1999
SURVEY RESULTS
SUPPLEMENTARY COMMENTS
26 March 2000
Results compiled
and presented by
Bruce Robinson (robinsba@ozemail.com.au)
PART A : MISSING EPISODES
Whilst I would love to see any or all of the stories turn up, I think it’s unlikely that any complete ones remain to be discovered. But please feel free to prove me wrong! (TIM ROLL-PICKERING)
It would be lovely if all (or nearly all) the missing episodes still existed somewhere, but realistically, I think there would have been more leads by now if that were the case. (JOE SUEIRAS)
Some episodes previously found in the UK have been in cans marked for other programmes. Again, have the overseas TV stations archives been checked and cross referenced in detail? (LEE MOONE)
Myth Makers and The Massacre would have to be at the top of my list, given that there is so little remaining from them in any form – just a small handful of stills and no footage (the off-air clips from Myth don’t exactly convey the story’s flavour, something that the Fury clips do). I suppose even finding lengthy clips would be better than nothing – let’s face it, we now have a hell of a lot better idea what Galaxy 4 is like than we do Marco Polo, or the aforementioned Season 3 historicals. (BEN HAKALA)
I’m sure there are episodes in the back of someone’s loft or shed just waiting to be found. The trouble is, how many lofts and sheds are there in the world? (DAVID MORGAN)
The reason I believe that there could be a fair amount of missing episodes out there just waiting to be discovered is that there are a lot of people who are interested in DOCTOR WHO. I also believe that a fair percentage of these, especially those who have been fans for a long period of time, would have had an opportunity to tape these shows and would have them stored up somewhere. Also, with the amount of people who worked on the show in its early days, somebody would have them I’m sure. (VERN GODFREY)
I would be more than happy for the BBC to offer a “finder’s fee” to aid recovery of any lost transmissions (not just DOCTOR WHO). However, I don’t think the BBC’s mindset is open to discussion on the matter. (DAVID MOSLEY)
I pray they never recover Mission To The Unknown ... (GARRY LANCASTER)
Some people spend all their time making beautiful things, and other people come along and break them. It’s all been said, hasn’t it? What a crying shame. (VIN DE SILVA)
I think recovery of missing episodes in the form of film prints (ie 16mm or 35mm telerecordings) is unlikely. I think that if any episodes are recovered from now on, it is likely that they’ll turn up on videotape (ie 60’s Shibaden or Sony formats) forgotten about in someone’s loft. (IAIN WEST)
After so many years, it was very encouraging when The Lion turned up. I just hope that its recovery will not fuel another spate of time-wasting hoaxes and rumours. (DEAN ROSE)
I’m sure we are long past the point where anyone can seriously believe “they’re all out there somewhere”, as used to be the slogan. (JEFF TRIM)
The BBC and ITV do not have the resources to find the missing episodes of DOCTOR WHO and all the other missing shows (they could spend millions searching every TV archive in the world and not find a thing). Therefore it should fall to the fans of all the missing programmes to pass the word around, to encourage TV stations to search their archives, and to try and persuade the BBC to offer a reward for the return of complete programmes, possibly in the form of a cut from video sales and repeat rights. (DAVID TOMLINSON)
I wish some more visual material would be discovered from the latter episodes of The Space Pirates! (PETER WARE)
The finding of the Crusade episode 1 will probably be the norm from now on, with odd episodes being found somewhere unexpected every few years. It’s probably time to put the situation in a different perspective – compared with other TV series of the era, DOCTOR WHO has survived incredibly well. Many other series have been almost totally destroyed. (DYLAN CRAWFOOT)
The blatant profiteering by BBC Enterprises with the Crusade release showed just how much money there is to be made out of even a single new episode. (Did anyone else feel the price was very unreasonable considering that most 6 episode tapes are normally less than $A40?). As I understand, the people who return the tapes do not receive any financial compensation, so while they are in private hands, they will be very valuable to collectors. (RUSSELL SUMMERS)
Being very honest, it probably is better that most of them aren’t recovered. A myth is a very hard thing to live up to. (DAVID PARRISH)
What I do find sad is that there may be fans who are secretly holding on to lost episodes, and they cannot find it in their hearts to release the material so that others can enjoy it. Surely there is greater satisfaction to be had in releasing missing material for all to enjoy, than selfishly holding on to it for one’s own gratification? (JOHN KING)
