Lost Doctor Who Episodes Found??
Posted by dailypop on February 20, 2009
Ah, the tender feelings of a Doctor Who fan, forever at the mercy of the whims of fate.
Mugabe has lost Doctor Who tapes?
Robert Mugabe is reported to own long-lost episodes of Doctor Who.The President of Zimbabwe apparently possesses tapes of some early episodes of the science fiction series that could be thirty or forty years old, according to The Sun.
Some Doctor Who programmes were deleted by the BBC in the late sixties and seventies to make room in the Beeb’s film library for new shows and Zimbabwe is thought to have bought the first season of the time-travel series when it was still the British colony Rhodesia.
But because of poor diplomatic relations with the country, UK researchers are unable to look in Zimbabwe’s TV vaults and cannot know for sure if President Mugabe owns the missing 1963 and 1964 series starring William Hartnell.
The BBC, which is missing 108 of 752 Doctor Who episodes and wants to recover lost episodes to release on DVD, also suspects that some later programmes not held anywhere else in the world may also be in Zimbabwe.
Over the decades some previously lost episodes have been relocated as far away as Hong Kong and New Zealand.
A BBC source apparently told The Sun: “We have looked all over the world for missing Doctor Who episodes but there are still some broadcasters we have not spoken to. Zimbabwe could prove a problem as there is so much red tape.
“There is a fear that we may never get our hands on the footage and that would be a real shame for fans.”
With 108 episodes still missing after all these years, it’s stunning that possible locations are still popping up.
Mavic Chen consults the Daleks in the missing classic
Fans have been adamant to not lose hope that their children’s children may get to see the Dalek Masterplan in its entirety without relying on telesnaps and scratchy audio and good on them. As unlikely as it sounds that a film canister from the 1960′s will suddenly turn up today, their wishes may indeed come true!
In 1992 the complete Patrick Troughton 1968 classic Tomb of the Cybermen, thought missing for decades, was discovered in Hong Kong and released on VHS. In 2004 a full episode of Dalek Masterplan was found, last seen in 1966. This monumental find resulted in the release of a DVD box set of ‘orphaned episodes’… so stranger things have happened.
Recommended:
Doctor Who – Lost in Time Collection of Rare Episodes – The William Hartnell Years and the Patrick Troughton Years
Mark Duncan said
The best place to potentially find old BBC programmes would be Middle East countries who bought lots of shows like Dr. Who – many for transmission as english speaking programming to British forces bases during the 70s and 80s. It would be interesting to know if anyone in the armed forces during service in the late-80s or 90s saw any old BBC shows on local/national foreign stations…that would provide fresh, reliable information on the likely current whereabouts of vintage TV.
dailypop said
Thanks for the comment and keen insight! I can only hope that additional episodes are unearthed soon!
Cyclopz007 said
whoa, badass, keep us posted. this is huge!!! i just watched all those episode reconstructions lol.
dailypop said
Those recons really are something, aren’t they?
Mark Duncan said
Update: Likelihood of material (note: ‘material’ not episode) would feature Patrick Troughton – possibly from 1967′s “The Enemy of the World”? Will post any further information.
dailypop said
Cool, keep me in the loop!
Eben said
I hate the ‘The Invasion’ DVD. Episodes 1 & 4 were lost so they released the DVD with Animated reconstructions to see how fans would react. Although fans loved the reconstructions, they were really upset at how the serial was released on DVD when it was half-missing. Those reconstructions are good, but should stay on the Internet only. Actually no, a DVD containing reconstructions of all the missing episodes (and the actual episodes if they exist) would be so awesome! But we muse find those lost episodes. Everyone wants “The Tenth Planet” first but I’d like “Evil of the Daleks” first. Doctor Who is gonna be around for a LONG time – I mean its already been around since 1963 – so those episodes would most likely be found eventually. If The President of Zimbabwe actualy has the first series and gives them to the BBC that would restore ; “Mraco Polo” and “The Reign of Terror” only though. But the number of missing episodes would be reduced from 108 to 99! I mean, “Tomb of the Cybermen” was recovered from Hong-Kong! I mean, how wonderfully random is that? Even though VHS wasn’t around in the 1960s, home-recording excisted, so I think that there is at least ONE copy for every missing episode.
