Web 3 is said, by someone who has been right about all this so far, to have been found but is not yet recovered. The plan is to release it quickly on iTunes with a recon in the place of episode 3. . A DVD version, with more extensive restoration (and episode 3) will follow in due course. Another story - Enemy of the World (featuring Pat Troughton in dual roles) is also headed for iTunes. The Doctor Who fora are exploding, and the bigger threads are being shut down as there are still negotiations going on. Apparently, there have been some non-disclosure agreement violations that are complicating the process.
Interestingly, the topic is now banned at a few of the more prolific Doctor Who forum sites, including Gallifrey Base where the forum owner posted: Ladies and gentlemen, I'm fully aware that this is THE hot topic right now, and that people want to talk about it. That being said, I have carefully considered this delicate situation, and have decided that it is important to close the thread for now. The thread will remain closed, and the topic of missing episodes itself will be curtailed everywhere throughout the forum, until the official press release. Please understand that I do not make this decision lightly. Please accept my word that it is in all of our best interests right now to sit back and wait for what is promised. I'm grateful for your patience and understanding. Not long to go now, folks. Not long. Just hang in there, take a breather for a few days, relax, and prepare yourself for the partying that will undoubtedly be forthcoming. Thank you. Missing Episodes Forum and Outpost Skaro (of all places) have also started a moratorium on this topic. Wonder where the pressure to do this is coming from?
It could simply be that the internet folks are getting their expectations way, way too high. They may not be the best quality. Or they're trying to overcome a roadblock and someone with "power" might get PO'd with all the pressure.
The extensive nature of the recovery is unusual, and it's been accompanied by a lot of secrecy. If it's still in process, the bigs at the Beeb may have put a clampdown on discussion to protect the ongoing talks. My guess.
It's all but certain there will be an announcement on Thursday and I think the discussion sites are having to choose whether to let speculation run wild or to have a few days peace before the news is official. The sheer number of posts since the Radio Times article has been massive over the last 24 hours and it's become all but impossible to moderate the forum at that volume. Let's also say there are certain elements of Doctor Who fandom that can be a bit excessive...and obsessive. I don't agree with the decision to silence all of the discussion, but it's an understandable decision to have at least a couple days of silence before the storm.
Eh, if you've ever had a memorable impression from low budget flick or like certain of them, a '50s sci-fi or Hammer fan or whatever, then you know what it's like with old Doctor Who. They were more creatively oriented than most other programs, yet it was shot with BBC soap opera budget and facilities. As such they have their strengths and weaknesses, limitations and appeals. The modern series is another ball of wax. Much more advanced production and for very different times.
Maybe it's just a few misbehaving or obsessive people making the topic too big a hassle for the moderators. Might be a bit like the Beatles remaster topics were here. What a time, that was. Long as forum rules are observed, folks are welcome to chat about it here. Fate would have it that a side note of all this business of rumored recoveries of vintage TV might be Beatles related. From what I was told, tv show host Chris Evans (ex-hubby of Billie Piper, a modern Doctor Who co-star which, while a wonderful actress, also posseses a tooth and smile to face ratio so considerable it once had a remarkably Jaws-like effect on Steve when beheld on a big HDTV screen) advertantly inadvertantly spilled a hint that "the Beatles will be returning to the BBC." It has been thought that may refer to some Beatles footage being among the same finds. Should there be a substantial haul of recovered programming, it may include some currently lost performances by musical artists members here might like to see. There's also the possibility of other appearances turning up, such as an episode of Juke Box Jury which has both Beatles and Doctor Who ties (featuring the actress who played the original companion in Doctor Who, Carole Ann Ford, along with George Harrison). Hopefully there's a lot to the rumors. If so, it'll be interesting to see what might pop up.
------------------------------------- http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/10/07/doctor-who-missing-episode-release-delayed-a-couple-of-days/ The Daily Mirror is reporting that the upcoming BBC press conference, which they believe will officially announce the release of missing, presumed wiped, episodes of Doctor Who has been delayed from Wednesday until the end of the week. They state; "But a BBC spokesman admitted today they were “not quite ready” and the press conference has now been rescheduled for the end of the week. The BBC has asked the Mirror not to reveal the new details of the London press conference, but fans should find out which episodes have been discovered by the end of the week." ------------------------------------- So there you go...they found SOMETHING.
