a bad, recycled BBC
prop!
For people who haven't seen this episode, it is definitely dramatic in
the sense that the 1st Doctor is plunged into an incredible amount of
danger (more so than any other of his stories). The reconstuction, for
me, was thoroughly enjoyable (so good that i couldnt stop watching - saw
all 4 parts in a row).
10/10 for LC team! Great job! Recommended!
Review
by Chris Longhurst
These Loose Cannon recons just get better and better. The telesnaps are
a lot clearer than the original LC Savages (LC6) and are very nicely blended
in with the few sections of clips that are available. It's great how these
'HD' recons make you re-evaluate the story. My memory of the original
transmission is a bit hazy by now, but I recall it as being a pretty fast
paced (for a Hartnell) and that the 'light guns' were a great idea. Watching
the original recons I had concluded that memory cheats at it was a fairly
second rate story. This new recon really illustrates The Savages as a
top notch Hartnell story with a lot of great ideas going on throughout
the 4 episodes.
Excellent
extras compliment the release - Peter Purves gives great 'value for money'
with good recall and (as would be expected from his current job) a very
professional manner.
Review
by Nigel Cantwell
Yet
another great job by the LC team in bringing to life one of the less memorable
stories from William Hartnell's era.
To be honest this was a story that never left much impression on me at
all when first shown, true it was over 40 years ago when I watched it
but I still have good recall on stories much older than this one. I suspect
that as a ten year old kid I was waiting for this serial's "monster"
to show up and was left dissapointed at its ultimate non-apperance. As
an adult I now find this to be an interesting and thought prevoking story
and now regret not paying it more attention back in 1966.
At least now thanks to the team I have a second chance to 'see' this story,
I did have the previous LC version but always found it hard to get into
due to less then ideal sound and picture quality. I am please to report
that there were no such problems this time around and in fact I watched
in one sitting even though I only ment to look at the first two episodes
to start with.
This tape features a nice selection of bonus features also, alway good
to hear more from Peter Purvis, a very nice guy whom I have had the pleasure
of meeting a number of times (even bumped into him on the tube once !)
and found him always ready to chat even the time soon after he had had
a house fire he STILL manage to be pleasent to people. It's a shame he
never pursuded his acting career after Blue Peter, I'd love to see him
show up in the new series, maybe they could bring him back as Morton Dill
!!! Interesting to hear from Sonia Markham also, like the interview on
Abomnible Snowman these 'behind the scenes' people often give a new slant
to what goes on during the production of this programs and are well worth
seeking out just as much as the 'star' names.
Review by Damon Didcott
What a pleasant surprise! Aware that it was considered
one of the weakest stories of the Hartnell era, I instead found The Savages
to be quite a thoughtful and enjoyable yarn. Perhaps it helped that I
went in so 'blind', knowing little apart from Steven's exit, so I was
able to relax into the story and not be waiting for certain moments or
set pieces. Hartnell and Purvis particularly were on good form, and the
whole thing moved at a good pace. A special mention should also go to
Raymond Jones's incidental music, adding tremendously to parts such as
episode one's cliffhanger.
The recon itself was is a fine example of LC's
work. The picture was clear, the sound extremely crisp, and there was
a very large variety of images used that helped to keep the pace up. The
thrown spears were great! Of the extras, the stand-out for me was the
interview with Peter, very in-depth and pleasant. All-in-all, a good example
of how a relatively unknown story and some care and attention from Loose
Cannon can make for an enjoyable experience.
