UK TV Missing Programmes recovery - sorry, no Who.

[diankra]

As it says in the title, about 100 hours of missing UK TV has been found in the Library of Congress, having apparently got there via the New York TV station WNET.
There is no Doctor Who in the find. But there are apparently some previously lost performances by Patrick Troughton (and also Sean Connery, etc etc).

List here:
http://missingepisodes.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=5469

 

[Lonemagpie]

Yeah, I saw the other week that Connery's version of Anna Karenina, from 1961 or so, was found as well - though it's not on the list in that link - and a DVD release is already scheduled.

 

[Captain Pike]

It says I have been banned from that forum. Preposterous as I have never been there.

Can someone either repost the list here or just tell me ; were there any Dad's Army or Hancock's Half Hour?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ No, it's mostly "play of the week" kind of stuff including an adaptation of 1984 from '65 which might be interestng.

 

[Captain Pike]

Aww well. Cheers.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

^^ No, it's mostly "play of the week" kind of stuff including an adaptation of 1984 from '65 which might be interestng.

It's based on the Nigel Kneale adaptation of 1954 that starred Peter Cushing.

It would be nice if the two could be released together on DVD.

 

[wamdue]

they should really be a sticker on Doctor Who DVDs "Buy this DVD, so that we will never again be able to loose any episodes"

 

[diankra]

Aww well. Cheers.

I had trouble getting on for a bit, I suspect it's traffic overload rather than anything else.
It's almost entirely drama, but some of it's mainstream rather than high-brow - I think there's three previously missing thriller series recovered complete, plus the original pilot episode of The Onedin Line.

Here's the full list (Mod, hope this Ok, if not please edit/delete).

Plays Unattached to a Series
27.10.59 Antigone* (BBC) w/Dorothy Tutin, David McCallum
1961 The First Gentleman* (Rediffusion) w/Susannah York
20.04.62 The Winter’s Tale* (BBC)
18.12.69 Rembrandt* (BBC) dir (Rudolph Cartier)
05.02.67 Much Ado About Nothing* (BBC)

Blood and Thunder (Granada)
04.01.65 The Changeling*

Victoria Regina (Granada)
20.11.64 Summer*
27.11.64 Autumn*

The Wednesday Play (BBC)
21.04.65 Auto Stop* w/David Hemmings
01.12.65 The Bond*

Play of the Month (BBC)
27.09.66 Defection! The Case of Colonel Petrov*
03.12.67 Romeo and Juliet*

Thursday Theater (BBC)
24.12.64 The Young Elizabeth*
18.03.65 Anatol*
11.02.65 Naked Island*

Played Upon a Stage (Rediffusion)
She Stoops to Conquer
11.05.60 Part 1*
18.05.60 Part 2*
25.05.60 Part 3*

Theatre 625 (BBC)
26.09.65 Rosmersholm* (Rosmesholm)
28.11.65 The World of George Orwell: 1984*
29.05.66 She Stoops to Conquer*?

20.03.66 A Month in the Country*
02.01.66 Dr. Knock* w/Leonard Rossiter, John Le Mesurier (check this)
13.03.66 The Queen and the Welshman* w/Dorothy Tutin
27.03.66 The Seagull*
12.06.67 The Blood Knot*

Drama Playhouse (BBC)
07.12.70 The Onedin Line - The Wind Blows Free*

Play of the Week (Rediffusion)
30.01.57 The Wild Duck*
27.01.59 Killing of the King*
28.07.59 Dandy Dick*
02.02.60 The Flowering Cherry*
18.09.62 Freedom in September*w/Patrick Troughton
20.11.62 The Typewriter*
03.09.63 The Three Sisters*

The Sunday Night Play (BBC)
16.04.61 Charley’s Aunt*
21.01.62 The Rivals*

Sunday Night Theatre (BBC)
16.11.58 The Lower Depths*

Festival BBC
09.10.63 Fallen Angels*
16.10.63 The Duel*
20.05.64 Everyman*

Twentieth Century Theatre (BBC)
17.01.60 Colombe* w/Sean Connery, Dorothy Tutin
19.06.60 Insect Play (comedy)*

The Victorians (Granada) (entire series)
31.05.63 The Rent Day *
07.06.63 London Assurance*
14.06.63 Society*
21.06.63 The Ticket-Of-Leave Man*
28.06.63 Two Roses*
05.07.63 Still Waters Run Deep*
12.07.63 The Silver King*
19.07.63 Sweet Lavender*


