Revised 12th August 1996
The following post is the latest version of my on-going attempt at gathering all the information regarding missing or recovered Doctor Who episodes. I have listed each story and then written comments regarding the story. I hope these comments will successfully blend known fact, rumor, and traditional fan wisdom into a reference document for missing episodes. There are still some gaps that need to be filled in (perhaps there always will be). So, I will welcome any additional information, questions, revisions, and even criticism. (However, if you must criticize, please keep it civil. I don't claim to be a know-it-all, so please don't be either.) Feel free to download this document for your own personal reference. Unlike the missing episodes themselves, I would like this document to be made available for all the fans. I am currently looking into the best way to do this. Anyway, thank you all for your help in advance, and I'll see you on the net!
DISCLAIMER: I have attempted to provide as many known facts as possible,
but I have also included rumors. These rumors are always clearly stated as
such, and under no circumstances should it be assumed that these rumors are
to be taken as fact. I am posting them as merely a curiosity to the general
Doctor Who fandom for amusement and intrigue.
Furthermore, my goal with this article is to clearly define and separate
the facts, rumors, and myths about missing episodes in the most objective
way possible. In the cases where this is not possible, you will be left to
decide for yourself.
Also, generally, I do not publish names. The exceptions are when the
person is extremely well known to everyone within the fandom, or when printing
their name does not in anyway expose, incriminate, or incovenience them.
Many thanks to Steve Phillips (for the clips list), Grant Goggans (for moral support and editing), Richard Moleworth (for archive information), Paul Lee (for inspiration), anyone else who helped directly or indirectly, and especially Steve Roberts, who has been a tremendous help to me. And, Paul Vanezis, if you're reading this, thanks for all you've done for everyone in the fandom!
WARNING! THIS DOCUMENT IS LONG! MY ADVICE IS TO DOWNLOAD IT INTO A WORD PROCESSING PROGRAM OR PRINT IT OUT AND READ IT LATER. IF YOU ARE BEING CHARGED FOR TIME, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO READ THIS ON-LINE. (Unless of course, you simply like wasting money)
VT - Videotape
VTR - Video tape recorder
Longitudinal VTR - Experimental VTR with a stationary recording head(s).
Quad VTR - VTR utilizing a spinning disc with four magnetic heads.
Helical-scan VTR - VTR with a tape mechanism that wraps the tape either partially or completely around the video head, allowing the video field to be recorded in one sweep.
Line - The video resolution. Or the number of lines the screen needs to replenish to make one frame. Expressed as 405-line, 525-line, 625-line, etc.
Telecine - method of converting film to video
Telerecording or T/R - method of recording video on film or transferring video to film.
Telesnaps - Still photographs made in a manner similar to telerecording. Many telesnap strips exist for missing Doctor Who episodes.
MM - The size in millimeters of the film stock used. Expressed as 16mm or 35mm.
B/W - black and white, or monochrome.
NTSC - The video format used in The United States and most of Canada. 525-line.
PAL - The video format used in Britain and most of Europe. 625-line.
U-MATIC - refers to the tape-loading mechanism. By definition, a self-loading cassette. In this case, it refers to the earliest professional 3/4 inch U-matic VCRs.
D-3 - The newest form of digital video recorder that the BBC now uses.
Wet-gate - A process of repairing a scratched film print, in which a positive or negative film is soaked in a special chemical which fills in scratches and other defects.
On August 20th, 1963, the now famous Doctor Who title sequence was created, comprising the first material regarding the series that was committed to film or videotape. By that year, the BBC had been broadcasting television for twenty-seven years, yet in many ways television was barely out of its infancy, and the equipment used was big, bulky and crude by today's standards. The VTR of choice was the 405-line Quad VTR. Developed by the Ampex corporation in 1957, these recorders had replaced early longitudinal VTRs. The longitudinals had only managed a 1 MHz bandwidth per tape transport head, requiring that the video field be split over several tracks of tape. These VTRs were not capable of producing a high enough quality video image for broadcasting, and thus, were only experimental.
Generally, everything prior to quad VTRs was recorded and preserved using a technique called telerecording. This involved using a kinescopic device with a special flat TV screen which received the live television broadcast and recorded it with a film camera, usually 16mm. As television was often a 'live' production, there would rarely be opportunities for post-production of any kind. Sometimes a program could be recorded 'live' and then edited on film later, but this was an expensive process which was not used extensively on Doctor Who until much later. In the not-so-distant future, video recording would usher in a whole new age of post-production and multi-take opportunities, but for now, it was taking its first baby steps.
The new high quality VTRs had solved the tape transport problem of the longitudinals by utilizing a spinning disc with four magnetic heads set along the disc's edge, hence the name 'quads'. This increased the quality and the size of the video field dramatically. Quad VTRs were used in many varieties by the BBC to record Doctor Who for some twenty years starting in 1963. In fact, quad technology was considered unsurpassed in video quality until D3 digital tape in 1991, and was used to record Doctor Who until "The Five Doctors". Some models had a color-B/W switch and resolution mode settings that included 405-line, 525-line, and 625-line! In any case, according to official BBC records, the *405-line* quads were the format used from "An Unearthly Child" to "The Enemy of the World" part two, upon which time they switched to 625-line B/W quads. However, the likelihood of the production switching formats in mid-story i.e. "Enemy of the World" makes this look like a documentation error. So, there is some dispute as to how much, if any, of "Enemy" was recorded in 625-line.
One thing is for sure, BBC2 had begun broadcasting in 1964 and was 625-line right from the start, going to color in 1967. By that year, BBC1 was using these more advanced transistorized 625-line machines as well, but they were still in B/W. So, as BBC1 looked to the future of color not more than three years hence, these new B/W VTRs were used to round out the sixties for Doctor Who, ending the decade with "The War Games".
During the sixties, the production of Doctor Who included filmed segments on both 16mm and 35mm film that were telecined for use with the videotape. Some of these filmed segments still exist in their original form (see list of clips from "Daleks' Masterplan" below). Sometimes these segments were queued up and played when needed during the recording session, and sometimes (for more difficult productions) post-production videotape editing was involved. This was rare, however, as video-editing at this point in time involved cutting the tape; thus making it useless for further recordings. It was also extremely tedious and thus to be avoided whenever possible. Later, as Doctor Who became increasingly technical, and videotape-editing became easier, more of it was done.
