So wait…maybe the recovered Doctor Who episodes are real after all?
by Doc on Jun.18, 2013, under Television
Man, what a weird few days. First our hopes are up that they may have recovered a ton of old BBC programming, including many of the remaining “lost” episodes of Doctor Who. Then it seems like the story was a hoax. We even waited a couple of days before reporting the original story, and still got burned.
But wait…maybe it’s not a hoax after all. Doctor Who superfan Ian Levine, who got the BBC to stop their practice of wiping the archives to preserve Doctor Who, said yesterday that he was certain the story was false, and talked to three people who should know and was told point blank there was nothing recovered:
Answering SKMDC on GB, I spoke at length to 3 people last Saturday, separately, and all three told me that nothing had been seen or returned
— Ian Levine (@IanLevine) June 17, 2013
But today, a sudden change:
@keefybabe I've just been given proof that backs up the entire story,from 2011. So yes I now really believe he has found 90 missing episodes
— Ian Levine (@IanLevine) June 18, 2013
From what is being said today, a full THREE TONS of film canisters were recovered in 2011, and Ian has seen proof. This reportedly includes 90 episodes of Doctor Who, which is most of the 106 lost episodes. And some details are circulating as to which have been found – but it would be easier to list what has not been found:
Mission to the Unknown (1 out of 1 episodes)
The Daleks’ Master Plan (9 of 12, none recovered)
The Ice Warriors (2 of 6, none recovered)
The Wheel in Space (2 of 6, 2 recovered)
The Invasion (2 of 8, none recovered)
Recovery of the first two on that list is considered unlikely, as they were never screened outside the UK, and were among the first to be wiped from the archives.
So Whovians, there is still hope…