P.S. I think my grandparents are in possession of a lost episode without even knowing! Next time I see them, I MUST check!
im903yearsold said
Did they actually find The Invasion 1 and 4? That’s are real shame if they did and lost them AGAIN!
dailypop said
I just caught that. I never knew that the Beed lost, found then lost the episodes. Wow… and Invasion is such a fantastic adventure, too. One of my favorites.
dailypop said
You do realize that the Invasion DVD offers the option to watch the story without the reconstructed animations, right? In fact, the ‘Brigadier filling in the gaps’ option is on there as well if you want to stick with the VHS version.
… just saying.
Mark Duncan said
Update: U.K. film collector had can marked Dr. Who Troughton – but sadly wrong film in can. Likely the film sold to another collector, so there remains a chance it still exists.
dailypop said
Hmm… the mystery continues.
Thanks for keeping us in the loop!
Eben said
Sorry ’bout that previous comment. Actually I now LOVE the reconstructions. I just thought back then that the BBC wanted to reconstruct the episodes so that they didn’t have to bother finding the originals.
I don’t really HATE the ‘The Invasion’ DVD but I dislike the fact that the BBC actually did find the original episode 1 & 4 and then they lost it in the mail.
Besides, I shut myself up when I saw Loose Cannon Productions’s “Evil of the Daleks” recon.
drwho93 said
i would love the president of zimbabwe to let the bbc have them it would be the right thing to do so i really hope it happens i was never around to see any of this (hence the 93) but i can only wish for a day where they are all there in the bbc archive. Reponse to Eban please check your grandparents house and post when you know
Time Traveller said
I dream of technology today to have capability to time jump back to 1969 and bring a DVD recorder, Ipod, or digital film equipment to record from original master videotapes and make copies of the intended missing episodes of Troughton and Hartnell.
im903yearsold said
What we need are Weeping Angels to send us back to the 1960s with modern recording eqipment.
Zontar Smith said
Here’s a wild card prediction… Unconfirmed # of missing stories unedited (episodes) & clips of Doctor Who plus some lost episodes of Z-Cars other BBC programs will be found next year in places around the world starting January 2011. 16mm film prints, 35mm film prints, some complete original master videotape recordings (not wiped, but swiped into private hands).
Fury From The Deep, The Web of Fear, The Abominable Snowmen, The Dalek Masterplan, Mission To The Unknown, Galaxy Four, Marco Polo, The Savages, The Tenth Planet 4, The Power of The Daleks, The Evil of The Daleks, The Ice Warriors, The Moonbase, The Massacre. The Enemy of The World…
One can only Dream.
dailypop said
I like this dream!
JRS-1277 said
Sadly, I think there are probably episodes that are permanently missing. Not that I want this to be the case — I’m just being realistic. They may find one or two more — a dozen if we’re really lucky — but I think they’ve found most of what’s out there to find. I’d like to see DVD releases of all lost episodes using whatever means necessary to complete them — telesnaps with narration, animation, whatever. I just want a comprehensive collection of every Doctor Who story.
Yup said
If they are in countries such as the middle east sadly it’s possible that the BBC may not be able to access them. Just coz people have this stuff, dosen’t mean they are gunna give it. Very sad. I believe there are more to find, but I don’t think they are all out there. I think some episodes are really truthfully gone. The animated reconstructions should commence ASAP!
dailypop said
Reign of Terror is forthcoming, so maybe there will be more.
Yup said
Also, anyone else notice that not one story of season 5 exists in it’s entirety. SO awful.