After broadcasting, BBC Enterprises made telerecordings on 16mm b/w film for overseas sales. The original videotapes were sometimes stored, sometimes re-used for other episodes (providing they hadn't been edited), but many were simply destroyed, usually after BBC Enterprises had made a telerecording. Videotaped episodes of Doctor Who were not stored at BBC TV Centre until the Pertwee era (see list below for information on which tapes were saved). In the rare instance of a Doctor Who episode being recorded on 35mm film, the print was stored at BBC's Brentford film library.
So, to summarize, in 1972, there were three distinct storage areas which contained Doctor Who:
These precious films and videotapes were stored in the only way they could be....any which way but loose. By this time, the material had been piling up for two decades, and the BBC (which never was an institution overflowing with money) did not have an adequate means of storing the media. Ideally, film for example, should be stored vertically in a sealed can at a temperature in the low fifties. This was simply not the case. Cans ended up being stacked in corridors, in "disused cupboards", in offices...wherever the space could be found. Documentation was also scarce and not always adequately recorded. Indeed, as events later indicated, film cans themselves were not always labelled properly.
All of this was the standard process in those days. Even so, if this process (inadequate though it was) had proceeded uninterrupted, almost all...if not all... Doctor Who episodes would exist today. Unfortunately, as most disasters and tragedies require, this one required a catalyst...a light to the proverbial powder keg, and for the BBC that light came sometime in 1972. That year, BBC TV Centre was visited by the London fire brigade, which quickly noted the huge stacks of videotapes piled up in the corridors of TV Centre and declared them a fire hazard, threatening to write a negative report which would cancel their insurance and shut the centre down if the corridors were not cleared.
In those days, there was nothing in the BBC's charter about providing an archive, and tape storage was considered a luxury, and an *expendable* one at that. Therefore, the BBC felt the best solution was to eliminate anything that was no longer considered commercially viable. This wave of cleansing soon spread throughout the entire BBC, including Villiers House and the Brentford library. Sixties Doctor Who was not intended to be stored on tape, so BBC TV Centre did not maintain videotapes of the program from that era. Officially, the BBC Brentford film library junked only five Doctor Who episodes: "The Power of the Daleks" 6, "The Wheel in Space" 5, "The Ice Warriors" 3, "The Crusades" 1, and "The Celestial Toymaker" 2. The last two of these were strangely enough on 16mm. Therefore, the coup de grace came with BBC Enterprises' Villiers House.
Villiers House contained the largest inventory of Doctor Who episodes, all on 16mm black and white film. Pre-1970's Doctor Who was given a fairly respectable junking grade, but it didn't help for long, and by the mid-1970's junking began in earnest. Films and tapes were consigned to furnaces, tipped into rubbish tips, and sliced and diced in various and sundry ways. A machine which was specifically built for slicing videos along the entire length of the tape was actually used. This pious purging was done in a seemingly random pattern, although the concentration was on monochrome episodes in the beginning. However, the situation eventually got bad enough to start on the Jon Pertwee episodes, and his first four seasons were also hit hard before the BBC realized their mistake sometime in 1978.
Now, all this gleeful destruction may seem horrifying, it certainly does to me. But, with many programs, this may have been a wise decision. After all, no one really cares about black and white foreign language films. Their mistake was in underestimating the fan appeal of Doctor Who and other cult shows that would eventually become extremely marketable and profitable on videocassette and in overseas sales. Their taste was again off the mark when they saved instead classic productions of plays that have probably never been shown since.
As a result of the mass carnage, no Doctor Who episode prior to 1970 exists on either 405-line or 625-line videotape. We have a lot to be thankful for, however, as a great deal of headway has been made since in the area of recovery. Yes, many episodes also found their way into peoples' pockets, purses, and briefcases, and are still circulating. Some have even been returned. The BBC itself has also made some fantastic discoveries....
In this next section, I have listed each Doctor Who story and beneath presented all the known facts, rumors, and other ideas about missing episodes that I am currently aware of. This includes how formerly missing episodes have been recovered, where missing episodes may be found, and miscellaneous information about clips and other etc.
PILOT: AN UNEARTHLY CHILD (1)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Pilot B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
Discovered in a mislabelled film can in the BBC Archive by Sue Malden, BBC
Archive Selector, 1978-1983. This apparently included both takes of the TARDIS
scene, which had been re-shot to soften The Doctor's character, as well as
correct many fluffs and assorted production errors. The first take includes
the famous "doors failing to close" blooper.
A 100,000 B.C. aka AN UNEARTHLY CHILD(4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
A lucky break! This story, along with most of seasons one, two, seven, eight,
nine, and ten, was recovered from a BBC Enterprises sales vault in 1978.
Most of these stories were in fact officially junked; but, the vault is thought
to have contained reserve prints. I call it the "Dead Sea Vault". These prints
were B/W 16mm telerecordings that were intended for overseas sales where
the potential market was still broadcasting in black and white. It appears
that the Pertwee stories were still considered viable for sales. However,
the Hartnell stories were almost certainly discovered as a "stroke of luck".
Generally, the prints found were of very high quality, although some prints
do suffer from poor maintenance and various technical anomalies such as telecine
misalignment, zoom-in problems, and other distortions. Additionally, the
films shown on PBS stations in the United States and Canada during the eighties
tended to be poorer quality prints. However, many of the quality problems
could be solved by striking fresh negatives. Scatches could be eliminated
using the wet-gate process.
Here is a complete list of episodes that were recovered from the vault:
B THE DALEKS aka THE MUTANTS (7)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-7 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above.
C INSIDE THE SPACESHIP aka THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION (2)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-2 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above.
D MARCO POLO (7)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-7 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Rumors alleging that this story yet exists in Canada continually arise. Many
believe that the available audio tapes are suspicious because it is commonly
believed that the earliest audio recordings started with "The Myth Makers".
