The recovered episodes will apparently be released for sale via iTunes this Friday. Deffo in UK and US iTunes stores.
You may wish to consider getting a multi-region DVD (or Blu-Ray) player and finishing your collection with Region 2 discs ordered from the UK...since all of the stories remain in print there. A multi-region DVD player can easily be found for around $50-$60 from certain websites that modify these players. (Multi-region Blu-Ray players start around $200, but can also play multi-region DVDs). They have PAL to NTSC coverters built in and, in my experience, work wonderfully. I originally bought a multi-region DVD player in order to watch music DVDs and movies that were available only regions code other than Region 1. The Old Grey Whistle Test DVDs were what originally convinced me to go multi-region with my DVD player. When I started building my Doctor Who DVD collection, I realized the Region 2 DVDs were significantly cheaper, even after you figure in shipping from Amazon UK. I probably saved 30-40% over what the same DVDs cost from North American retailers. (Also, the Region 2 disc of The Chase leaves the scene with The Beatles intact. For the Region 1 release, it was edited out.) Even if 95% of the discs you ultimately watch will be Region 1, it's still nice to have that flexibility to watch DVDs from other regions.
The ongoing rumor is that around 90 episodes have been found (out of the 106 missing). But it is also speculated that not all of the recoveries may be announced yet, especially if not all of the episodes are back in the hands of the BBC yet...since the company that made the recoveries may not have finished negotiations with the BBC for the remaining recovered episodes. Hopefully we'll get a better picture of things by the end of the week. Personally, I find the number of 90 sounding too good to be true (especially considering that only four episodes have been recovered in the previous 20 years)...and I don't dare place my expectations on the number being so high. Frankly, any recovery in the double digits would be considered "massive" against all prior discoveries. But I am cautiously optimistic that the number will be a high one...since the "sources" who have reported the 90 number are sources that have apparently been fairly accurate to date with other details. They also claim that multiple copies of other episodes have also been found...episodes that currently reside in the archives in less-than-great condition. So the total recovery of episodes, both missing and existing, may be much higher than 90. If so, there is a possibility that existing stories can be upgraded over time if better copies and/or unedited copies have been located. The thing that lends possible credence to a high recovery number is that apparently many foreign TV archives were checked in person over the past few years...instead of just making phone calls or writing letters as has been done in the past. If there was a large cache of forgotten episodes sitting in one or more foreign archives, chances are they were located with this on-the-ground survey. It's also promosing that apparently complete (or nearly-complete) stories are being found...not just the odd "orphan" episode or two. Generally, only TV archives have yielded complete stories, such as the Hong Kong TV archive recovery of "Tomb of the Cybermen" in 1991. Another reason for hoping this find is a large one is because all other good avenues for episode recoveries have likely been exhausted by this point. If there are any more missing episodes out there, they likely exist in the hand of private collectors who either aren't willing to share what they own...or are unaware of the value of what they have. Whatever has happened, the recovery process has likely been a long and ongoing saga that, in itself, would make for a fairly fascinating read. I hope the full story is told someday.
Another factor is the life expectancy of triacetate film (the stock the 16mm telerecordings are on) under conditions it would likely be in if sitting in private hands or many foreign archives. Not to put too fine a point on it, in favorable "normal" conditions and barring exposure to any other deteriorating film, the estimate is 50 years. Starting this November, the earliest begin turning 50... Needless to say then, I really hope the BBC are taking whatever measures they can to retrieve all the film assets they can. They should have taken the initiative when they decided to establish archival policy and not wait this long for other entities to do it for them. I don't know how much of the facts we'll hear since it's all remaining under copyright of a major media entity.