Thirteen Against Fate BBC (complete)
26.06.66 Trapped*
10.07.66 The Widower*
17.07.66 The Judge*
24.07.66 The School Master*
31.07.66 The Witness*
07.08.66 The Friends*
14.08.66 The Survivors* dir (Rudolph Cartier)
28.08.66 The Murderer*
04.09.66 The Suspect*
11.09.66 The Consul*

Paris 1900 Granada (entire series)
02.10.64 Ribadier System*
09.10.64 Fashions for Ladies*
16.10.64 Lambert Affair*
23.10.64 Half a Husband*
30.10.64 The Ribbon*
06.11.64 Luck of the Game*

For Schools: Associated-Rediffusion ITV
18.03.59 Twelfth Night*
1962 Romeo and Juliet w/Jane Asher (third reel of three is missing)
Hamlet (edited together without program divisions)
22.10.63 Episode 1*
05.11.63 Episode 2*
12.11.63 Episode 3*
19.11.63 Episode 4*
26.11.63 Episode 5*

Television Playhouse (From Dupont Show of the Week)
04.01.63 The Ordeal Of Doctor Shannon* Rediffusion
12.09.63 To Bury Caesar* Rediffusion"

 

[Phillip Culley]

Yeah, I saw the other week that Connery's version of Anna Karenina, from 1961 or so, was found as well - though it's not on the list in that link - and a DVD release is already scheduled.

Isn't that the same one which was known to exist for ages and has apparently been available to buy in the US for the past few years?

 

[Lonemagpie]

Yeah, I saw the other week that Connery's version of Anna Karenina, from 1961 or so, was found as well - though it's not on the list in that link - and a DVD release is already scheduled.

Isn't that the same one which was known to exist for ages and has apparently been available to buy in the US for the past few years?

Knowing my luck, probably - but it was announced as a new find on Ceefax a couple of weeks ago

 

[Phillip Culley]

Yeah, I saw the other week that Connery's version of Anna Karenina, from 1961 or so, was found as well - though it's not on the list in that link - and a DVD release is already scheduled.

Isn't that the same one which was known to exist for ages and has apparently been available to buy in the US for the past few years?

Knowing my luck, probably - but it was announced as a new find on Ceefax a couple of weeks ago

It was - from what I understand anyone in the archives department knew it wasn't missing, but whoever it was who made the announcement didn't know and didn't bother to actually check and see if it already existed.

Still, anything for a bit of publicity for the BBC's new DVD releases

 

[starsuperion]

damn! you know what would be really great, if they announced that the missing episodes were going to get redone in the Matt Smith, Moffat era, and thus rendering the old missing episodes useless..

then maybe those who are holding them will give them up..

Of course this could also make them toss any missing episodes some are holding just in the waste bin.. either way, I am so sick of hearing about the missing episodes, it makes me angry every time I read an article about it..

I wish I had a tardis so I could go back in time and correct the problem.
Which would suckass..

 

[Mr. Adventure]

damn! you know what would be really great, if they announced that the missing episodes were going to get redone in the Matt Smith, Moffat era, and thus rendering the old missing episodes useless..

I hope this really isn't how things work...

 

[Captain Pike]

damn! you know what would be really great, if they announced that the missing episodes were going to get redone in the Matt Smith, Moffat era, and thus rendering the old missing episodes useless..

I thought about this, but it would mean most of those stories would have to be very different. The whole dynamic between doctors and companions will of course be completely different. Any stories from the Hartnell era where the doctor is aged and the companions have taken over driving the plot along would need to be seriously reworked. The Troughton era stuff might be better suited though.

 

[23skidoo]

Considering this came from an American source, I'm not too surprised. I keep hearing claims that US stations carried Doctor Who in the 1960s but I've never actually seen any proof this happened (only that Americans close to Canada were able to watch the 25 or so episodes that the CBC aired in 1964 or 65 before they cancelled it). The only material I might have hoped to hear about might be original color copies of some of the Pertwee episodes that only survive in B&W or colorized format.

Still, anytime a cache of "lost" material is recovered is cause for celebration, and it gives some hope that even as most people are hellbent on embracing "volatile, temporary media" such as digital there are still efforts being made to preserve the past.