This would seem to indicate that the "Marco Polo" audio tape was made after
the original video tape broadcast in 1963. However, Richard Landen was audio
recording off-air at the time of transmission, and his tapes still exist.
Some rumors specifically state that part two ("The Singing Sands") definitely
exists. Reports of it being shown at a convention in Canada several years
ago have also been overheard. Also, a former BBC employee who worked on the
junking team at Villiers House in the 1970s claims that this entire story
was surreptitiously saved by the team.
The BBC, attempting to trace this story in 1984, encouraged by the return
of "The Time Meddler" and "The War Machines" from Nigeria, followed leads
to Iran, where they received a curt message reading simply "Who in the name
of Allah are you talking about?".
E THE KEYS OF MARINUS (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above.
F THE AZTECS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above.
G THE SENSORITES (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above.
H THE REIGN OF TERROR (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-3,6 B/W T/R 16mm Episodes 4,5 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Parts one through three were found in Crete in 1984. Part six was returned
by a film collector. Conventional fan wisdom has long maintained that this
was through the intervention of Bob Monkhouse, though this is now in dispute.
Parts four and five are rumored to be owned by a private collector who will
return them as soon as he recovers the cost of having bought them in the
first place.
Clips from this story exist on silent 8mm film taken from a television set. These clips are presented as compiled fragments from various stories, both missing and existing. The quality is understandably rather dodgy which includes flickering in most cases. The material also seems to be sped up, making the possibility of dubbing the footage more difficult. The whole reel lasts 15 minutes and includes clips from the following additional stories: "Planet of Giants", "The Web Planet", "The Space Museum", "The Chase", "The Time Meddler", "The Myth Makers", "The Savages", "The War Machines", "The Tenth Planet" 4, "The Power of the Daleks" 1, "The Macra terror", and "The Faceless Ones".
J PLANET OF GIANTS (3)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-3 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above. See also "The Reign of Terror".
K THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4,6 B/W T/R 16mm Episode 5 B/W T/R 35mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above.
L THE RESCUE (2)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-2 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above.
M THE ROMANS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above.
N THE WEB PLANET (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above. See also "The Reign of Terror".
P THE CRUSADE (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-2,4 MISSING Episode 3 B/W T/R 35mm
COMMENTS:
Episode three was maintained by the BBC as an example of a historical episode.
The other episodes were wiped. No information or rumors have surfaced regarding
the other episodes that I know of. Prospective finds are not likely since
overseas sales of this story were not good. More information needed.
Q THE SPACE MUSEUM (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above. See also "The Reign of Terror".
R THE CHASE (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "100,000 B.C." above. See elso "The Reign of Terror".
S THE TIME MEDDLER (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
Edited copies of this story, along with "The War Machines" 1-4, were discovered
in Nigeria in 1984 after a BBC employee returned from that country and remarked
that they were so far behind they were "still showing episodes [of Doctor
Who] with Patrick Troughton" as the Doctor. One has to wonder why no
Troughton episodes were found though! Part two of both these stories was
redundant as the BBC already possessed copies. In 1992, Ian Levine returned
unedited copies of "The Time Meddler" that he had acquired way back in 1982.
See also "The Reign of Terror".
T GALAXY FOUR (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 MISSING
COMMENTS:
A five minute+ clip from episode one was given to DWAS co-founder and TV
Zone Editor Jan Vincent-Rudzki in 1977 for his assistance on the Lively Arts:
"Whose Doctor Who" documentary. This does not include the short clip used
in the documentary. In other words, a 5 minute 53 second strip of film was
made from the master negative for use in the documentary. In the end, only
the short piece actually seen was spliced in. The excess, which would have
ended up on the cutting room floor anyway, was given to Vincent-Rudski. The
portion used in the documentary is about 30 seconds long and tinted blue/yellow.
Unfortunately, it was taken from the middle of the film strip, meaning that
Vincent-Rudski's film is in two pieces with a few seconds lost between the
end of the documentary clip and the beginning of his second piece! The production
staff for "Thirty Years in the TARDIS" unsuccessfully attempted to obtain
a complete version of this clip for the special in 1993. Mr. Vincent-Rudski
has been less than willing to part with it so far. Perhaps, understandably
so; as, given the fact that the BBC threw the episode away, what right do
they have to demand it back? However, we all hope that someday, this full
clip will somehow be released as it is certainly the longest clip known to
exist, totaling over one-fourth of the running time of the full episode!
Part two is rumored to exist, and indeed several listeners have stated that the available audio copy has all the hallmarks of a film recording (pops and crackle, etc.), indicating that the audio tape may have been made after the original 1965 video tape broadcast. This is hotly debated, however. After all, the tape could simply be damaged, the recorder could have had dirty heads, etc. The official story is that episode two was recorded on audio by a college professor for a class presentation. Interesting, I wonder what the demonstration could have possibly been?! Additionally, I have since heard that audio recordings of all four episodes exist. I am awaiting confirmation of this statement.
T/A MISSION TO THE UNKNOWN aka DALEK CUTAWAY(1)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episode 1 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Rumored to have been shown to a fan by a convention-goer in Chicago in 1994
along with "The Daleks' Master Plan" eleven and twelve and "The Celestial
Toymaker". Unfortunately, this report is now believed to be a fabrication
as the convention-goer changed the story several times, and eventually confessed
that only part four of "Toymaker" was shown. Sadly, the whole story may be
just that...a story.
U THE MYTH MAKERS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Off-screen 8mm film recordings from this story exist. Specifically, the scene
in question is one of Vicki staying behind in ancient Greece. See "The Reign
of Terror".
