Sci-Fi Storm

We all know Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who at the end of the year. But while in Detroit he took a break from filming Ryan Gosling’s How To Catch A Monster to give a very special video message to fans:

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…

[Alas…it looks more and more like this was a hoax being perpetrated by the so-called “eccentric engineer”, as some sort of negotiating ploy with the BBC…sad. Still remains to be seen what the ultimate result is, though.]

Fans of the classic Doctor Who episodes know the story well…in accordance with standard BBC practices at the time, many episodes of Doctor Who were destroyed or erased to make room in the BBC Archives – mainly because no one ever though that the material was worth keeping for long term rebroadcasting, until 1978 when they stopped the practice. Many of the serials were lost entirely. Some were lost in parts.

When the show became hugely popular, demand for the old episodes increased – but many weren’t in the archives. Over time, some episodes were discovered at other broadcasters, or in attics, saved by engineers, recorded from broadcasts, etc. It’s been a long and slow process – all episodes of the Third Doctor have been recovered. But still many remain missing. 10 whole serials still remain missing, and many more parts of serials.

That may be about to change.

Bleeding Cool reports on a reliable rumor that the BBC may have secured a large cache of videotapes/films, apparently kept by an eccentric TV engineer in Africa. Lots and lots of tapes, in fact. Possibly everything from the Hartnell years, and the entire “Evil of the Daleks” serial, where only the second of seven episodes had previously been found.

Word is that we’ll hear about it – and maybe see it – as part of the 50th Anniversary celebration.

Keep your fingers crossed!