It’s been a while since we had a good missing Doctor Who episodes rumour – and this time, it might not be a rumour…
Of course, the only way to substantiate a missing Doctor Who episodes claim is to actually deliver some missing Doctor Who episodes, and a team of people is actively working on this, and hopes to have some news soon.
Are we allowed to get our hopes up yet? Perhaps slightly, as the team in question is called Film is Fabulous: a charity which works with a number of organisations to locate and preserve lost films. According to its website, the Film is Fabulous team “have been granted access to numerous collections” and “many of these belong to former industry professionals, and contain unique film and television items.”
Some of these collections belong to individuals with such large film libraries that they’ve never catalogued their own collections, and are unaware of the value of their material. There is a fear that some individuals will pass away and that their relatives – unsure what to do with the films – will junk them. This is where Film is Fabulous comes in.
And it’s not just wishful thinking when we start talking about missing Doctor Who episodes. Sue Malden, a former archive selector at the BBC, said that she was aware of the existence of “one or two” missing Doctor Who episodes in private hands. The archivist Philip Morris also stated, many years ago, that he knew of “at least six” that hadn’t yet been returned, including ‘The Web of Fear‘ episode three.
And last week, Film is Fabulous posted on Facebook, in response to another person’s comment, saying: “As mentioned by Sue Malden at our RECOVERED event in May, we are aware of several missing episodes of Doctor Who (Sue stated one [or] two, but there are more than this) in private film collections in the UK. We are liaising with the individuals about cataloguing and preserving their entire collection, including the missing Doctor Who episodes, and ensuring that copies are returned to the BBC. We expect to make a detailed announcement shortly.”
This would seem to be confirmation: no hopes, no maybes. The only obstacle, it seems, is the negotiation process, but given that Film is Fabulous expects to make “a detailed announcement shortly,” and that Doctor Who‘s 62nd anniversary is on the horizon, it all starts to look rather positive.
Moreover, Film is Fabulous already has an exceptional track record when it comes to returning lost material. There is a long list of recovered titles on its website, including episodes of The Basil Brush Show, Softly, Softly, Steptoe and Son, The Likely Lads and Z Cars.
And this is where the fun begins, as fans can start speculating as to which missing Doctor Who episodes have been located, based on no information whatsoever. There really are no rules when it comes to this game; everything is on the table. One could argue that some missing Doctor Who episodes are more likely to show up than others, but even this is not an exact science given that, in theory, we should be drowning in copies of ‘Marco Polo‘ (we have none) and we should be picking through the charred remains of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan‘ (we have three episodes.)
It’s at this point that mischief-makers take to the internet to tease the return of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ episode seven (which was almost certainly destroyed, as it was never copied) but even this cannot be ruled out. What if somebody made a copy of the tape without filling in the necessary paperwork? What if a print was given to the wife of a BBC projectionist as a Christmas present? All bets are off.
One of the more contentious missing Doctor Who episodes is ‘The Web of Fear’ episode three, which Philip Morris claims to have discovered in Africa along with its counterparts, only for it to be stolen before it could be recovered. Morris has backed up his claim with a picture of what appears to be the film can, and said that the episode was now in the hands of a private collector. If true, this could be one of the missing Doctor Who episodes that Film is Fabulous has tracked down.
At the same time, there are some missing Doctor Who episodes that some fans might be (slightly) disappointed to get back. Imagine, for example, an announcement that involves ‘The Reign of Terror’ episode two, ‘The Faceless Ones’ episode four, and ‘The Space Pirates‘ episode one? They’d be nice to have, certainly, but they’re probably not at the top of many wish lists (at the risk of sounding ungrateful.)
It would certainly be exciting if a missing Doctor Who episodes announcement involved episodes from stories which aren’t currently represented in the archives, like the aforementioned ‘Marco Polo,’ ‘The Massacre,’ ‘The Smugglers’ and ‘The Macra Terror.’ The holy grails, by the way, are ‘The Tenth Planet’ episode four and anything from ‘The Power of the Daleks.’ And if you locate anything from ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan,’ it will probably be the end of civilisation as we know it.
Hopefully, as Film is Fabulous attests, we will have some concrete information “shortly.” In the meantime, you can support the organisation and its endeavours by donating on its website.
While we wait, tell us: Which missing Doctor Who episodes are you holding out for, and are there any that you would be (slightly) disappointed to get back? Let us know in the comments below.
Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to watch ‘Planet of Giants’ episode four…
Well, as we know, 97 episodes are lost, the recovery of any episode is already a reason for celebration, many stories are underrated, but we must remember that The Enemy of the World was seen as a very underrated host, but when its episodes were found, it proved to be a great story, where Patrick is incredible playing two roles at the same time, I must say that I hope that something from The Myth Makers, The Massacre, The Smugglers, The Space Pirates or The Power of the Daleks is found, I will be very happy with whatever comes.
Remember how we were all supposed to be in awe of “The Web of Fear” yet after seeing 5 of the six episodes it looks, as I imagined, quite a dull story, only good because Troughton was playing the Doctor. Yet, “Enemy of The World” a story we were all told was no good, turned out to be an absolute classic!
I would LOVE to see more if “The Facesless Ones” found! The first Episode is eerie and intriguing, episode 3 incredible, and listening to the audio of the rest shows it to be another classic!
Interestingly, no one seems to mention “The Evil of The Daleks”, arguably the greatest story of Doctor Who going by what we see in Episode 2, and listening to the audio.
Let’s not forget finally seeing ‘The Macra Terror’! Hated the way it was monkeyed with by the animation staff! Thoroughly disappointed they omitted the bit where we see Mr. Troughton’s Doctor Who looking neat and plastered down! (Can’t we get the Dangermouse people back?)
Why not hope for the return of Marco Polo, or The Highlanders, or the stray bits of the Cyberman stories. Mr. Waris Husein said he believes that the series still exists somewhere.
Remember, Doctor Who has turned up in the strangest places.
By the way, ‘Web of Fear’ is quite good! If it falters, I’d say it is during the battle with the Yeti in the streets, where it does tend to drag a bit. But its wonderfully tense and claustrophobic ratcheted up the tension for Doctor Who’s intended final showdown with The Great Intelligence. ‘Enemy of the World’ was a delight to finally see – and in its entirety! I recently watched it again and was broadsided by the reveal at the end. I’ll not go on because this is meant to be about missing episodes we’d like to see.
I would be tickled to see ‘The Underwater Menace’ finally restored to its glory!