Missing episodes-?

[N-121973]

Tom Spilsbury's had some interesting things to say in the wake of someone asking about the 2013 DWM interview with Morris:



There was a recent podcast with Morris where he said that he had episodes of Callan in the stuff recovered from Africa, however he didn't know whether they were B&W or colour, or whether they were episodes that were currently missing..... because they haven't been sorted/catalogued yet. After over a decade....

Well then PM should hand those Callan episodes over to someone to go through and regardless of whether they're missing or not hand them back to ITV.

 

[Angel4576]

Well then PM should hand those Callan episodes over to someone to go through and regardless of whether they're missing or not hand them back to ITV.

Morris also confirmed that he still has missing BBC material in his horde. Doesn't necessarily mean DW obviously, could be anything...

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

Meh, still don't believe him.

 

[diankra]

Tom Spilsbury's had some interesting things to say in the wake of someone asking about the 2013 DWM interview with Morris:



There was a recent podcast with Morris where he said that he had episodes of Callan in the stuff recovered from Africa, however he didn't know whether they were B&W or colour, or whether they were episodes that were currently missing..... because they haven't been sorted/catalogued yet. After over a decade....

All colour episodes of Callan survive, B&W are 50/50. There's something similar with Public Eye: all Thames episodes exist, but a lot of ABC episodes don't (actually, the vast majority).. (And some of the early Callans are effectively camera copies, in the way they were converted from 405 to 625, so a direct telerecording might be superior).

 

[Angel4576]

Film is Fabulous (John Franklin, Justin Smith and Sue Malden) joined the "Missing Episodes Podcast" on Friday (released this afternoon).

Highlights:

Quote:

They know of "several" missing DW episodes in "several" collections. One collection that they're currently dealing with definitely has ONE missing episode but there may be more when they fully examine/catalogue it. Unfortunately the elderly owner of the collection above died earlier this week and FiF are now having to go through intestacy because the executors of the will, and the beneficiaries are all deceased. FiF's solicitors are hopeful of a positive outcome. At the time of last week's Facebook post they had arranged to recover the collection with the medical authority overseeing the elderly collector's care, however their power of attorney lapsed when he passed away. Beyond DW they're also aware of two missing episodes of THE AVENGERS in another collection. One of them complete. They've strongly advised the collector in question to return these to the copyright holder. On a sour note they also outlined incidents of personal abuse against FiF people, and someone actually turning up to De Montfort University demanding to see what they have..... FFS

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

Thank you for that summary. Good to know there are some actual promising leads, so fingers crossed we'll hear about them soon.

I'm sorry (but completely unsurprised) that they've unfortunately been the targets of abuse and entitlement. People like that give fans a bad name.

 

[Firebird]

It would be nice to see these lost episodes resurface, but the inner skeptic in me feels this is going to be yet another scenario like the long version of The Magnificent Ambersons - always rumored to be in some archive somewhere and never found.

 

[Angel4576]

One of the interesting points mentioned on the pod was the repeated reference to "industry professionals". Indeed, the missing episodes of The Avengers appear to be in the collection of one said individual who was actually involved in the production of the show. My first thought when they said that there's one complete episode and a second (presumably incomplete), was that perhaps the incomplete story is the missing parts of the first episode? If I worked on that show and wanted to take a copy for myself for nostalgia then I'd probably look at either a first or last episode.

With regards to DW, if similar individuals took episodes, then I do wonder whether some of the assumed eventual returns might be episodes that aren't exactly expected as they may have not been retrieved from the ones skipped. Tenth Planet 4 for example, we know went missing somewhere between the archive and Blue Peter's production unit. Not hard to imagine a scenario where someone thought there was little point in returning it to be junked and instead just whisked it away for themselves.

Either way, based on what was said, one episode definitely in one collection, and "several" others in "several" collections - and they pointedly outlined that that's several episodes in one collection, several in another etc. Not just several spread across multiple collections. That would put the potential number at at least 5. And the hope is that this is just the start and that it may shake loose other episodes in other collections as and when people come forward for help with their own archives.

I can see how some people might have been a little disappointed as rumours had already started to escalate (I saw plenty of speculation that there would be 10+ episodes announced as found), but on the whole I thought the pod was very positive. Even 5 episodes would put a nice dent in the outstanding list, and could either complete a story, or perhaps even put an odd story into one that was completely devoid of episodes beforehand. Or perhaps it would just fill a few holes in the longer stories like DMP. Personally I would love to see SOMETHING from MARCO POLO. DMP 12 would be a huge find for me as well, and MYTH 4.

Certainly, after 12 years of Indiana Morris' vague and fruitless protestations of "lighting the blue touchpaper" and "wind blowing in the right direction", to have it confirmed that there are definitely more out there and possibly coming back sooner rather than later, it's a very good news day IMO.

 

[Mr Awe]

I like FiF but they didn't handle this well. They allowed the rumors to build about missing DW episodes without making a clear response for a prolonged time indicating they don't currently have any. Instead it was a vague, we'll have an answer in a future podcast. Poor communication. Hopefully they will do better down the road.

 

[Angel4576]

I like FiF but they didn't handle this well. They allowed the rumors to build about missing DW episodes without making a clear response for a prolonged time indicating they don't currently have any. Instead it was a vague, we'll have an answer in a future podcast. Poor communication. Hopefully they will do better down the road.

They got ahead of themselves.

The collection in question, in which there is definitely at least one missing episode, they'd got an agreement to collect it and catalogue it this Friday just gone. I think they made their FB comment off the back of that agreement rather than waiting for it to be literally in their hands. Some pretty bad luck to have thrown a spanner in the works but yeah, I guess it's a lesson for the future, say nothing until you're literally in possession of it.

The good news is that they're confident that they'll be able to resolve the issue before too long. Apparently the petition to the courts is going in next week.

 

[Mr Awe]

They got ahead of themselves.

The collection in question, in which there is definitely at least one missing episode, they'd got an agreement to collect it and catalogue it this Friday just gone. I think they made their FB comment off the back of that agreement rather than waiting for it to be literally in their hands. Some pretty bad luck to have thrown a spanner in the works but yeah, I guess it's a lesson for the future, say nothing until you're literally in possession of it.

The good news is that they're confident that they'll be able to resolve the issue before too long. Apparently the petition to the courts is going in next week.

Agreed. I still think they're a great group and wish them the best (not just for the DW stuff). Let's hope it pans out!