V THE DALEKS' MASTERPLAN (12)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4,6-9,11-12 MISSING Episodes 5,10 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
The story of how episodes five ("Counterplot") and ten ("Escape Switch")
were discovered is one that has apparently generated much confusion. Peter
Haining seemed very certain of his facts in his 1988 book: Doctor Who
- Twenty-Five Glorious Years, in which he states that Steve Bryant discovered
a crate of BBC films in the basement of the "Mormon Unification Church of
Great Britain in Clapham, south London" in 1983. The church had recently
taken over the building which was "a previously long-derelict church". On
the other hand, the original article reporting the episodes' return in Doctor
Who Monthly No. 82 states that the episodes were discovered in "The Church
of Latter-Day Saints" in Wandsworth. The magazine report seems to be the
accurate one as research reveals that there isn't a "Mormon Unification Church"
in Clapham, but there is a "Church of Latter-Day Saints" in Wandsworth. However,
because of the confusion fans disagree as to the name and location of the
church, and to whether it was actually a church at all! Some claim that the
church was actually at one time a BBC storage facility. This seems strange,
as one wonders why a church would take over a BBC storage building (the building
structure would hardly be compatible!), and why only *one* crate of films
would be found. What a small storage facility! This is complicated by confusion
as to what the "Mormon Unification Church" actually is. Some people have
claimed that the church is merely a cover story. The question is: why? Why
would the BBC feel the need to produce a cover story? In reality, they have
very little reason to lie. Why not simply say: "We discovered some lost episodes
in an old BBC storage facility"? They did so with "The Ice Warriors". If
the films were in reality returned by a fan or from a foreign TV station,
why not simply tell the truth, leaving the benefactor anonymous? My educated
guess is that there isn't any "cover story", and Haining simply got the name
and location of the church wrong. In any case, to this day no one is quite
sure how the crate came to be there....wherever "there" is.
Episode Four ("The Traitors") was loaned to the Blue Peter production staff along with "The Tenth Planet" part four in 1973 for a special on Doctor Who. Clips were taken from the episodes and the special was recorded and broadcast. However, the films disappeared soon afterwards as they were never returned to the BBC archive. Many fans believe they were stolen. This could happen presumably because the BBC was 'junking' episodes at the time anyway and probably didn't care. The clips, however, can be seen in the still existing Blue Peter 11/5/73 program. A clip from episode three was used in a 1971 Blue Peter episode that currently exists in the hands of the BBC. This clip features The Doctor, Steven, and Bret Vyon debating landing on Desperus with the Daleks controlling their ship by remote. The Daleks portion was re-used several times in future Blue Peter episodes, but with a partially re-dubbed soundtrack.
Almost two minutes of 35mm film inserts for episode one were found in a wrongly labeled film can in 1991. 35mm effects footage of the Daleks burning down a forest from part two ("The Day of Armageddon") was recovered in October 1993. This footage features in MTTYITT. See list below.
Episode Seven ("The Feast of Steven") was rumored to be in the possession of William Hartnell and his family for years, supposedly being brought out each Christmas for a viewing. Rumor also has it that when Heather Hartnell was contacted by Sue Malden sometime after Bill Hartnell's death, she was unable to locate the film. Unfortunately, as fascinating as this story is, there is the stronger possibility that what Hartnell was in fact given was a 10-minute+ clip from episode two of "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" depicting the Doctor attempting to escape from a Dalek cell. This clip is now in the hands of the National Film and Television Archive.
See "Mission to the Unknown" above for more details on this story.
Here is a complete list of all the material available from "The Daleks' Masterplan":
* Featured in "Daleks - The Early Years" video release (lots of trimming)
** Featured in "Daleks - The Early Years" and "Resistance is Useless"
*** Featured in "More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS".
W THE MASSACRE (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Great story! It would be great to see William Hartnell (as the Abbot of Amboise)
prove to the more skeptical fans that he really can act without all those
coughs and splutters! More information needed.
X THE ARK (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
I believe this story was maintained by the BBC. It may also have been another
story that was found in the "Dead Sea Vault", but I'm not certain.
Y THE CELESTIAL TOYMAKER (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-3 MISSING Episode 4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
Part four was discovered in Australia. Certain episodes of "Toymaker" have
also been reported to have been seen in Canada. See "Mission to the Unknown"
above for more details.
Z THE GUNFIGHTERS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
Same as "The Ark". In any case, the Beeb must enjoy a jolly good laugh if
they kept this one around! More information needed.
AA THE SAVAGES (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Unfortunately, I have not heard of any information, rumors, or even wild
stories regarding this particular adventure. This strengthens my personal
belief that fans tend to tell stories about the most popular episodes rather
than reportedly boring ones like "The Savages". See "The Reign of Terror".
BB THE WAR MACHINES (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
See "The Time Meddler" above for details on this story. See also "The Reign
of Terror".
CC THE SMUGGLERS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Silent color 8mm footage shot by a visitor during the on-location recording
session exists. Unfortunately, this film does not contain any footage used
in the broadcast. Well, I say the footage was not in the broadcast, but it
is possible that the visitor shot the same scenes from a different angle.
I'm afraid we may never know for sure. Nevertheless, it is therefore only
of interest as a curiosity.
No other information about this story is available. See "The Savages" above for comments.
DD THE TENTH PLANET (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-3 B/W T/R 16mm Episode 4 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Parts one through three were never junked by the BBC. Part four was never
intended to be either, though it might as well have been. The final episode,
like part four of "The Daleks' Master Plan", was borrowed by the Blue Peter
production staff and then later vanished. Many people believe it was stolen
and now circulates on the black market. Fortunately, a 26 second clip of
the Hartnell/Troughton regeneration scene can be seen in the 11/5/73 Blue
Peter episode.
Part four was also the subject of a particularly twisted hoax in 1992 by an evil fan going by the pseudonym of Roger K. Barrett. "Mr. Barrett" claimed to have the episode on a videotape recorded in the now defunct Shibaden SV-700 format, supposedly having sold the original film print. This tape, when examined, was completely blank. Rumors of this episode's existence continue to abound however, as it is one of a handful of episodes that are missing despite having not been specifically junked by the BBC, thus making the probability of its existence higher. Rumors range from an oil rigger who paid 5,000 pounds for the episode....to a consortium of selfish fans who conspire to keep the episode away from the BBC to keep its black market value high.
More off-screen film recordings exist from episode 4 of this story. The scenes in question are a short sequence inside the Cybermen's spaceship, and most amazingly the entire regeneration scene from the Hartnell's Doctor standing by the TARDIS console to Troughton's Doctor lying on the floor. See "The Reign of Terror" above.