The Power of the Daleks – whenever I become depressed over the loss of so many early DW episodes, it’s usually as a result of thinking about how much I would love to have a fully-viewable copy of this story. It is a truly beautiful piece of work which I would stack up against the best of any that came before or after it. Someone somewhere at the BBC should have thought to preserve a copy of this one, if only for the simple fact that it was Troughton’s first. (TOM ROBINSON)
I suspect the only material which is likely to be recovered will be the “forgotten” ones, eg Savages, Smugglers. (RICHARD BERRY)
PART B : THE RECONSTRUCTIONS
They show the BBC what can be done when you have committed, sincere fans making efforts to produce a quality result, rather than a commercial arm anxious to make as much money as it can before it loses the Licence Fee. The efforts of those responsible for the reconstructions are worthy of praise indeed. From a historian’s point of view, it helps to complete the story sequence and adds to our knowledge of the phenomenon that is DOCTOR WHO. (BRIAN DOWLING)
In the case of “other video footage”, I found it extremely disconcerting when the moving images from other footage didn’t match with the dialogue on the audio (eg Tenth Planet). I would much rather have still pictures (even repetitively), and use my imagination, than to have the distraction of my eyes seeing one thing and my ears hearing another. This bothers me only as far as dialogue however – if footage (even from sources other than DOCTOR WHO) is used for establishing shots and such, that would be welcomed. (TIMOTHY ROSE)
In truth, I don’t mind the use of footage or stills from other productions so long as it is not blatantly obvious. For example, Cyberman footage from Tomb should not be used in an Invasion recon – on the other hand, footage of the rigs used in Fury as seen in DANGER MAN is fine as the location is the same. (MATTHEW FITCH)
I am very puzzled by this purist attitude of only using the telesnaps, when the story can be enhanced by creating new images. After all, using a picture from episode 1 in another episode, or even repeating it later on in the same episode, is a true representation of a story, isn’t it? (LEE MOONE)
The healthy competition that emerges from a number of groups making the reconstructions must be an added incentive to constantly improve on the work and increase the quality of the output. On the other hand, the frequent collaboration between teams offered by this being an amateur venture also allows new ideas to intersect with each other more frequently, surely also contributing towards the steadily increasing quality of the reconstructions. (WITOLD TIETZE)
Profound gratitude to all those involved in making and distributing them. Easy to pick a few holes in them. Easy to forget how much sheer hard work went in. (IAN BARNETT)
It is a foolish man indeed who says what computers (and their users) will never be able to do. These fan-produced reconstructions are getting better all the time. One day they will be identical to the original. (GARY ZIMMER)
The full story must be shown and a good selection of photos used, as well as some interesting camera techniques of zooming, panning, and fading in and out, so as to keep the eye interested. Subtitles are also useful if they are placed at the bottom of the screen, and not the top! (KAMIL NEUMANN)
I really do enjoy some of the little extras that the creators are doing, such as reconstructed trailers, the Making of Fury doco, the brief interviews with cast and crew, etc. (ALEX ROHAN)
They are wonderful, of course. But I prefer that they stay true to form, ie only photos from the story should be used whenever possible (Marco Polo being an example of the exception to this rule, since there ARE no telesnaps from the story). I love the audio script on the screen as well. (SHAUN LYON)
Although I greatly enjoy the recons, I find it very easy to fall asleep during most of them. Some kind of screen activity is needed to keep the watcher alert. (ROBERT WOOD)
I prefer the COI tapes because of the full script and stage directions. These hold my attention. (ANDREW PIXLEY)
I have been a dub site for a few years now and have probably received more thanks from the people I dub for than the creators have received. I want to take this opportunity to thank the creators for their time and effort they have put into this project. It is well worth seeing the enjoyment others get out of it. That is precisely why I dub for people. (DAVE CARZOLI)
I intensely dislike it when substitute footage is used, even if it is from the same story. Apart from establishing shots and other generic moving images, these should be avoided. For instance, The Tenth Planet part 4. It is okay to grab stills from the existing episodes, but not chunks which obviously are from the wrong spot. It jars terribly. (SIMON MOORE)
The only thing that is strange [about using photos from other sources] is that the resolution is far nicer than the photos around them. So they do leap out at you in astonishing detail in the Myth Makers recon ... but that’s not so bad! (CHARLES DANIELS)
I’m not opposed to other photo material being used, but it should still retain some continuity with the story. Video footage, however, makes more sense when in its original context. (MARK JACKSON)
