Rumours of missing Doctor Who material are always around but there seems to be a few more with the onset of the 50th anniversary. Typically missing episode rumours grow out of
nowhere, a mix of off hand comments, incomplete memories and miscommunication,
and on some occasions are deliberate hoaxes.
Often, it’s the claim that collectors are sitting on them, some in ignorance
but there is always the dark suggestion that some know their value but hoard
them. I'm not sure whether to think this
has happened with Doctor Who, but with the amount of film out there changing
hands in a private market there is almost certainly material in the hands of a
few that is not in the public domain.
There’s the suggestion that given the opportunity, some people would
hoard as demonstrated when someone once listed missing Doctor Who material on eBay and were contacted for the purposes of a private sale. There was no episode
available and what those interested would have done with their purchase can’t
be proven of course, but it seems that given the chance, there are people who would hoard. The other issue is
that the BBC won’t pay to get their own material back, while frustrating as a
fan, it’s understandable in that the BBC doesn't want to create precedent for
agreeing to buy their own property back lest encouraging missing material be held to ransom.
So while missing episodes are worth a great deal, there is reliance upon
the goodwill of people to return them for little reward. Furthermore, when the episode is returned,
while the collector can keep the original film it is true, but it is significantly devalued in
that it is no longer unique, being eventually available on DVD. Given that, you can see why an unscrupulous
person would want to hang on to their ‘investment’ as it loses both uniqueness and value.
Episodes have been found in odd places, and many episodes
exist with difference degrees of editing.
Rumours are rife of them being held in various TV archives around the
world but being lost by various forms of natural or man made destruction. There are rumours of episodes secretly shown
in conventions, though these are rather more difficult to believe. The edits made to episodes ironically survive
the destruction of episodes, so several fragments of material have come back
piecemeal from censors. Episodes as a
result exist in various forms of completion.
For example, there are many copies of the Time Meddler in existence with
different cuts. One of which recalls another peculiar story. The Time Meddler
was returned in 1984 with edits to the episodes and sat as such in the archives for many years. Just prior to the programme being shown as
part of the 30th anniversary repeats Ian Levine produced another
copy of the Time Meddler which was a more complete copy. Which was great, but apparently he had been
sitting on it from the early eighties after being lent it by an unnamed ‘friend’
before the Nigerian recovery. Obviously
there were suspicions as to the motives of someone effectively sitting on
material that was lost to the archive but Levine claimed that he was only
holding onto them as a favour for a friend and as they belonged to
someone else he didn't feel right to return them, even though they are, by
rights, BBC material. Levine claims that
some people at the BBC knew he owned missing episodes outside their archive but
that as there were strong rumours around at the time that some people had
missing episodes they would only trade for other missing episodes, it was only
right that he keep his own finds secret for some purpose. Still, the safest place for missing material
is in the archives and in BBC hands, not held by people hoping to use them as
bargaining material or claiming to hang onto them for their mates while the BBC
archive has gaps. It's worth noting that as a result of this, the Time Meddler are the BBC was needlessly less complete than it could have been for around a decade.
Speaking of which there is currently a buzz that it isn’t a film
collector or fan sitting on material, but the BBC iotself, keeping an announcement
secret for the 50th anniversary. It’s suggested that some, or optimistically all, of Power of
the Daleks has been recovered. Elsewhere I've seen Tenth Planet part 4 being named, which strikes me as being ridiculously hopeful as
it is probably the holy grail of lost episodes containing the landmark first
regeneration scene. That's been the target of so many hoaxes that it actually doesn't get named that often any more, hoaxers preferring to name something more obscure and less desired, though any missing material is welcome.
Where do these rumours this stem from?
Well firstly the BBC has a little previous form on this matter making
people quicker to doubt denials by those likely to be involved.
When episodes from Galaxy 4 and Underwater Menace were returned in
October 2011 they were kept under wraps for a surprise screening at a BFI event
in December. Galaxy 4 part three was
returned first, and a few weeks later Underwater Menace part two was found by
the same collector. But this was kept
secret in the face of fandom gossip, somehow the details didn't leak out and it was eventually shown to a
few hundred who had tickets to the event, the only few to have still seen them
as they currently await release over a year later. It was one of those fabled examples of
episodes found in odd places such as a Church basement. These being bought at a school fete and
twenty years later handed over to the BBC when mentioned to Ralph Montagu,
Radio Times’s head of heritage, who identified them. When asked if he hoped to find more he
responded “Well, one or two other leads are being pursued at the moment. More
than that I’m not saying!” This caused a
little speculation that perhaps there were more leads through acquaintances of
the collector who had owned these two episodes all these years.
Moving on a bit and with the hope that the BBC may sit on
things to announce when it suits them there’s a much talked about rumour that Anneke
Wills made mention of a discovery being being hushed by someone accompanying
her. Ah ha, conspiracy! But the circumstances around this seem a bit
vague, who heard what and where? Basically
it’s claimed that something of Power of the Daleks has been found in
Australia. This has been given substance
using the above observations of the BBC handing of missing material alongside various
accounts of something Anneke Wills said at a convention. Looking around the internet these accounts
are varied, she’s supposed to have said that we’re getting a ‘wonderful
surprise’ for the 50th anniversary, that she said there is ‘more to
come’ after Underwater Menace, that she responded ‘you’re not supposed to know’
to someone saying the episodes were back, to her saying outright whispering that
it is Power of the Daleks. In many of
these accounts there are some ‘minders’ around that tell her not to speak
further, which seems almost sinister considering that’s she’s supposed to be a
guest at the event. Unless she’s taken
to telling everyone passing her at the convention bar, it seems impossible that
all of these variations of the story are true.
Various members of the Restoration Team have denied missing material
being returned.
There’s a good article on missing episodes by Ash Stewart linked below.
Tantalising rumours over the years here
And one itemising the returns of various missing materials.
This post makes me jitter, I would be totally satisfied with Power of the Daleks... fingers crossed but goodness knows what's really still out there. (Plane ticket to Zambia, anyone?)
ReplyDelete