EE THE POWER OF THE DALEKS (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 MISSING
COMMENTS:
In a similar vein to the "The Tenth Planet" part four, this story is the
subject of one of the nastiest hoaxes ever, involving clips that were used
in the 1974 ABC production "C for Computer" which was part of a multi-part
educational series called Perspectives. A fan in Australia attempted to swindle
others out of valuable material by tempting them with pictures from a clip,
pretending to possess the full episode. The clip allegedly involved scenes
of Daleks being built in a production line. In August 1995, several clips
from an ABC production called "C for Computer" were returned to the BBC.
All of the clips were from "Power" episodes four and five, and one of the
clips shows completed Daleks on a conveyor belt. Could this be the "production
line" clip? There are reports that a fan in England possesses a poor quality
copy of this sequence made by pointing a film camera at a television set.
Unfortunately, ABC wiped the full "Computer" episode in 1976, maintaining
some clips of the Sidney Opera House interspersed with clips of Daleks, and
it is therefore possible that some footage, including the "production" clip,
was lost forever.
Then, there is of course a clip which was used in both a Whickers World episode (featuring Terry Nation) and a Blue Peter episode: the famous "conquer and destroy" clip from part five. This was released on video for the "Daleks - Early Years" tape. A brief clip from episode six showing Daleks exploding also exists and was used in "More Than Thirty Years in the TARDIS".
"Power of the Daleks" is one Doctor Who story that is said not to have been junked by the BBC (perhaps the BBC was trying to save the stories involving the first transition from one Doctor to another), though this may be an illusion due to incomplete junking schedules. However, as a result, constant rumors of this story's existence continue to arise. One such rumor was that "Power of the Daleks" was reportedly seen in Ghana in 1986, but sadly when contacted years later, the television station informed the inquiring party that their entire television archive had burned to the ground in 1988. Another such story reported in December 1990 that a private collector possessed a poor quality copy of part two without the opening titles, though this now believed to be a hoax. Most amazingly, a 35mm film print of part one was reportedly sold for 15,500 pounds to a consortium of ten dealers at an auction. An extremely questionable report indeed, considering the fact that the BBC recorded very little of Doctor Who on 35mm film and that it was never sold in that format to any other country. On a positive note, "Power of the Daleks" 6 was recorded on 35mm and stored at the Brentford Film Library. Brentford records indicate that the film was never *officially* junked, yet the film can is missing. So, perhaps episode six could exist on the black market...
Here is a full list of the clips available from "The Power of the Daleks":
More 8mm off-screen film recordings exist from this story as well. Specifically, a short sequence from episode one of the Doctor seeing his predecessor in a hand mirror, and a clip from episode two with a Dalek having power fed to it.
FF THE HIGHLANDERS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 MISSING
COMMENTS:
I recall a rumor that both episodes two and four existed in Scotland and
were due to be returned to the BBC about the time of "The Evil of the Daleks"
episode two find in 1987. Nothing further ever came of this. A brief outtake
with a clapperboard from episode one exists. More information about this
footage is needed.
GG THE UNDERWATER MENACE (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-2,4 MISSING Episode 3 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
Episode three was maintained due to the reported high expense of the "underwater"
scenes. I know of no rumors or other information regarding the other three
episodes.
HH THE MOONBASE (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1,3 MISSING Episodes 2,4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
This whole story was supposed to have been wiped, but an unnamed man (who
was a BBC employee) claimed to have taken home episodes 1,2, and 4 during
the seventies. He sold all three episodes later, and if his story is true
then this explains where episodes 2 and 4 came from. Unfortunately, all of
this happened many years ago, and the man involved does not remember for
sure.
Part three reportedly exists in the United States. Episodes 1 and 3 have reportedly been seen in Canada. The prints of episode four exist in much better quality as of last year than the one released by BBC Video, as the BBC has been borrowing the original negatives from collectors to make new prints.
JJ THE MACRA TERROR (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Rumors previously had insisted that this entire story existed in the hands
of private collectors, though again this is now doubtful due to the unreliability
of certain witnesses. This could also be confusion with the more reliable
statements that an off-screen film recording of the entire opening credits
exists, along with other miscellaneous footage. See "The reign of terror"
above.
KK THE FACELESS ONES (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1,3 B/W T/R 35mm Episodes 2,4-6 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Part three was returned by film collectors/fans in 1987 after they had purchased
the film at a car boot sale several years earlier! Other episodes are reportedly
owned by a collector in Scotland. Part one was retained by the BBC, probably
as an example of the fourth season. See "The Reign of Terror" above.
LL THE EVIL OF THE DALEKS (7)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1,3-7 MISSING Episode 2 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
Part two was returned by film collectors/fans in 1987. Other episodes reportedly
seen in Canada. Rumors insist that parts three and five definitely exist,
part five in the United States. A 10 second model effects insert intended
for episode seven also exists. However, most of this features hands moving
the Dalek models.
MM THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
All of the episodes of this story were returned to BBC Enterprises from a
TV station in Hong Kong in December 1991 and released on videotape in 1992.
"Tomb of the Cybermen" enjoyed quite healthy sales in Britain, bringing in
over 400,000 pounds. However, the financial success of this video may make
it harder for the BBC to encourage fans to return episodes. After all, once
they've seen the money to be made, fans are less likely to turn over a missing
episode without a "finder's fee"....and a substantial one at that!
NN THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMEN (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1,3-6 MISSING Episode 2 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
Part two was returned by a film collector in 1981. This episode's return
can claim credit for bringing the plight of missing Doctor Who episodes
to the attention of the fans, starting the massive treasure hunt that continues
to this day.
Part three has long been rumored to have been seen in a gay London nightclub sometime in the early eighties. This rumor has been circulating for so long that it is now believed by many to be fact. However, one has to wonder if the episode numbers were simply mixed up, since part two was recovered around the same time.
Two clips exist from episode four of this story; one features a crash zoom on a Yeti (2 seconds), and the other features Yeti dragging a man up a hill (6 seconds). The former was featured in "Doctor Who and the Daleks - I Was That Monster".
