The triple DVD set Lost in Timehas been my constant companion since the sixth serial of Season Two, The Crusade.106 episodes of Doctor Whoare currently listed as officially missing from the BBC Archives. My use of the words “officially missing” are quite deliberate as rumours continue to swirl throughout Whofandom of the alleged recovery of multiple episodes. With neither a confirmation nor unequivocal denial by the BBC, these rumours are unlikely to dissipate in the near future.
Episode One of The Crusade is the first orphan episode on disc one of Lost in Time
Tonight I had the great pleasure of finally removing disc three of Lost in Timefrom my Blu Ray player, putting it away in its case, and then reshelving the set. Having watched the extant episode two of The Space Pirates,and the Loose Cannon reconstructions of the remaining five episodes, I’ve just completed one of the greatest challenges of a Doctor Whofan – to watch reconstructions of all 106 missing episodes and the 18 full orphan episodes released on Lost in Time. What a relief it is to have straddled the last hurdle in the seemingly unending race towards the final episode of Doctor Who’smonochrome era, The War Games.Henceforth, there are no missing episodes of Doctor Whoand only 10 black and white ones remaining. The end of an era is fast approaching and I will certainly miss Patrick Troughton’s “Cosmic Hobo” Doctor.
Episode Two of The Space Pirates is the last orphan episode on disc three of Lost in Time
Watch out for my review of The Space Piratesin the next day or two, and The War Gameslater in the week. The first post in my 50 Day Countdown to the 50th Anniversary will appear on Friday 4 October and will be rather unimaginatively titled The Ten Most Wanted Missing Episodes.Please join me then for a fun romp through 1960s Doctor Who.
A Doctor Who Magazine front cover on Missing Episodes
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 PlanetDVD 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.
Many thanks to Dave (Dr Twist) of the GallifreyBase forum for this very cool summation of the current status of the DoctorWhomissing episodes saga. The weekend has passed and alas, there was no BBC announcement. The rumours have not subsided and no evidence, to date, has been forthcoming. The Brigadier’s sense of frustration at Sarah Jane Smith’s explanation sums up the currently state of play brilliantly!
You can read my previous updates on the Missing Episodes Hysteria here and here.
Rumours of the recovery of missing episodes of Doctor Whostill continue but to date there has been no evidence produced of any finds.
The Yeti’s second adventure in The Web of Fear is rumoured to have been found
An also rumoured recovery is a television interview with the First Doctor, William Hartnell. To date no interviews with Hartnell, out of character, are known to exist. The opportunity to hear Hartnell speak in his normal accent is widely sought after.
The Enemy of the World is one of the rumoured Missing Episodes finds. In this serial Patrick Troughton plays the dictator Salamander who is the spitting image of the Doctor
Outpost Skaro has reported on its Twitter feed that a “mate of mine is saying that people are beginning to see Enemy of the World … hope it’s true!” The most commonly bandied around number for returned episodes is 17, although claims that as many of 94 of the missing 106 have been returned, have been made. The oft quoted 17 returned would probably entail all seven episodes of Marco Polo, and five each of The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear. Episode three of Enemy and episode one of Web are held in the BBC Archives and have been released on the triple DVD set, Lost in Time.
Episode 3 of The Enemy of the Worldand Episode 1 of The Web of Fear are held in the BBC Archives and have been released on the triple DVD set, Lost in Time
Given the decimated nature of the archival material of Patrick Troughton’s tenure as Doctor, it would be an incredible coup to have returned two complete and consecutive Season Five serials. Season Five hitherto has one complete serial, The Tomb of the Cybermen, and four out of the six episodes of The Ice Warriors. Thetwo missing episodes of The Ice Warriors have been animated and the complete serial is being released on DVD later this month.
The Ice Warriors is to be released in late August 2013. Included on the DVD release will be the four episodes held in the BBC Archives, together with two animated missing episodes
Anyone interested in an in depth analysis of 1960s Doctor Who and the missing episodes is advised to track down the updated edition of Richard Molesworth’s seminal work Wiped! Doctor Who’s Missing Episodes. The revised edition was released by Telos Publishing Ltd earlier this year . Wiped! is presently available for purchase online through The Book Depository UK.
