The Radio Times has updated its article, also claiming a short delay: Oh those sources, always so adamant about their latest new claim...
If I'd tried to write a parody of Levine's response to the news, it wouldn't have been better than that. (Check out his full feed for the rest, but quickly, before he decides to delete it all. He's also complaining to the possibly-fake TIEA account, and suggesting that in the past he's been "treading on eggshells" and suppressing his opinions.) Not that I'm unsympathetic about the underlying complaint; if the BBC does have something to announce, they've chosen the most convoluted way possible, and done it badly to boot.
Ian Levine's Full feed is TrekBBS Main Forum page? With all these, ups and downs and delays and holding off, it's a damned good thing we're only talking about Doctor Who episodes and not orgasms
Apparently I failed to click "copy" before clicking paste, so my link went awry. Let's take another shot: https://twitter.com/IanLevine/. Just now he's hoping someone at the press conference will work to elicit a revelation about that possibly-mythic "the rest" I mentioned yesterday. Because trying to force the BBC's hand has worked so well over the past three months.
Ian Levine is the superfan who made shitty reconstructions, right? Why do people even care what he has to say, as I understand it he's just a nerd with money. I honestly don't care if an announcement is delayed a little bit, I've been playing the waiting game with George R.R. Martin for years, a few days are NOTHING and it is absolutely ridiculous to scream and shout profanities because they make you wait less than a week.
But the BBC hasn't announced anything yet. Here's my hunch, proceeding from the assumption that there is something missing episodes-related to announce. The Sunday People article -- 106 episodes in Ethiopia -- led Radio Times to put out their article, which had been prepared in advance and embargoed, because they believed, not entirely incorrectly, that the Sunday People article, as inaccurate as it was, meant that the information was now public and the embargo no longer held. RT jumped the gun out of good reason -- they perceived that they were being scooped, but it was a misread of the situation -- but their article confirmed some unexpected things like the iTunes downloads that wouldn't make sense in other contexts, tacitly confirming that there was a positive missing episodes story. And now we're in a weird situation where the BBC hasn't said anything about what is essentially their story, pro or con. I wonder if they can't because the details aren't all nailed down. Notice that other Doctor Who outlets aren't running with the story, either. To me, everything about the last thirty-six hours screams an embargo that hasn't been lifted, despite Radio Times running with the story prematurely.
Well, to be fair, Levine has believed these rumors (barring occasional periods of doubt) for years, and has been told an announcement is imminent for more than six months. Whether that's the fault of the BBC or of people feeding him crap info is another question. Levine, like a lot of people named in this thread and in the rumors generally, is someone who has had various low-level involvements in professional Doctor Who over the years. This leads "ordinary" fans to imagine that he's a fount of knowledge or wisdom, in spite of what would seem abundant evidence to the contrary.
The BBC haven't announced anything. A tabloid newspaper made a claim, as did a TV listings magazine that has nothing to do with the BBC anymore.
As I said. But if the rumors and the latest tabloid claims are even remotely true, they've done a poor job of prepping what they've chosen to present as a major news story. If the rumors aren't true, then they're probably still trying to figure out how to defuse this bizarre bomb. I think it's plain from the wording in the Radio Times article that they're working from sources rather than from an embargoed press release for imminent distribution (which is the only context in which the often-used word "embargo" actually means anything; the BBC doesn't go round saying "this story exists, but please don't write about it for a few weeks"). Stuff based on a press release isn't larded with "understands" and "sources."
Oops, I thought the Radio Times was run by the BBC. Well, given how the situation has played out, even if not their fault, the BBC should've just stuck with the regularly scheduled press conference. At the conference, they could confirm the found episodes and say that they'll be available on iTunes soon. That's a bit more rational approach that would show flexibility to a changing situation. Mr Awe
The Guardian has run with it, and are now saying announcement on Thursday. http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/oct/07/doctor-who-early-episodes-recovered-bbc
BBC Magazines was sold off last year, and moved out to Bristol. Though I believe the BBC still has some hold on the Radio Times name, which is licensed out to the new company.
Well, Thursday as the date is a new one. So only 99% regurgitation. At this point, even if it is all a hoax or misunderstanding, I feel less contemptuous of some of the believers-- these claims have snared a few actual journalists.
Totally agreed. It just seems curious to me, that the BBC has done so little to celebrate such an occasion - if they did, of course, find that number of episodes/stories. It doesn't make any sense. As a relative new fan, I must say, from an objective POV, that there's been a lot of deliberate misinformation. Not sure why, of course, but from the exclusivity of the trailer - which, no matter how you look at it, is completely disingenuous to the UK fans by showing it in the US - to the denying of info about about the recovery of episodes to, well, the freakin' hashtags that somehow pass off as teasers these days, the BBC has nothing everything in its power to piss off established fans. I'm not offended, probably because as a new fan, I like to believe that I have some perspective. But only the Highlander franchise comes close to the level of contempt that it has to its fans - at least from my limited, fresh POV.
Perspective in Who fandom? That'd be a rarity. I'm always a bit maudlin at this time of year anyway, cos Friday's the anniversary of the death of someone who made a big difference to me. I've had their back for 15 years, always will.
I've honestly come to see the BBC management as a bunch of baffoons. Maybe it's the Baffoon Broadcasting Corp? What, between their botched PR and their inability to produce Who at a consistent and standard rate, they just don't seem like professionals. I'm sure there are many hard working people at the BBC, so this is more directed at the management that supposedly run the place. Mr Awe