Also, 16mm on-location film inserts exist for episode two. Contrary to popular belief, however, they are not outtakes or alternate takes of any kind, but in fact the same sequences used in the final program. On the other hand, these segments were fully edited but prior to insertion into the final broadcast version, and thus are extended at both ends, including a blooper (of sorts) of Deborah Watling falling down as she runs from the Yeti. In the finished version, this "blooper" was left off simply by switching to studio footage prior to its appearance.
Both Gerald Blake and Frazer Hines recorded color 8mm "home movies" of the location work being done. Frazer's film is featured in the "Myth Makers - Frazer Hines" video.
OO THE ICE WARRIORS (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1,4-6 B/W T/R 16mm Episodes 2,3 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Parts one, and four through six were discovered on 16mm film in a disused
cupboard at BBC Enterprises in 1989. This underscores the sloppy maintenance
undertaken by the BBC during the seventies.
PP THE ENEMY OF THE WORLD (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-2,4-6 MISSING Episode 3 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
Part three was maintained by the BBC as an example of the fifth season, along
with "The Wheel in Space" part six. Why this episode was chosen is anybody's
guess. One can only assume that the BBC has extremely bad taste, as not only
is episode three the slackest in an already slow story, but many far superior
stories or episodes could have been saved instead.
QQ THE WEB OF FEAR (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episode 1 B/W T/R 16mm Episodes 2-6 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Part one discovered by Sue Malden in a stack of film cans returned from a
foreign TV station in 1978. Other episodes are rumored to exist in the United
States. The filmed background shots of the pulsing webs used for the end
credits still exist.
RR FURY FROM THE DEEP (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 MISSING
COMMENTS:
Ian Levine reportedly attempted to trade a color copy of "The Mind of Evil"
part one for episodes one and two of this story. Again this may be a hoax
created by unreliable witnesses. A clip of the TARDIS landing on the sea
from part one was re-used in "The War Games" and thus is the only material
known to exist from the program.
SS THE WHEEL IN SPACE (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-2,4-5 MISSING Episode 3 B/W T/R 16mm Episode 6 B/W T/R 35mm
COMMENTS:
Part three was returned after Doctor Who Magazine received an anonymous
letter from "a true fan" alerting them to the episode's presence in the hands
of a private collector in the Portsmouth area. The editors of the magazine
turned the letter over to the BBC and the initially reluctant collector was
quickly persuaded to part with the episode. The twist to this story is that
Doctor Who Magazine had received VHS copies of the episode from the
collector and had written the "letter" *themselves* to put pressure on him.
A much cleaner print of part three was made from the collector's negative in 1992. A wet-gate telecine and a D-3 digital transfer was done in 1994; unfortunately, a little too late to be released on video.
Part six was saved by the BBC as an example of the fifth season, and it still exists in its original pristine 35mm form. Contrary to popular belief, this episode does not exist in a slash print format. This is a common myth that started because the films contained an optical track which recorded dialogue and little else, as well as a magnetic track which recorded all of the dialogue, sound-effects and music. Many film copies made by fans copied only the optical track of the film, thus making the print appear to be an earlier edit prior to sound-effects and other dubbing.
TT THE DOMINATORS (5)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-2,4-6 B/W T/R 16mm Episode 3 B/W T/R 35mm
COMMENTS:
All five episodes (along with "The Krotons" and "The War Games") were offered
to the British Film Institute for storage during the "junking" years and
were preserved until their return to the BBC in 1978/9. Originally, episodes
four and five were edited, but a complete copy of episode five was recently
returned by a collector. Why would they have sent edited copies to the BFI?
The copies were probably returned from an overseas television station at
the end of a contract. They were possibly edited by the buyer.
UU THE MIND ROBBER (5)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm Episode 5 B/W T/R 35mm
COMMENTS:
Wow! Finally, the BBC shows a little taste and keeps a good one!
VV THE INVASION (8)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1,4 MISSING Episodes 2,3,5-8 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
Episodes two, three, and five through eight were supposedly sent to the Film
Library for safe-keeping. However, this information is questionable because
it seems strange that episodes one and four were not sent as well. Also,
the common explanation for the destruction of "Invasion of the Dinosaurs"
part one is that it was mistaken for "The Invasion" part one. However, if
the BBC was trying to save "The Invasion", then this explanation would seem
to be completely invalidated.
Rumor has it that episodes one and four were due to be returned to the BBC in 1983/4, but were intercepted before they reached their destination. This story is partially backed up by a former BBC employee who worked with the junking team at Villiers House in the seventies. This man claims that many more episodes than are acknowledged were "rescued" by the junking team, including "The Invasion" parts one and four in particular. Certain episodes of this story were also reportedly seen in Canada.
WW THE KROTONS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
This story was sent to the British Film Institute along with the "The Dominators"
and "The War Games" and recovered by the BBC in 1978, though "The Krotons"
is not on BFI records.
XX THE SEEDS OF DEATH (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
For whatever reason, the BBC didn't junk most of season six. I fail to see
the logic. This story is fairly typical of the season, fun but flawed. More
information required.
YY THE SPACE PIRATES (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1,3-6 MISSING Episode 2 B/W T/R 35mm
COMMENTS:
Part two was never destroyed by the BBC, maintained to this day as "an example
of the genre". (Again the BBC's taste is highly questionable!) The other
episodes were all wiped.
ZZ THE WAR GAMES (10)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-10 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
All ten episodes were sent to the British Film Institute along with "The
Dominators" and "The Krotons", and then returned to the BBC in 1978.
AAA SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 Color 16mm, B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
16mm color film prints of this story were maintained by the BBC. Redundant
16mm b/w film prints were also discovered in the vaults of BBC Enterprises
in 1978.
BBB DOCTOR WHO AND THE SILURIANS (7)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-7 B/W T/R 16mm, Color NTSC U-matic, Re-colorized D-3
COMMENTS:
This story was originally wiped by the BBC, but a 16mm b/w film print was
discovered along with seasons one and two in the BBC Enterprises sales vault
in 1978. Ian Levine also provided a color Sony U-matic copy which was recorded
off-air in the United States during Pertwee's experimental run in the seventies.