New video clips reconstructed, if well done, flow seamlessly into the storyline, however, if video from a different story is inserted and not completely consistent, it might break the flow. (STEPHEN COOK)
Although I haven’t listed it as one of my favourites, The Wheel in Space reconstruction greatly improved my opinion of the story. It seemed far less dull then I thought it was from the audio alone. I didn’t expect that a reconstruction would be able to bring a tedious sounding story to life! (DAVID HERRICK)
Regarding the BBC Ice Warriors reconstruction, my one criticism is that they cut out too many subplots from the missing two episodes. Commercial constraints, I know, but for a story with many strands, the character development in The Ice Warriors is important. (VIN DE SILVA)
I was amazed when I saw Michael Palmer’s version of The Tenth Planet. It was as near as I could imagine the real story being. I haven’t seen the enhanced version yet, but I have high hopes ... (STUART CLARK)
From the few that I have seen so far, the JV recons are simply the best as they incorporate all of the best elements I feel there is to be had of a reconstruction. They don’t rely solely on telesnaps and audio, but make use of a variety of additional material. (KEITH ADAMS)
I’m very pleased with the development of Master Plan Productions (MPP), as this will solve my principal dilemma when it comes to ordering reconstructions. You see, while I am a firm believer in the COI “full text” concept, I am continually tempted by the other versions available which (some say) may have better audios or clearer telesnaps, or some other interesting aspect such as recreated footage or even a documentary! Soon, I’ll no longer be forced to choose between this version or that, as the MPP concept will combine the resources of several talented people to produce the best of all possible reconstructions for each story, while giving us the option to select either a “full text” or “part text” version. What a brilliant idea! (PERRY ARMSTRONG)
Stories like Galaxy 4 and The Myth Makers have hardly any surviving original photographic material and limited clips, but rather than deprive the reconstruction world of these classic stories, alternative solutions are needed. (DEAN ROSE)
On the one hand, authenticity is important. But on the other, there should be room for creativity in the reconstruction process. Maybe there’s room for “classic” recons and also for recons using colour shots, footage from other eps / other shows, or devices similar to those used in the BBC Ice Warriors recon. (BRUCE GUTHRIE)
Many people seem to want colour to be used, even if it isn’t strictly authentic (but then, how much of the recon process creation is? We’re trying to give an impression of what the original story was like, since we cannot reproduce it 100% faithfully). (DOMINIC JACKSON)
I’m a bit disappointed to hear that the MPP team seem to be concentrating on non-telesnap stories. I feel the JV and the new-style COI (ie Abominable Snowmen) releases are brilliant, and would like to see the same approach applied to the remaining telesnap stories as soon as possible. (name withheld on request)
I find it difficult to understand why (if all the reconstructors are such completists) you don’t work on the stories that haven’t been reconstructed yet. What value is there in the umpteenth “improvement” of Marco Polo when Daleks Master Plan is still out there to be done? Finish a once-over of everything, then set out to improve them. (JEFF MURRAY)
I am surprised that no one has attempted to do something like The Pescatons or Slipback! (DAVID MAY)
I think the whole concept of the reconstructions is wonderful and I can only express my heartfelt appreciation to the people who have put in the time and effort so that we can enjoy these stories once again. I am old enough to remember DOCTOR WHO from the very beginning and, although my memories are pretty vague, it’s wonderful to be able to relive dark Saturday tea times all over again. Although it’s a tall order, I think the future of reconstructions should be in the direction of including animation or live reconstructions for some scenes. I thought the Loose Cannon Galaxy Four was a good effort. Even animation for some of the missing classic action sequences would be a good idea, eg the final battle in Evil Of The Daleks. (G BRIODY)
While I prefer images from the actual story, I know that, in many cases, this is not possible and do still enjoy the story if it contains elements from other media (for example, Bruce’s excellent bamboo shot!). (NEIL HOGAN)
Each recon I watch is a surprise. It usually takes about five minutes to get into the format. It’s very dream-like and surreal at times. A special thrill is when a second or so of footage is inserted, bringing the still pictures to life. (CHRISTOPHER JOYCE)
If the audio’s clear enough, why do we need dialogue captions? We don’t have them on the regular episodes, so why these? They certainly weren’t needed on something as clear as Fury from the Deep. If the soundtrack’s muffled though, then captions would be a good idea. (PAUL SCOONES)
I prefer voice-overs to text. But I can understand the added difficulties this could cause. (PETER STEPHEN)
