An article posted today in the TV & Radio Blog of UK newspaper, The Guardian, has brought hope to some fans that the BBC may be withholding confirmation of missing episode finds.  In the post by Charles Norton it has been revealed that the rediscovered interview with William Hartnell was actually located by researcher Richard Bignell four years ago in 2009.  It had long been believed that no television interviews with William Hartnell existed. The interview, which had been held in the Bristol office of the BBC, was not digitized until the summer of 2011 and withheld from the public until a suitable DVD release. It will now be included as a special feature in The Tenth Planet DVD which is due to appear in November 2013.

Perhaps the most telling aspect of this find is Richard Bignall’s comment concerning keeping it a secret.  “It’s been quite a difficult thing not to say anything about it”, said Bignell. One is left wondering what else the BBC is not letting on that it has.  Four years of clock and dagger secrecy about a three minute television interview is bizarre, to say the least.

You can read Charles Norton’s blog post here. It also includes a quite fascinating insight into William Hartnell’s personality. My post about the BBC’s Hartnell interview discovery can be read here.

A fan produced mock DVD sleeve for The Tenth Planet. Source http://blog.project76.tv/2006/06/5506/

Vivien Fleming

©Vivien Fleming, 2013.