this is brilliant news!!!!! I can't wait for the Troughton missing episodes what a fantastic way to celebrate 50 years of the greatest television show ever made
For anyone interested, here is the dread list of the missing prior to the forthcoming October 2013 announcement of recoveries. Format is: overall title of the serial - the number of the episode in the serial - title of the episode (the practice of naming each episode was discontinued in mid 1966). All date from 1964 to 1969. Only off-air audio recordings exist; little to no visual footage exists. The 106 Missing Episodes Marco Polo 1 - The Roof of the World Marco Polo 2 - The Singing Sands Marco Polo 3 - Five Hundred Eyes Marco Polo 4 - The Wall of Lies Marco Polo 5 - Rider from Shang-Tu Marco Polo 6 - Mighty Kublai Khan Marco Polo 7 - Assassin at Peking The Reign of Terror 4 - The Tyrant of France The Reign of Terror 5 - A Bargain of Necessity The Crusade 2 - The Knight of Jaffa The Crusade 4 - The Warlords Galaxy Four 1 - Four Hundred Dawns Galaxy Four 2 - Trap of Steel Galaxy Four 4 - The Exploding Planet Mission to the Unknown The Mythmakers 1 - Temple of Secrets The Mythmakers 2 - Small Prophet, Quick Return The Mythmakers 3 - Death of a Spy The Mythmakers 4 - Horse of Destruction The Daleks' Master Plan 1 - The Nightmare Begins The Daleks' Master Plan 3 - Devil's Planet The Daleks' Master Plan 4 - The Traitors The Daleks' Master Plan 6 - Coronas of the Sun The Daleks' Master Plan 7 - The Feast of Steven The Daleks' Master Plan 8 - Volcano The Daleks' Master Plan 9 - Golden Death The Daleks' Master Plan 11 - The Abandoned Planet The Daleks' Master Plan 12 - Destruction of Time The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve 1 - War of God The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve 2 - The Sea Beggar The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve 3 - Priest of Death The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve 4 - Bell of Doom The Celestial Toymaker 1 - The Celestial Toyroom The Celestial Toymaker 2 - The Hall of Dolls The Celestial Toymaker 3 - The Dancing Floor The Savages 1 The Savages 2 The Savages 3 The Savages 4 The Smugglers 1 The Smugglers 2 The Smugglers 3 The Smugglers 4 The Tenth Planet 4 The Power of the Daleks 1 The Power of the Daleks 2 The Power of the Daleks 3 The Power of the Daleks 4 The Power of the Daleks 5 The Power of the Daleks 6 The Highlanders 1 The Highlanders 2 The Highlanders 3 The Highlanders 4 The Underwater Menace 1 The Underwater Menace 4 The Moonbase 1 The Moonbase 3 The Macra Terror 1 The Macra Terror 2 The Macra Terror 3 The Macra Terror 4 The Faceless Ones 2 The Faceless Ones 4 The Faceless Ones 5 The Faceless Ones 6 The Evil of the Daleks 1 The Evil of the Daleks 3 The Evil of the Daleks 4 The Evil of the Daleks 5 The Evil of the Daleks 6 The Evil of the Daleks 7 The Abominable Snowmen 1 The Abominable Snowmen 3 The Abominable Snowmen 4 The Abominable Snowmen 5 The Abominable Snowmen 6 The Ice Warriors 2 The Ice Warriors 3 The Enemy of the World 1 The Enemy of the World 2 The Enemy of the World 4 The Enemy of the World 5 The Enemy of the World 6 The Web of Fear 2 The Web of Fear 3 The Web of Fear 4 The Web of Fear 5 The Web of Fear 6 Fury from the Deep 1 Fury from the Deep 2 Fury from the Deep 3 Fury from the Deep 4 Fury from the Deep 5 Fury from the Deep 6 The Wheel in Space 1 The Wheel in Space 2 The Wheel in Space 4 The Wheel in Space 5 The Invasion 1 The Invasion 4 The Space Pirates 1 The Space Pirates 3 The Space Pirates 4 The Space Pirates 5 The Space Pirates 6 As soon as Friday, the BBC may announce which of these may be crossed off this list (there may be more which the BBC may be unable to announce at that point).
Deborah Watling and Frazer Hines will be taking part in the presentation. It is looking more and more like the Enemy of The World and Web of Fear are the ones that will be unveiled. http://www.deborahwatling.net/News/index.htm
I've spotted this list of allegedly recovered episodes on a couple of other websites. I can't vouch for its accuracy. Marco Polo (all 7 episodes) The Reign of Terror (parts 4 and 5) Galaxy 4 (all 4 episodes) The Myth Makers (3 episodes) The Massacre (all 4 episodes) The Celestial Toymaker (2 episodes) The Tenth Planet (episode 4) The Power of the Daleks (all 6 episodes) The Underwater Menace (1 episode) The Enemy of the World (all 6 episodes) The Web of Fear (all 6 episodes)
Would like to know where you got this. I have heard the missing episodes from the Moonbase and the Macra Terror may also be among the recovered. I am 95 percent sure that the report of Web of Fear (maybe minus episode 3) and Enemy of the World is correct. I am about 50% sure that Marco Polo is also recovered, but will not be announced tomorrow.
Although I came across it elsewhere, it appears to have been lifted from a post on one of Digital Spy's threads: http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1823267&page=85
11 episodes found 9 of them were lost. We now have all of Enemy of the World, and are now only missing one from Web of Fear.
This is from author Lance Parkin's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lance.parkin "Well, I didn't sign anything, so: let joy be unbounded, the BBC have just held a press conference to announce that the missing five Enemy of the Worlds and four episodes of Web of Fear have been discovered. And there may be more on the way." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Web_of_Fear http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Enemy_of_the_World
Lance was just quoting crap he read on twitter so I'm not sure why anyone is quoting him as an authority.
Thank you for passing along the news. From the supposed unlikelihood of recoveries, I was braced for the announcement to be about 1 missing and a focus on some other matter (like releases on iTunes). The talk could have conflated the 9 to 90, but we'll see if there isn't more to it. Was that last from Lance from anything said officially? Still, a lost '60s story is now complete and another nearly so. So far. EDIT: Ah. Oh well.
Sign of the times. Old Doctor Who is their most dependable seller of physical product; its market has continued to prefer buying and collecting the Who DVDs despite the changing markets, yet they're using the discovery of new old Doctor Who titles to push downloading.