These were the only forms on which the story was available until a BBC
restoration team successfully mated the two copies. The black and white film
was transferred to D-3 Digital tape (the new standard professional digital
format) by telecine. The color U-matic tapes were converted to the 625-line
PAL format and remastered as well. The comparatively low quality of the color
image was not a significant factor. This was because of the way in which
TV signals are broadcast. In truth, TV is in fact two signals: luminance,
a very high-resolution black and white image, and chrominance, a relatively
low-resolution color image superimposed over the former. This tricks the
human eye into believing that it is viewing a high-resolution color picture.
Because of this illusion, synchronizing the luminance from the b/w film print
with the chrominance from the NTSC color video was achievable, thus creating
a near perfect color copy.
CCC THE AMBASSADORS OF DEATH (7)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episode 1 Color 625-line PAL VT Episodes 1-7 B/W T/R 16mm, Color NTSC U-matic Episodes 5,6 Re-colorized D-3
COMMENTS:
Same as above. However, the color U-matic copy in this case contained many
color faults (drop-outs and rainbow noise). Therefore, the BBC could only
complete episodes five and six, and these episodes were inferior to the other
color restorations, particularly episode five which contains patterning.
A color PAL VT copy of part one was maintained by the BBC. Crude color off-air
copies, recorded by Tom Lundy in America on U-matic tape and provided by
Ian Levine, exist for episodes 2,3,4, and 7.
DDD INFERNO (7)
ARCHIVE STATUS:
Episodes 1-7 B/W T/R 16mm, Color NTSC U-matic,
Color 525-line NTSC, PAL Conversion from NTSC
COMMENTS:
This story was also originally wiped by the BBC and existed only as a black
and white film print until a 525-line 2-in NTSC color copy was recovered
from TV Ontario in December 1985.
EEE TERROR OF THE AUTONS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS:
Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm, Color 525-line NTSC,
Re-colorized D-3
COMMENTS:
See "Doctor Who and the Silurians" above. Also, this story existed as an
episodic version in color and the video quality was much higher, allowing
for a superior color-mating process.
FFF THE MIND OF EVIL (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 B/W T/R 16mm Clips of Episode 6 Color NTSC U-matic, Re-colorized D-3
COMMENTS:
This story was wiped by the BBC during the junking years. Only a b/w 16mm
film print found in the BBC Enterprises sales vault survives. However, four
minutes and 34 seconds of episode six exist in color in the hands of various
collectors, most notably Ian Levine. This footage contains three segments:
the first beginning with the opening titles and ending with Captain Yates
telling the Doctor and the Brigadier where the missile is. The second segment
starts with Jo bringing Barnham a meal and ends with Sergeant Benton's phone
ringing. The third begins with the Doctor discovering that the creature has
escaped and ends with the line "It's stronger than ever now". These segments
have been mated with the b/w telerecording to create another high-quality
color copy like the above stories. A short clip from the first segment was
used in "Doctor Who and the Daleks - Unit Recruiting Film" shown in 1993
during repeats of "Planet of the Daleks". Rumors report that more material
of the machine running wild exists in color as well.
It is of note that Ian Levine *reportedly* tried to swap a color copy of episode one for episodes one and two of "Fury from the Deep" (see above). It is also *rumored* that the entire story exists in color in Ian Levine's collection and that the "clip" from part six is merely a teaser; the rest of the story having never been parted with. This is simply not true.
The official story is that Tom Lundy recorded the entire story in episodic form, and then later, not realising what priceless data he was erasing, recorded over the tape with a football game. This football game ended at the beginning of "Mind of Evil" episode six. Still later, he recorded something else on the same tape starting about five minutes into episodic six, ultimately leaving the existing color fragments of the episode in between two other recordings. The gaps between segments are probably due to aborted attempts at further recordings. I should also mention that Ian Levine has gone on record denying that he possesses any missing episodes.
Finally, one of the more well known and reliable Doctor Who fans in America, adamantly claims that he saw the entire story in color at a convention during the eighties. However, if a color copy does exist, I doubt it came from Tom Lundy's NTSC recordings.
GGG THE CLAWS OF AXOS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm Episodes 1,4 Color 625-line PAL Episodes 1-3 Color 525-line NTSC, PAL Conversion from NTSC
COMMENTS:
Episodes 2 and 3 were originally wiped by the BBC, though episodes 1 and
4 are maintained on PAL color VT to this day. B/w film prints of 1-4 were
recovered in 1978. Color NTSC 525-line copies of 1-4 were recovered in 1983
from TV Ontario.
HHH COLONY IN SPACE (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS:
Episodes 1-6 B/W T/R 16mm, Color NTSC U-matic,
Color 525-line NTSC, PAL Conversion from NTSC
COMMENTS:
All episodes were originally wiped by the BBC. 16mm b/w prints of all episodes
were discovered in 1978. NTSC 2-in color copies of all episodes were recovered
from TV Ontario in 1983. This whole story was also recorded on Sony U-matic
by Tom Lundy, though this copy is redundant.
JJJ THE DAEMONS (5)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-5 B/W T/R 16mm, Color NTSC U-matic Episodes 1-3,5 Re-colorized D-3 Episode 4 Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
All episodes were originally wiped bar episode four which is retained to
this day on PAL VT. The other episodes were restored to full color just as
"Doctor Who and the Silurians" above. This was the first Doctor Who
episode to be restored by this method.
KKK DAY OF THE DALEKS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
All episodes were maintained by the BBC on color PAL VT. A redundant Sony
U-matic copy of this story also exists.
MMM THE CURSE OF PELADON (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 B/W T/R 16mm Episodes 1-2,4 Color 525-line NTSC Episodes 1-4 PAL Conversion from NTSC
COMMENTS:
Originally wiped, this entire story was recovered on NTSC 2-in color VT from
TV Ontario. Unfortunately, the tape for episode 3 was in very bad condition,
literally falling apart. The story goes that a very dedicated engineer stayed
up all night, stopping the tape every five minutes and cleaning the oxide
off the VTR heads, until a clean PAL copy was produced.