Mark said
Actually there is one complete story, The Tomb of the Cybermen. It’s still very sad that so many Patrick Troughton episodes are incomplete though. It’s hard to believe they once thought no one would want to watch these again and just erased them.
Mark said
I bought a copy of Mark Campbell’s ‘Doctor Who, the episode guide’ it’s been invaluable! I’ve managed to collect DVD VHS of all the available Who’s… I’m 49 I can remember quite a lot of the ‘lost’ classics. I’d love to watch them over again. Oh, only if I had a time machine?
Chris said
Have you guys heard this yet?!?!?!?!
http://www.rimmell.com/bbc/news.htm
Lost episodes are being recovered from space!
dailypop said
Just noticed the site URL and date it was posted… very clever nonetheless.
JM said
It might seem strange : KTEH ch 54 now owned by KQED in SFO CA used to run Doctor Who it showed a vast majority of the so called missing episodes. From 1979 to 1990′s I saw many episodes from the 1960′s & Tomb of the Cyberman , Shada which were thought to be missing . The exceptions were : Dalak Masterplan , Evil of Daleks , Power of Daleks . They ran Wargames , Krotons and Denomonators way before they were discovered and put of VHS , or DVD.
Hows that ?
dailypop said
Thanks for the comment!
The stories that you mentioned aren’t lost, actually. Shada wasn’t lost, just incomplete. It was released on VHS in 1992, with interlinking material supplied by Tom Baker. It’s odd that your PBS station showed it, there must have been a strong Dr Who following there! Tomb of the Cybermen was discovered around the same time, so it makes sense that you saw on PBS. The Dalek Master Plan , Evil of Daleks , and Power of Daleks along with many 1960′s stories were only shown once and only bits have been released of each story. The War Games, Krotons and Dominators were never lost to my knowledge. They are among the few existing complete stories of the Troughton era.
There are lots of Doctor Who articles here, so I hope that you take some time to peruse!
http://dailypop.wordpress.com/doctor-who-classic-series/
DJ HUGGY said
KTEH showed only the Hartnell/Troughton that were in the BBC Library…no missing ones!
Teddy Phipps said
I hope sometime maybe the BBC or some other important company could Fly over to Zimbabwe and make a special announcement to The president of Zimbabwe about how much Britain treasures those Lost episodes, because I am dying to The master plan!
Thanks- Ted Phipps
Mark Duncan said
Recovery of “Galaxy 4″ and “The Underwater Menace” episodes were announced via BFI this week – disproving the general idea that it’s unlikely there are more complete episodes out there. It did prove, however, that returns are now more likely to come from obscure sources or non-professional collections. I’d like to take this opportunity to issue an invitation to these sources, both in the UK and overseas, and ask them to make a thorough (physical) check of their holdings for missing ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Dad’s Army’, whatever – doesn’t matter if it’s a show-reel of random clips and / or incomplete reels or videotape (e.g.: a couple of minutes from a show). Even if the quality is really bad and they think it’s beyond saving. Be assured, the BBC absolutely will NOT prosecute you for owning it. Think of the younger fans who are dying to see this vintage stuff, but never will…
Anyone wanting to pass on this post – and the invitation – feel free.
dailypop said
Yep, the discovery is very big news: http://dailypop.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/lost-doctor-who-episodes-found-2/
I also recently reviewed Galaxy 4: http://dailypop.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/doctor-who-galaxy-4/
I second the plea to private collectors, give them back!!
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spud said
A fall color vhs of ammbassadors of death exists in queensland Australia after advertising for lost material it turned up at the doctor who club of victoria back in 1993
dailypop said
Really? Any more info on this?
Art Harrison said
I would gladly give my 16mm copy of episode 6 of the classic Troughton story “the Invasion” if a film collector was in possession of the 106 episodes that are missing from the BBC and return it for all fans to enjoy. I know how very unique my episode is. If there is a collector out there willing to do this, let me know.