Loose Cannon Production 28
The Space Pirates
"A boy, a girl and a nutcase, you can't be pirates."

     

Please note that this digital teaser trailer is purely to whet your appetite, recons are ONLY available on VHS format.

BBC Production Details
Production Code: YY
Original Transmission (UK): Saturday 08th March 1969 -
Saturday 12th April 1969
Season: 6
Number of Episodes: 6
Writers: Robert Holmes
Producer: Peter Bryant
Director: Michael Hart
 

Download a free cover
as designed by Russ Port

Loose Cannon Production Details
Production Release Date: December 2007
Episode(s) Reconstructed: Episodes 1,3,4,5,6
Source Material: No telesnaps exist for this story
Audio recorded by Richard Landen
  Surviving clips
Other authentic pictures
  CGI (Computer Generated Images)
Pictures from other stories / sources
Specially Created Material
Tape length required: UK / Australia: E180
USA / Canada: T160
     

Making the Reconstructions:

This article goes into the detail of the source material and methods we used to reconstruct a serial with little visual material.

   

Bonus Material

As well as the reconstruction we are able to bring you the following goodies…

 

Celebrity Introduction

Dean's usual networking skills had put us in touch with actor Donald Gee, who had starred as Major Ian Warne in the serial; Donald was very busy at the time and we had to wait over a year but he was happy to provide us with an interview and voiceover and was an interesting guest when we visited him.
Learn more about Donald's work in our Hall of Fame...

   

Production Featurette

We also include a mini documentary about the making of The Space Pirates, narrated by Donald Gee.

 

Celebrity Interview

Also included is an interview with actor Donald Gee who shares his memories of his time as an actor.
Learn more about Donald's work in our Hall of Fame...

   

Celebrity Chat

As a bonus feature we managed to catch a quick chat backstage at the Flight Through Eternity Event with actor George Layton, who also recounted his memories of The Space Pirates and his acting career.
Learn more about George's work in our Hall of Fame...

   
Special Note:  

Let's be clear about this. The BBC have released a wonderful DVD called "Doctor Who: Lost in Time" which features the surviving episode of this story lovingly restored. There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY we will be issuing copies of these with the recon, nor (whilst we're at it) will we ever make the recon episodes available in any format other than VHS.
Loose Cannon fully support the BBC and suggest you purchase the official BBC video release to complement our reconstruction.

Support The BBC Video Releases.

     

Request a copy here
Please note recons are ONLY available on VHS format.

LOOSE CANNON WILL NOT, AND NEVER WILL, SUPPLY RECONS FOR DOWNLOAD / ON DVD, VCD, HARD DISK OR EVEN IN TICKER TAPE!!!!!!


Loose Cannon Says:

Following our recent remake of The Myth Makers we realised that the original version of Space Pirates was looking similarly dated, the original relied very heavily on a few repetitive pictures of the Pirates along with screen caps from Episode 2 and full screen text passages. These pictures are now only used in their correct place in Episode 1 and are supplemented throughout the serial with CGI, the recently discovered Episode 1 film inserts, specially created material, 2D animations and many many composites to create a far more polished and accurate production.

We are very happy with the new version and think it gives a new lease of life to a much maligned story. Donald Gee, who played Major Warne, certainly thought so and spared us an afternoon to film an interview which accompanies the recon.

Synopsis:

Far into the future and far out into the black depths of the galaxy, the TARDIS materialises. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe discover the space pioneers of the future, the adventurers and guardians of planets. But lurking also in the emptiness of space is the evil - the evil of the Space Pirates.
These marauders and plunderers of the riches of planets lead the Doctor and his companions into a new, exciting and dangerous adventure...

Reviews:

Review by David Burns

Once again, a beautiful job by the Loose Cannon team. A great improvement on the original reconstruction, With nice animated model work and clear pictures. As the credits roll for episode six, I think to myself, "Boy I can't wait to see the next one."
Thank you and keep up the good work.

 

Review by Rob Hansen

This is by far the sharpest, crispest Loose Cannon recon I've seen, possibly because it's brand new and all the others I've seen have been dubbed from tapes produced years earlier and presumably run through dubbing machines many times since. Anyway, a top notch recon, which I assume drew heavily on the surviving episode. I'd always heard bad things about this story, and having previously only viewed the surviving episode in isolation I had no reason to think better of it, however this recon is a revelation. I found 'Space Pirates' much better than its reputation, which I'm sure owes a lot to the character of Milo Clancey and his prominence in the surviving episode. Taken in the context of the whole story, however, I found him a lot less grating and actually grew quite fond of him by the end. Yes, writer Robert Holmes would go on to pen more highly regarded stories, but this wasn't at all bad.

 

Review by Brian S Muehl (Toxicspurge)

I found the original LC Recon of The Space Pirates to be wonderful. It was my first experience with this fantastic Robert Holmes script. However, many of the pictures were a bit too blurry to be clear. In addition, the audio was had so much static I had often had difficulty making out the dialogue. I was thus delighted to see the light-year improvements in the second version. The picture quality is AMAZING!! The audio is much, much clearer as well.
This story has so much to offer, it’s heart-warming to see the LC recon do it justice. Some of the special effects the LC team added are incredible! In particular, for the life of me, I can’t figure out how they managed to add moving flames to the candles!!! Thanks a million guys! I finally feel like I’ve actually “seen” this story! I can’t wait for second version of The Savages to be completed! The previews look FANTASTIC!

 
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