TO CELEBRATE 60 YEARS OF Doctor Who, the BBC not only gifted fans a brand-new Doctor in Ncuti Gatwa, but a brand-new way to experience the original: William Hartnell. The Daleks: In Colour, broadcast on BBC Four in November, marked the series’ very first official colourisation. The 1963 story has special significance, being the one that introduced the Doctor’s most notorious enemies, and this month it’s released on disc.
According to lead colourisation artist Rich Tipple, the idea came from Russell T Davies, whose plan upon returning to the show was to “put the entire back catalogue on iPlayer and begin to colourise the archive”. Who executive producers Joel Collins and Phil Collinson sounded out Tipple in early 2022 after they saw some of his unofficial work on YouTube. He had the experience and the contacts to make a full-scale production happen.
The important first step was to assemble a team. Tipple approached Scott Burditt and Kieran Highman – his