The updated edition of Richard Molesworth’s book Wiped! was released by Telos Publications Ltd earlier this year
You can find my first article on the Missing Episodes Hysteria here.
As the months countdown to Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary on 23 November 2013, so the rumour mill concerning lost Doctor Who episodes escalates exponentially. To the best of fans’ knowledge 106 episodes remain missing from the BBC Archives, however the blog site Bleeding Cool has today reported two new rumours. One unnamed person associated with the Doctor Who production team is said to believe that there have been at least 40 episodes returned to the BBC, whilst another alleges 93. These rumours can be added to the pile which also includes claims that 90 episodes have been discovered somewhere in Africa. Dubbed the omnirumour (or omnirumor for those in America), the Africa 90 story has been circling for months and has set Who internet forums alight.
The 12 part Daleks’ Master Plan is one of the most sought after missing Doctor Who serials
Unfortunately absolutely no evidence has been forthcoming of any finds, not even one single screen capture. Hearsay is the sole testimony offered, with information only forthcoming from friends of friends. There has been talk of the BBC having compelled the signing of non disclosure agreements, delicate negotiations with film collectors and/or dictators, and all manner of other theories to justify the complete absence of evidence. The BBC has issued at least one statement denying that it has lost episodes in its possession, however the rather ambiguous nature of the statement did little to stem the flow of rumours.
The first Doctor Who regeneration (although it was not so named at the time) is among the 106 missing episodes
Having watched 11 straight missing episode reconstructions in the last several days, and with another two tomorrow before a one episode breather (episode three of The Underwater Menace), there’s not much more that I’d love than for a hoard of missing episodes to turn up. I won’t be holding my breath, however. Here’s hoping, though, that one day the hardened Doctor Who marathon viewers will be watching a lot fewer of the brilliant Loose Cannon Reconstructions.
The triple DVD Lost in Time contains many orphan Doctor Who episodes from the First and Second Doctor’s tenures
It’s somewhat bizarre to “watch” a serial in which all four episodes have been lost but miraculously, all the violence is intact as tiny snippets of film. Such is the case with the opening story of Season 4, The Smugglers. Always to the rescue in the event of missing episodes, Loose Cannon’s reconstruction is resplendent with John Cura’s famous telesnaps, authentic photos taken during production and snippets from an amateur film of the production. Most startling, however, are five short clips courtesy of Australia’s Commonwealth Film Censorship Board. Discovered in the National Archives of Australia in October 1996 by Doctor Who fans Damian Shanahan and Ellen Parry, the clips had been excised by the Film Censorship Board and retained as evidence of the edits. At some point they had been transferred to the National Archives, presumably in accordance with government agency retention policies.
Elroy Josephs, who played the pirate Jamaica, was the first black person to have a speaking part in Doctor Who
Always broadcast during children’s television times in Australia, Classic Series Doctor Who was subject to government classification prior to airing. Segments deemed too terrifying or violent for children were routinely cut. It was for this reason that The Daleks’ Master Plan was never broadcast in Australia. Who’s most violent story to that date, the cuts required to The Dalek’s Master Plan were so extensive as to make it incomprehensible to the ordinary viewer. Thanks to Shanahan and Perry’s research, together with the Censorship Board’s hardline policy of the 1960s, a number of clips from otherwise totally lost episodes and stories have now been returned to the BBC’s archives. Perhaps the most iconic of these clips is from 1968 Second Doctor serial, Fury from the Deep. A full 54 seconds of a clip survives in which Quill and Oak suffocate Mrs Harris by breathing deadly gas from their mouths. Stayed tuned for my review of that Season 5 Serial 6 story to see the outstanding film clip.
Once of the most iconic images from the Second Doctor’s lost adventure Fury from the Deep. Almost one minute of this clip survives thanks to the Australian Film Censorship Board
A listing of The Smugglers clips recovered from Australia can be accessed from this page of Loose Cannon’s website – http://www.recons.com/clips/clips-lc30.htm Particularly valuable is Steve Phillips’ “The Doctor Who Clips List”. Here you will find photographs and a short description of all recovered snippets – http://dwclips.steve-p.org/ An interview with Damian Shanahan is included amongst the special features of Lost in Time. Linked below for your viewing pleasure are The Smugglers clips, together with extracts from the amateur video.
