Wiped Episode Discoveries

I dunno. If Ian found some more you can bet he'd be asking for all sorts of non-monetary rewards. The unofficial continuity advisor position has been vacant for a long time...

 

In a way, given the influence of fandom types on the proceedings, it's lucky that so many recoveries over the past thirty-odd years have gone down without any unpleasantness, or without the unpleasantness becoming public. But our luck has thoroughly run out.

 

GB now have a thread to celebrate the return of the episodes however it can not involve any speculation as to how they were returned, who returned them, how they will be released and not even which episodes they are!

 

So...a thread basically of "OMG EPISODES" and nothing else? Sounds about as productive as GB usually is.

 

Plus Shada being re-released on DVD

But it is a slightly different situation. These were found in Africa (we have to assume) by professionals who went out, spent money and - if Steve Roberts' comment about "mates risking their lives" is to be believed - hazarded their own safety to return this material. It suggests a professional approach, something Mr L could never be accused of in regards to DW. It's hard to imagine that the negotiations for episodes as yet unreturned concern anything but pecuniary matters...

 

I'll be honest. I'm now entertaining some of the more absurd parts of the original Bleeding Cool reports back in June.

 

Pretty much, someone even thanked the owner for 'allowing' them to celebrate!

 

I'm guessing episodes because if they were complete stories I'm sure they'd do a DVD release first rather than iTunes.

Mr Awe

 

Fucking mental. I don't miss it.

 

One version of the rumor is immediate iTunes (or other download service), then a DVD release to follow at some point. Which would certainly make more money than just the DVD.

 

Yea, put them out there for immediate download, with no extras, and then release them on DVD with extras, is likely to get quite a bit of repeat buying. Few people are like me, and prefer to just have the episodes without the extras and "official case" (I like the space savings of putting them in a DVD wallet, and although the extras always look attractive, I find I rarely get around to watching extras, and if I do, it's almost always just once)

 

Hahaha, the sad thing is that it isn't surprising.

 

FWIW, one of the rumours about the 'problems' in recovering the episodes was that the person who was holding them wanted money for them, and BBC Worldwide didn't have enough on its own, so they were having to work out how to find the funds within the BBC as a whole (the BBC having decide to bite the bullet and ignore the legal technicalities about buying back their own property).
That version of the rumours said it was Enemy of the World (which would be put out on DVD first), Marco Polo (to be run on BBC4, hence they could put in money for it) and Web of Fear (no plans rumoured, which might make sense if it was still one episode short of the complete story).
No idea if that is what's happened, but it now seems more likely that it might be.

 

"Thank you, sir, may I have another?"

Yeah, I would be one of those suckers who double dipped.

 

Hmmm, interesting question which I'm sure marketing folks have looked into. I would've assumed you'd want to soak consumers for the more expensive format first (DVD) then the cheaper alternative down the road.

I'm thinking that once most people get it on iTunes, they won't want the DVD even with the extras. But, marketing is not my field.

Mr Awe

 

Well, one would assume that the eventual DVD release would see the involvement of the Restoration Team, while a quickie iTunes release would not.

 

^ That's assuming that timeliness is a concern for the BBC. Evidence would suggest the BBC doesn't care about getting stuff, whether it's information or episodes, out to the fans quickly. They'll pretty much do it on their own schedule without paying attention to fan concerns.

Mr Awe

 

There's disagreement among different rumor sources about whether the episodes have been restored already, and if they have, by whom.

We're not really at a point yet where people perceive downloads, cloud storage, etc. as a permanent form of ownership, so for many the iTunes versions will be an immediate viewing opportunity rather than a part of the collection. And Doctor Who fans in particular like their extras; that's why the show has more bonus material per episode than virtually any other series, which wouldn't be the case if it weren't demonstrably profitable in the long run.

 

As would I, especially if it's true that Marco Polo is one of the completed stories.

 

If Marco Polo were discovered in its entirety, I would probably cry with happiness.