Wiped Episode Discoveries

[Allyn Gibson]

^I'm still trying to be skeptical, but some of those details are so specific (like the film prints stuck together) that it's hard to believe they could've just been made up. Still, if all these have been found, why not tell us?

Managing expectations is my guess.

They could announce it all at once, but then fans would want their favorites released now. Everyone wants "Power of the Daleks," but who's going to buy "The Smugglers"? A release of dribs and drabs will minimize the cherry-picking.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Managing expectations is one thing, but evidently Paul McGann is right: You can't keep a secret in this business. Certainly not when fan excitement is involved.

 

[Turbo]

Well, they managed to hide McGann's recent webisode pretty well.

^I'm still trying to be skeptical, but some of those details are so specific (like the film prints stuck together) that it's hard to believe they could've just been made up. Still, if all these have been found, why not tell us?

Managing expectations is my guess.

They could announce it all at once, but then fans would want their favorites released now. Everyone wants "Power of the Daleks," but who's going to buy "The Smugglers"? A release of dribs and drabs will minimize the cherry-picking.

Also, sporadic announcements is probably better for sales. The iTunes sales for the last two serials topped the UK charts, and even reached #3 on the US charts where sales of Classic Doctor Who DVDs have been miniscule compared to the UK

 

[Christopher]

Well, they managed to hide McGann's recent webisode pretty well.

Not really, since it was about to be leaked, which was why they moved up its official release.

 

[Turbo]

Well, they managed to hide McGann's recent webisode pretty well.

Not really, since it was about to be leaked, which was why they moved up its official release.

They still kept it secret from its filming to a couple days before the official release (I think) which is a pretty darn good accomplishment in this day and age. Eccleston's departure was leaked well before it aired, for instance.

 

[Candlelight]

Still, if all these have been found, why not tell us?

Why should they?

 

[The Wormhole]

Well, they managed to hide McGann's recent webisode pretty well.

With McGann's webisode they took advantage of circumstances. Back in the summer there were rumours of Paul McGann returning for a webisode to depict his regeneration (which someone even points out on page 3 of this very thread), but it was ignored by everyone since Paul McGann's return has been something someone in Who Fandom has been claiming to have an inside source informing them is going to happen since 2007. So really, you could have said "Paul McGann is going to return" and the reaction you'd get out of 90% of fans is a sarcastic "of course he is."

 

[Saul]

Well, they managed to hide McGann's recent webisode pretty well.

Not really, since it was about to be leaked, which was why they moved up its official release.

They still kept it secret from its filming to a couple days before the official release (I think) which is a pretty darn good accomplishment in this day and age. Eccleston's departure was leaked well before it aired, for instance.

I had read on Bleeding Cool News about McGann filming a regeneration scene although as it closer to the time i didn't believe it and was rightly surprised by the minisode.

As for why they don't announce these missing episodes in full, if they do it in dribs and drabs we'll probably buy in dribs and drabs rather than going directly for the goods we want.

Then again I don't know what to believe these days. That's a good thing.

 

[Tom]

Rule #1 - THE BBC LIES - You will never get anything out of them until the last possible minute. Seems like you would want to build hype on something cool that is coming out instead of just waiting till the last moment.

 

[davejames]

I'm not that familiar with their habits, but I would think if a massive treasure trove of lost DW episodes was found, the BBC would be as giddy and excited as anybody, and wouldn't hesitate to announce it to the world.

And the same goes for the people who actually discovered them. That just doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd want to keep secret-- regardless of how much money you could possibly make off the thing.

Much as I really want to believe the rumors about more eps in the pipeline, I just have a hard time believing everyone involved is being THAT cynical and opportunistic about it all.

 

[Rarewolf]

the reaction you'd get out of 90% of fans is a sarcastic "of course he is."

The fans who cried McGann...

 

[Tom]

I'm not that familiar with their habits, but I would think if a massive treasure trove of lost DW episodes was found, the BBC would be as giddy and excited as anybody, and wouldn't hesitate to announce it to the world.

I'm sure their happy because they can eventually sell them. How long did the BBC have WoF and EOTW before telling everyone? Must have been for a few months because they need the restoration team to work on them. So basically, in June, when they said they had no episodes they flat out LIED. It is, of course, their right to do so, but it make fans very distrustful of them as an organization. Maybe because there government run they could care less, who knows.

So by them holding back they create a couple problems. Rumors run rampant and there is not a reliable source to squash them because you can't believe the BBC either. The other is a marketing 101, less time to build hype about a product you want to sell, then the less of that product you could sell.