The Smugglers – Missing clips and amateur film
The Smugglers was William Hartnell’s last historical story, and the first Doctor Whoserial requiring the cast and crew to embark on a journey to the seaside for location shooting. Filmed at Cornwell, the serial is sure to have looked superb. Without the visuals, however, it’s somewhat difficult to state much at all about the serial. Whilst perfectly enjoyable, The Smugglersis by no means extraordinary. The story of the Doctor and his new companions arriving on a late 17th Century Cornwell beach, and finding themselves immersed in the deadly games of piracy and smuggling, is profoundly simple. The story could’ve been taken from any Boys’ Own Adventure book. Save for the Doctor, Polly and Ben arriving and departing in the Tardis, there is no science fiction in the story. Nor is it based on a real, or even mythical, historical event.
Ben and Polly take their first trip in the Tardis
As many clichés as possible were thrown into The Smugglers’ mix, such as an evil pirate captain with a hook for a hand; the drunken former pirate who becomes a drunken church warden; the local Squire who’s actually a small time crook; and the locals being insanely superstitious. For the first time ever a black actor has a speaking part, although Jamaica, the pirate crew member, is quickly dispatched by the evil Captain Pike for allowing prisoners to escape. The pirates are more interested in drinking the smugglers’ loot than retrieving it for their Captain, and most interestingly, the Doctor drinks some wine with Captain Pike. It was only in The Gunfighters that the Doctor repeatedly vowed that he was a teetotaller.
The evil pirate, Captain Pike
Ben and Polly’s first trip in the Tardis provides from some comic interludes in the serial’s first part. Unsurprisingly the new companions have difficulty accepting that the Tardis travels through time, although they are less puzzled by the Ship’s ability to transport them from London to Cornwell in a matter of minutes. Convinced that they are still in 1966, Ben and Polly immediately set off to find a train station. Ben’s principal concern is returning to his boat in time. This is despite him stating in The War Machines that he was on 6 months’ shore leave. Perhaps the Crew had been put in a state of suspended animation for six months because in The Faceless Ones, Ben and Polly’s last story, they are returned to London on the same day that they left. Needless to say, our new companions soon realize that it is not the 20th Century and quickly lose their sense of astonishment. That is, of course, until Polly is repeatedly mistaken for a “lad” because she’s wearing trousers. Even being locked up in a cell after being charged with the murder of the church warden, Ben and Polly are still decidedly calm.
Ben and Polly find appropriate clothing for 17th Century Cornwell. Because she wears trousers Polly is mistaken for a “lad”
The Doctor, who is referred to as “Saw Bones” by the sailors, admits to his new companions that he is unable to control where and when the Tardis materializes. He displays a skill for tarot reading and a strong need to assist the local villagers. When Ben seeks to quickly depart in the Tardis the Doctor advises Ben that he has a moral obligation to save the villagers from the rampaging pirates. The Doctor’s ethics have changed considerably from his first adventures with Barbara, Ian and Susan. In The Daleks he placed his Crew at risk to satisfy his desire to explore the Dalek city, and was just as quickly prepared to decamp from it without Ian and Barbara. No longer entirely egocentric, the Doctor is slowly developing into the universe saving character that we all know and love.
Captain Pike and Jamaica, just prior to the Jamaica’s murder
Our next serial, The Tenth Planet, is Hartnell’s last journey in the Tardis as the Doctor. Join me for my next review in which the Cybermen make their premiere appearance and Doctor Who’s first regeneration unfolds before our confused eyes.
Loose Cannon’s VHS cover art for The Smugglers Reconstructions. The Smugglers was originally aired in the UK between 10 September and 1 October 1966.
The triple DVD set Lost in Time has been my constant companion since the sixth serial of Season Two, The Crusade. 106 episodes of Doctor Who are currently listed as officially missing from the BBC Archives. My use of the words “officially missing” are quite deliberate as rumours continue to swirl throughout Who fandom of the alleged recovery of multiple episodes. With neither a confirmation nor unequivocal denial by the BBC, these rumours are unlikely to dissipate in the near future. 
The Doctor Who Mind Robber 