Transmitted just once in 1966 when Doctor Who was starting to run out of steam (for the first time) and its leading man William Hartnell was, unbeknownst to him, nearing the end of his time at the controls of the TARDIS, Ian Stuart Black’s The Savages has never enjoyed much of a reputation amongst Who hoi polloi.

The episodes disappeared from the BBC Archive in the early 1970s. Surviving black-and-white publicity stills suggest a rather run-of-the-mill story about smug technocrats on some nameless alien planet subjugating savage cave-people by draining their life-essence. When they attempt to drain the Doctor’s own essence, they are compromised by his own sense of conscience. Eventually, the technocrats agree to end their oppressive regime by smashing up all their kit and enlisting the Doctor’s companion Steven (Peter Purves) to help the two civilisations work together – the end.

There’s nothing of any real interest going on, no monsters to scream/laugh at and a pretty bland setting. The Savages, on the evidence of this efficiently animated new release, is entirely deserving of its reputation as a very middling 1960s Who serial driven by a simplistic script that doesn’t even attempt to explore the themes that are clearly hiding in plain sight, not far below the story’s shallow surface.

This new three-disc Blu-ray release serves, at least, to fill a gap in the show’s roll call of ‘missing episodes’ and, in the style of the low-budget animation processes used to recreate the stories, it’s as much a reimagining of the actual story as a representation of what was actually on screen in 1966. The story is available in slightly more atmospheric black-and-white and in rather more garish colour, along with a telesnap recreation (collated from images taken from the original broadcast by the late John Cura) that suggests a more visually arresting live action production.

Alongside the usual commentaries and galleries are some extraordinary new special documentaries – both feature-length – that turn The Savages from an “I’ll pick up in a sale” purchase to a pretty essential immediate purchase.

Hosted by the reliable Toby Hadoke, ‘Remembering/Forgetting The Savages’ is a wryly amusing and sometimes quite poignant look back at the making of a serial so inconsequential that even the BBC has little written record of its making. Interviews with surviving ageing supporting cast members (and the ever-reliable Peter Purves) and various amusing observations and pieces of TV detective work serve to create an engaging and surprisingly informative look at the making of a serial that even the people who made it can barely recall. It’s terrifically, shamelessly entertaining.

Perhaps of more academic interest, especially to those fascinated by the history of the BBC and British television, is Charles Norton’s ninety-odd-minute look at the life and career of Innes Lloyd, Doctor Who’s producer at the time of The Savages.

To many fans, Lloyd is just a name on the end credits of a run of ’60s Who serials, but this exemplary piece tells the story of an urgent, driven man who loved TV as a facility for making drama and who engendered a culture at the BBC that allowed the works of the likes of Alan Bennett (interviewed in the documentary) to find their way onto television and who gave former Python Michael Palin (also interviewed) the chance to shine in a number of striking, powerful dramas – the type of dramas the BBC sadly rarely makes these days.

Lloyd passed away in 1991, but many of those who worked with him speak of him with respect and reverence. Fortunately, his widow has many memories and souvenirs of his career, suggesting that Innes Lloyd might well have been one of the greatest innovators of the Golden Age of Television. It’s an absorbing and intelligent documentary that really deserves a screening on BBC4 rather than being hidden away on an animated Doctor Who Blu-ray release.

The Savages really won’t linger long in the memory, and it’s unlikely that you’ll feel compelled to revisit it too often, but this release is elevated from the also-rans entirely on the strength of these two wonderfully entertaining documentaries.

DOCTOR WHO – THE SAVAGES is available now on DVD, Blu-ray, and Steelbook from the BBC.