LLL THE SEA DEVILS (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 B/W T/R 16mm, Color 525-line NTSC Episodes 1-3 PAL Conversion from NTSC, Color NTSC U-matic Episodes 4-6* Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
Episodes 4-6 were maintained on color PAL VT, the others were wiped. 16mm
b/w telerecordings of all episodes were recovered in 1978. All episodes were
recovered on NTSC 2-in color video from TV Ontario in 1983. Episodes 1-3
exist on Sony U-matic.
*The PAL copy of episode five was for years significantly damaged with scoring, necessitating the use of the lower quality NTSC copy for repeats. However, in 1994, Steve Roberts (Senior telecine engineer at BBC), repaired the video by replacing the scratched areas with computer approximated information. A clean D-3 digital master now exists.
NNN THE MUTANTS (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 B/W T/R 16mm Episodes 1-2 Color 525-line NTSC, PAL Conversion from NTSC Episodes 3-6 Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
Episodes 3-6 were maintained by the BBC on color PAL VT. Episodes 1 and 2
were wiped. All episodes were recovered on 16mm b/w film in 1978. All episodes
were recovered from TV Ontario on NTSC 2-in color video.
OOO THE TIME MONSTER (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS:
Episodes 1-6 B/W T/R 16mm, Color 525-line NTSC,
PAL Conversion from NTSC
COMMENTS:
All episodes were originally wiped by the BBC. 16mm b/w telerecordings were
recovered in 1978. 525 line NTSC color copies of all six episodes were recovered
from TV Ontario. A 625-line low-band b/w engineering copy of part six was
also discovered in 1987. This was recolorized in a similar manner to "The
Daemons" using the color from the NTSC copy.
RRR THE THREE DOCTORS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
All episodes were maintained by the BBC on color PAL VT.
PPP CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
All episodes were maintained by the BBC on color PAL VT.
QQQ FRONTIER IN SPACE (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6* B/W T/R 16mm, Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
All but episodes four and five were originally wiped. B/w film prints of
all episodes were recovered from BBC Enterprises in 1978. In 1985, the remaining
episodes were discovered in color on 625-line PAL VT in Australia.
*A "71 edit" of episode five with additional footage also exists.
SSS PLANET OF THE DALEKS (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-2,4-6 Color 625-line PAL Episode 3 B/W T/R 16mm
COMMENTS:
All episodes bar episode three were saved by the BBC on PAL color VT. B/w
film prints were recovered from BBC Enterprises in 1978, making the story
complete, but not completely in color.
TTT THE GREEN DEATH (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
All episodes were maintained by the BBC on color PAL VT.
UUU THE TIME WARRIOR (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
All episodes were maintained by the BBC on color PAL VT.
WWW INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episode 1 B/W T/R 16mm Episodes 2-6 Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
Episode one was accidentally (?) wiped by the BBC when it was mistaken for
"The Invasion" part one. See "The Invasion" above. The missing episode was
recovered in June 1983 as a 16mm b/w film print. The rest of the story had
been maintained on PAL VT.
As a footnote to this story, part one has been heavily rumored to exist in color by many people. This rumor perhaps stems from a "camera copy" of the episode circulating in America. A camera copy is a crude method of converting from one video format to another. For example, an NTSC camera could be pointed at a television set showing a PAL tape, thus providing a primitive copy. Unfortunately, because of the differing frame rates, a severe flickering effect results, and the color is askew. I have a personal copy of this video, and have examined it. The copy is in extremely poor condition, and it is difficult to tell for sure, but it looks as though some color traces are still visible. It could be an illusion caused by the tinting effect of the camera, then again.... Nevertheless, the owner of the original claimed that his video was in color; but, soon after making the copy for us, he disappeared, never to be seen again.
XXX DEATH TO THE DALEKS (4)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-4 Color 625-line PAL Episode 1 Color 525-line NTSC, PAL Conversion from NTSC
COMMENTS:
All episodes bar episode one were maintained on PAL VT. An edited copy of
episode one was recovered from ABC in Australia in PAL. This was the version
to be released on video. Later in 1992, an unedited copy was discovered.
YYY THE MONSTER OF PELADON (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
All episodes were maintained by the BBC on color PAL VT.
ZZZ PLANET OF THE SPIDERS (6)
ARCHIVE STATUS: Episodes 1-6 Color 625-line PAL
COMMENTS:
All episodes were maintained by the BBC on color PAL VT. Episode two is slightly
damaged.
The only episodes of Jon Pertwee that do not officially exist as they were originally recorded (i.e. in color) are:
It is my official understanding that, beginning with "Invasion of the Dinosaurs"
part two, all episodes of Doctor Who were saved in their original
625-line PAL format. However, I have more than once heard the rumor that
some or all of the first two Tom Baker seasons were junked at one point and
later recovered from Time-Life in America; although this is probably completely
absurd with no basis in fact.
Personally, I believe there are many missing episodes out there. How many? Oh, I couldn't possibly say. Half a dozen? Ten? Twenty? All of them? Maybe. I don't know. But, I'm sure of one thing. "Tomb of the Cybermen" wasn't the last. There are more, many more. Yes, there are naysayers that argue that all the overseas archives are spent, that everything that's out there has been returned. But, they underestimate the power of human nature. Is there one person reading this that could say that if they were faced with the task of destroying the only known copy of a TV program (regardless of whether they liked it not), that they would do so without a second thought? I think not. Personally, I would have been stuffing pockets, bags, backpacks, suitcases, vans etc etc on my way out the door, but even the most humdrum bored BBC employee might be fascinated with the idea of owning the only existing copy of something or anything.
Yes, well, as John Lennon said: "Maybe I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one". I dream that one day I will see some...or all of these stories. I'm sure many others do as well. We were denied that by the BBC's folly. But, listen folks, break the paradigm first. These episodes are not really the Beeb's or any one individual's now. They should belong to all of us. We should all be granted the opportunity to watch them. So, if there are people out there who have these episodes, in all humility I ask you, share them with others. Maybe, you don't want the BBC to have them back, maybe you think the BBC doesn't deserve them back. Ok, I can buy that philosophy to some degree. Afterall, they threw them away, and now all they really care about is making money. So, don't be the same way. Prove to us that what you really care about is the fandom and the show. Give the show back to the fans, where it really belongs.