 

[Sindatur]

I'm not that familiar with their habits, but I would think if a massive treasure trove of lost DW episodes was found, the BBC would be as giddy and excited as anybody, and wouldn't hesitate to announce it to the world.

And the same goes for the people who actually discovered them. That just doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd want to keep secret-- regardless of how much money you could possibly make off the thing.

Much as I really want to believe the rumors about more eps in the pipeline, I just have a hard time believing everyone involved is being THAT cynical and opportunistic about it all.

Eh, they only announced the upcoming DVD Releases for the year they were being released and that took about 10 years didn't it?

As stated earlier, you just want to announce what you're going to be releasing in the near future. If people hear about 10 stories being released over over the next 3 or 4 years, many won't be as anxious to buy everything as it as it's released, if they know favorites are coming in a few months. Whereas, if you just announce 2 or 3 at a time, folks will jump on every single one as it's announced.

 

[Christopher]

It is, of course, their right to do so, but it make fans very distrustful of them as an organization. Maybe because there government run they could care less, who knows.

Well, the BBC is an independent corporation operating under a government license and funded by the government (or specifically by the license fee charged to television owners). It's not actually run by the government.

 

[Candlelight]

I'm not that familiar with their habits, but I would think if a massive treasure trove of lost DW episodes was found, the BBC would be as giddy and excited as anybody, and wouldn't hesitate to announce it to the world.

Or they would wait and milk it for some special event occurring in a few days time.

 

[Relayer1]

Or just generally mishandle the whole thing in that endearing BBC way...

 

[N-121973]

Bumping this up since we're supposedly a week out now from the announcement of Marco Polo. Here's where things currently stand on the omnirumor front:

- Restoration of Marco Polo running behind, may not be released until December/January.
- The next two episodes to be announced/released after The Massacre/The Macra Terror will be The Celestial Toymaker and The Faceless Ones.
- The Power of the Daleks will be released near the end of next year.
- Private collectors are starting to cash in on the Morris find. The Daleks' Master Plan parts 4 (Katarina dies), 7 (Yes, the infamous Feast of Steven), 11 & 12 (Sara Kingdom dies) have been turned in. 11 & 12 may not be salvageable, the film prints have stuck together and need to be frozen to be separated.
- The Space Pirates part 3 has also been turned in from a private collector.
- At least 3 parts of The Wheel in Space has been found in Nigeria by Morris, and he is negotiating to get them to the UK.
- The Web of Fear part 3 does exist, and will be restored and ready in time for the DVD release.
- The Tenth Planet part 4 also exists, and will be released when ready.

Assuming that all of the above is true, that leaves Mission to the Unknown, Parts 1,3,6,8-9 of The Daleks' Master Plan, one part of The Wheel in Space, Parts 1 & 4 of The Invasion (animated), Parts 2-3 of The Ice Warriors (animated) and Parts 1, 4-6 of The Space Pirates still missing.

I think what makes makes me skeptical about finds apart from Marco Polo (and I'm not completely sold on that) is the bit about the Tenth Planet. Its my birthday in a couple of weeks and I'm thinking of asking for the DVD as a present, however if the above rumour's true and they have found and are restoring episode 4, I'd rather wait for the special edition re-release containing all four live action episodes. By allowing these rumours to fester the BBC are potentially losing out, at least in the short term on money. And why release it now if they have or are about to have all four episodes in their possession? I'm sure they could have come up with an excuse if they wanted didn't wanted to give the game away too early.

 

[davejames]

It does seem unlikely that after only getting dribs and drabs for years, that suddenly there's a massive avalanche of episodes coming our way in the next few years.

Although I would certainly love to be proven wrong.

 

[Christopher]

It does seem unlikely that after only getting dribs and drabs for years, that suddenly there's a massive avalanche of episodes coming our way in the next few years.

Although I would certainly love to be proven wrong.

My understanding is that Phillip Morris has been actively hunting down lost episodes of Who and other BBC shows in places around the world where nobody ever checked before -- or rather, where nobody replied to earlier requests about lost episodes. So if that more extensive effort to track down lost episodes has only been going on since relatively recently, then it could indeed be that they've been out there all along and only just been found. So it's at least possible.

 

[davejames]

Yeah that would make sense. I just figured people have been on the hunt for these episodes for such a long time, that most of these places would have already been checked by now (even including the more dangerous ones).