And who knows, the next time this happens guys like me could be proven wrong and the entire lost canon of Doctor Who could be recovered in one fell swoop from some forgotten basement storeroom in Walla Walla, Washington. Well, we can dream!

Alex

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I keep hearing claims that US stations carried Doctor Who in the 1960s but I've never actually seen any proof this happened.

Going by the stories, if there's a lost Troughton to turn up in the United States, it's likely to be "The Wheel In Space."

I personally think it's more likely that people in Buffalo have misremembered another science fiction program with a wheel-like space station. Only, I can't imagine what that might've been.

 

[Lonemagpie]

damn! you know what would be really great, if they announced that the missing episodes were going to get redone in the Matt Smith, Moffat era, and thus rendering the old missing episodes useless..

I hope this really isn't how things work...

It would have been if the McGann TVM had gone to series... Except they were actually going to remake stories that *do* still exist!

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ I was more thinking more about the statement that remaking the episodes somehow renders the originals useless.

 

[starsuperion]

damn! you know what would be really great, if they announced that the missing episodes were going to get redone in the Matt Smith, Moffat era, and thus rendering the old missing episodes useless..

I thought about this, but it would mean most of those stories would have to be very different. The whole dynamic between doctors and companions will of course be completely different. Any stories from the Hartnell era where the doctor is aged and the companions have taken over driving the plot along would need to be seriously reworked. The Troughton era stuff might be better suited though.

Well during the Hartnell era, where the companions take over, could just be reworked to be that the Ole' Doc is a bit on the sick side..that's easy enough.. maybe an underlying story where he has contracted some rare time lord disease, or disorder, which could eventually lead to a regeneration, or possibly a regen of damaged tissue, like in the Xmas Cicorax epi..where the Doc grew a new hand..

either way, it can be done..but the issue still remains, would that not cause those holding the originals to become disenfranchised and toss them out? Assuming there are people holding lost epies for their own personal gratification..

Considering this came from an American source, I'm not too surprised. I keep hearing claims that US stations carried Doctor Who in the 1960s but I've never actually seen any proof this happened (only that Americans close to Canada were able to watch the 25 or so episodes that the CBC aired in 1964 or 65 before they cancelled it). The only material I might have hoped to hear about might be original color copies of some of the Pertwee episodes that only survive in B&W or colorized format.

Still, anytime a cache of "lost" material is recovered is cause for celebration, and it gives some hope that even as most people are hellbent on embracing "volatile, temporary media" such as digital there are still efforts being made to preserve the past.

And who knows, the next time this happens guys like me could be proven wrong and the entire lost canon of Doctor Who could be recovered in one fell swoop from some forgotten basement storeroom in Walla Walla, Washington. Well, we can dream!

Alex

well said, and I like the caveat that gives you leeway should a proven missing epi makes its debut from an American source and heads back to the BBC. I would like to say though, that I was personally witness to a missing epi..though I have no proof, as you say, to back up my claims..My one hope is that the Lost troughton, and Hartnell era episodes make it back to the BBC in my life time..

damn! you know what would be really great, if they announced that the missing episodes were going to get redone in the Matt Smith, Moffat era, and thus rendering the old missing episodes useless..

I hope this really isn't how things work...

It would have been if the McGann TVM had gone to series... Except they were actually going to remake stories that *do* still exist!

That is an interesting tidbit, I had no idea what they might have had planned for McGann had that series ever been given the green light. Is there an online resource that can give me an idea, of what the BBC producers had planned should the McGann era ever been??

^^ I was more thinking more about the statement that remaking the episodes somehow renders the originals useless.

Not that I want those rendered useless mind you, just I guess I was thinking that if there were new episodes which made the old ones less valuable, then maybe those who held those missing episodes would be more likely to return them to the BBC.. if such people do exist..(it is a mighty big world, and there are lots of people in it, and someone, somewhere may have a missing episode(s), and not know it, or not care to part with it.. to believe that none of the missing episodes exist or are still out there somewhere, is like believing that the universe only has one form of intelligent life, us humans.)

 

[Lonemagpie]

It would have been if the McGann TVM had gone to series... Except they were actually going to remake stories that *do* still exist!

That is an interesting tidbit, I had no idea what they might have had planned for McGann had that series ever been given the green light. Is there an online resource that can give me an idea, of what the BBC producers had planned should the McGann era ever been??

There's a whole bunch of stuff in the "Regenerations" book that came out a couple of years later. Really, it looks like we dodged a bullet...