And indeed, when the BBC was initially uninterested in recovering soundtracks of missing episodes, that was the argument that the fans in the loop used to persuade the archive to change their mind (well, not film without sound, but foreign-dubbed versions with no English soundtrack left].
Holy sweet fuck! The season just ended, and Who fandom is already so bored they're kicking this old horse again? We at least waited nearly a month after season 7 before beginning this sad, sorry affair, but now it was only four days after season 8's end. At this rate, someone's going to be prepared the night season 9's finale airs with an exclusive scoop regarding Evil of the Daleks or something.
There's a few interesting cryptic posts around on Facebook, etc, hinting that something might be in the offing (I mean images of a sieve captioned BBC Missing Episodes Security, nothing more than a joking reference). And I suppose that if i-Tunes were to make lost episodes available then next Thursday (last one before the anniversary, and the series is no longer on air) would be a good day to do it if there was anything. But really not heard anything to suggest there is anything, whereas last year it was "Well, it all fits, but I won't believe it till it happens"...
Yeah, I know, it's more Bleeding Cool I was directing my post towards, being as how they were the one that essentially got this ball rolling last year, which turned into possibly the biggest Who related buzz online which wasn't related to the 50th anniversary. Now it stinks to me as though they're trying to make lightning strike twice.
Not just Bleedin Cool, but specifically this Rich Johnson guy - all the crap has come under his byline.
So it looks like Ian Levine was a big fibber... But at least Underwater Menance on DVD seems likely http://www.kasterborous.com/2014/12/missing-episodes-news-blast-final-end-omnirumour/
I think Ian is torn. On the one hand, he desperately wants to see newly recovered Doctor Who. On the other hand, he'd be all too thrilled if Morris fell flat on his face. I don't think Ian has any inside knowledge about what Morris has or has not found. His ramblings are all based on alternating/competing hopes and fears. I also don't think Morris has found anything. However, he failed to issue denials about finding DW episodes just to keep himself in the public eye. Mr Awe
I'm befuddled with the BBC's decisions. I know its all about money and sales, but why do stories like "The Underwater Menance" get two animations, while "Web Of Fear", which is arguably the better story with only one missing episode, only gets a telesnap (and no extra). Meanwhile, others like "The Crusade", another goodie which is also missing two, seem to be completely ignored. I guess I shouldn't complain. I'll take whatever they give us. But since they have all these telesnaps and the complete soundtracks for all episodes, why didn't they reconstruct all of them that way for the "Lost In Time" collections? I would like to at least be familiar with the stories like "The Dalek's Master Plan" and "Evil of the Daleks"
As you say, it's all about money and sales. Decisions on animation aren't made based on story quality, but on the likelihood of a story selling enough copies to justify the high-by-DVD-budget-standards cost of animation. "The Underwater Menace" on DVD will be the home video debut of a missing episode, so it's almost certainly going to sell more copies than the already-released episodes of a no-famous-monsters pure historical like "The Crusade" would. "The Web of Fear" is a special case for obvious reasons: the decision was made to rush it and "Enemy" to DVD in a way that precluded the production of any substantial extras. Still-based recons are less expensive than animation, but they're not free either, and Lost in Time was produced on a tight budget-- that's why it's one of the few classic series DVDs not to have audio commentary on all episodes. Reconstructing dozens of episodes would have been well beyond its remit. (And of course they don't have telesnaps proper for all episodes, though there are other image sources for recons of episodes Cura didn't cover.)
Being fed false information is not the same as inventing the fib. The question would be who started the lie? Phil has never publically claimed to have more. Never outright denied it though. Time will tell. I don't think we are entirely done yet. The Beginning doesn't either. There's an irony that the most average of episodes from later on all have commentaries, but some of the pivotal episodes in the first 13 missed out. Its strangely due to Matthew Waterhouse the policy changed. When they came releasing trilogies they'd already banked two of his stores. So they couldn't just do six episodes with 4 of the 6 being from one story.
Didn't want to box himself in. Probably thinking 'I'm sure they're out there, they've gotta be out there, I just haven't found them yet - and once I go through everything I have gotten, I might be pleasantly surprised. I sure as hell don't want to be the one to slam and lock the door once and for all on fans' hopes (including my own).'
Not a missing Who episode, but this seems the appropriate place for the news: William Hartnell's 1965 appearance on Desert Island Discs has been recovered. It was, briefly, up on the DID section of the Radio 4 website earlier today, but has been taken off - whether that's because the demand was crashing the server, or just because it wasn't supposed to be available ahead of the official announcement reportedly due on Saturday, is anybody's guess. But fingers crossed it'll be back up and available again soon. Edit: Seems it's 16 mins out of the full 35 min programme, missing the introductory chat ahead of his first record choice.
Sounds like a good bit to include as a bonus if "Marco Polo" or something is ever found and/or released. Still waiting for further news on Troughton's "Underwater Menace"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVg85OSgeGk https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=575353022565508&set=vb.164975760269905&type=2&theater (I'm guessing the above link is legit, again could be yet another fan trailer...)
The trailer came out with "Moonbase" before the announcement that it was put on hold, But in December the BBC said it would come out sometime this year...rumor has it in July
The Hartnell DID is back up, to stream and as a podcast (http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4), along with three other newly recovered editions from the 60s: with Thomas the Tank Engine writer W Awdry, Diana Rigg and Louis Armstrong.
As before, not actually a missing episode, but a nice discovery related to a notable Who actor. It's long been reported that the original Master, Roger Delgado, died while making a never completed film called Bell of Tibet. Thanks to a tenacious researcher whose name I wish had been mentioned in the Facebook postings so I could credit him, it now emerges that it was actually a French TV series (the name of which translates as that), which was completed, and that he'd finished his work on the episode he made... And here it is... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oc_SWX_VYc