What's his first name? Who's on first? I liked all of Torchwood, and I thought it was a very brave, daring show, particularly when they'd veer from almost slapstick comedy to very witty sarcasm, and then suddenly plunge into terrible tragedy. An amazing, very emotional, surprising show. I know some fans disliked the later seasons when the show went into some weird, dark places (like California!), but I admired the fact that the producers and writers never went into an expected direction, and they always kept things moving. I kid, I kid! Hey, I liked an awful lot of horrible shows when I was a kid. The thing is, I never pretended they were good or well-made. I don't think Dr. Doctor Who is either. I don't dispute it has some charm for people who grew up with it, but those of us who didn't see it until it was sporadically showed in America in the 1970s were kind of dumbfounded by how cheap and horrible it was. Other British shows, like the Gerry Anderson puppet shows, The Prisoner, and The Avengers were absolutely fantastic shows that still look good and are very entertaining today. Not so with the good doctor. I can't watch the 1960s and 1970s shows for the simple reason that they look horrible and the plots are lame.
I kinda liked Torchwood because it was so grim. Our show Fringe on this side of the pond had a few episodes that were pretty damned grim, though I gotta say, they never killed off the central characters. I'd say Fringe stole quite a few of the more interesting elements from Torchwood along the way. I agree that Children of Earth was a really bizarre, unsettling, even disturbing show, particularly after the first couple of years of Torchwood were often very lighthearted.
You get called out on threadcrapping...so you threadcrap some more? Way to keep it classy. The show could've been shot through a potato, but it wouldn't matter to me, because the first five actors to play the Doctor were all fantastic in the role. I'll be looking forward to seeing more of Patrick Troughton's Doctor, and hopefully there'll be some William Hartnell episodes in the haul, as well.
Have you ever watched Blake's 7,it makes Dr Who look like 2001:A Space Odyssey in comparison! I jest. A lot of those ITC shows still looks good having been filmed in 35mm with certain exceptions like Jason King(which was shot in 16mm and looks it). Dr Who's production values were never anything to talk about where they? I remember Eric Roberts talking about watching it when he studied acting in London. He loved the camp aspect of it all. Kate Mara actually said that she regretted not doing Dr Who in the 70s when she had the chance she did Hammer Horror material instead. No matter she got her glory from the show in the 80s and the cult factor of doing Hammer Horror. There was a another British actress who did the show and was totally clueless about what was going on. I guess the sci-fi plots were beyond her comprehension. I happened to speak to a big collector/seller in the US a few years back about the BBC dumping their tapes. It's not such a shock that they tapes were found as the BBC sent tapes all over the world. Just how many episodes is the shock. It is certainly a great thing for so-called "Whovians."
This news has rekindled my interest in The Doctor. I was the right age (probably about 15) when the Tom Baker episodes began airing on our local PBS channel. I watched as many of those as I could (essentially Seasons 12-15). At some point, other interests took over (girls, music!) so I left it behind. If one wanted to begin watching episodes from Season 1 onwards, what is recommended? Is there a Season 1 DVD set?
The classic series is mostly sold by story. From the Hartnell era, the first few stories are essential for understanding where the show originally came from, and it is interesting to see how much it developed later on. Unearthly Child, Daleks, The Aztecs are all good stories. Keys of Marinus can drag a bit. I like the Sensorites as well, although I never hear of anyone who absolutely loves it.
Do the BBC have some sort of policy that dictates they always use the most ambiguous phrasing possible?
Still, that was a great show, SFX warts and all. The last series' SFX and production values were quite good.
Part of the charm for me on the old BBC sci-fi shows is how they dealt with no budgets and primitive effects. You get the entire rainbow of results. Sometimes you get great writing where you don't care at all. Sometimes you get okay writing but charming visuals that make up for it. Yes often it's just terrible. Sometimes you get magical moments where it's "WTF am I looking at and who wrote this" which are truly unique and amazing ladies and gentleman I present Alpha Centauri:
I'm doing my happy dance right now! (Be grateful you can't see it) Funny, even the discussion about this announcement has bee shut down at gallifreybase. (???)
I have been a huge fan of Doctor Who for many years and was delighted to read earlier today that the BBC have just recovered a number (unspecified so far) of long-lost episodes from the 1960s starring William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton as the Doctor. You can read more on the story on the BBC News site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24448063 I would recommend anyone interested in the whole missing episodes saga to check out Richard Molesworth's excellent book Wiped!: Doctor Who's Missing Episodes, which explains in detail the cultural, economic and technical factors which led to the junking of many classic programmes from the BBC television archives. I guess he may have the happy task of writing a new edition to cover this latest recovery... Review of the first edition here: http://www.sfx.co.uk/2010/10/29/book-review-wiped-doctor-whos-missing-episodes-richard-molesworth/
The second edition of Wiped was released earlier this year, adding quite a bit more information and details, including the two episodes discovered and returned in 2011. It's a highly recommended read, even if it's already out-of-date!