BBC Ice Warriors recon – it was average for a reconstruction, but good as a “space filler” for a BBC Video (as opposed to the *pathetic* plot explanations previously). (GEORGE RAINEY)
The good thing about recons like Power of the Daleks, for instance, is that it only shows material from that story and leaves one’s imagination to fill in the gaps. Surely nobody needs to be spoonfed images they know full well are not part of what they are watching. (CHRIS WILLIAMS)
Being able to see photos of the sets and costumes in colour makes up in a way for the stories in question being missing (especially in the cases of Marco Polo and Celestial Toymaker). The colour photos would look odd in the middle of a telesnap story though! (BEN HAUGHTON)
After recently listening to The Massacre audio, I no longer feel that a complete running script is required to enjoy a story. However, due to generations of dubbing, both audio and video can be quite distorted or unintelligible. Therefore when given a choice, I pick the COI recons to ensure that I will at least have an idea of what is going on. (BEN VAN DE WEGHE)
The Galaxy 4 release was excellent for bravely using newly-created footage to give the viewer a feel of live-action interpretation of what is happening when the soundtrack is not delivering very much. I thought it brought an extra fizz to the recon. (KEN ROBINSON)
The bonuses are always so cleverly done that I try not to read about them before I get a chance to see them for myself. I was even fooled by one of the reconstructed trailers – I mistook it for the real thing! One very minor, but frustrating thing, which I would like to see come to an end, is the tradition of giving a potential release date for upcoming reconstructions. By all means, tell me what you’re working on. Tell me what will be your next release. But please don’t torment me with those overly-optimistic release dates. They only get my hopes up. (TOM ROBINSON)
Given a story where very little material exists, then you should do whatever needs to be done in order to produce a watchable video. I do think that in such cases, some documentation would be handy, say as a download from a website. (COLIN BROCKLEY)
I only have a few reconstructions. The US-origin Loose Cannon productions unfortunately suffered from the standard conversion and the picture quality was poor on a PAL system (SUE LAW)
PART C : AUDIOS
I would like the original audio tracks (ie without the narration) to be included on the CD. I realise they won’t fit on the CDs, but they could be compressed as MP3s or something and added as a bonus. (MATTHEW BROOKE)
It is my hope that the new releases will remain relatively unedited, unlike a number of the earlier cassette-only audios. Trimming of non-dialogue sequences is understandable, and sometimes necessary, but the removal of entire scenes (as in Evil of the Daleks) is entirely unacceptable. (WITOLD TIETZE)
Perhaps it’d be possible to put the scripts, and/or some stills, on the CD for a more interactive experience? Nothing fancy, just a basic text file for each episode, plus a few images, would be wonderful. (ALEX ROHAN)
I mean no offence to the reconstructors, who have done wonders with the material, but I would think that the BBC would have the funds and equipment to provide the best restoration possible. Whether they would actually do so for mere audio releases is another matter, but they certainly have cleaned up the audio for video releases quite beautifully. (BEN HAKALA)
I prefer listening to audios rather than reconstructions of non-telesnap stories, and where there is extremely limited visual material. (SIMON MOORE)
Unlike other people I have talked to, I liked the audios that were narrated as if the Doctor himself were telling you about his previous adventures. It had a certain style and fun about it that made sense. (CHARLES DANIELS)
I can’t see the point in releasing The Celestial Toymaker as an audio, as there is very little dialogue and most of the story is visual. (LEON HORTON)
I’d previously bought three of the earlier BBC Audios (Power of the Daleks, Fury from the Deep and The Macra Terror), but did not find them to be particularly satisfying. For me, DOCTOR WHO will always belong in the visual medium. (PERRY ARMSTRONG)
I wish the BBC would accelerate the release of audios, perhaps bringing in complimentary products such as script books, even if it meant reducing the video output. (DAVID MASTERS)
The minimal narration on The Massacre was a massive improvement over Eric Saward’s over-scripting of the earlier releases. It would be a tragedy if the awful narration on the earlier ones was re-used on re-releases. (name withheld on request)
The scripts seem to have been improved, minimised and timed better to avoid interrupting the important bit, the original soundtrack. I would very much like to hear Evil and Power re-released with the dialogue improved or re-recorded. It really annoys me to hear Tom Baker talk over some of my favourite moments, such as the death of Resno in Power. (JEFF TRIM)
With a good linking narration the audio releases stand very well on their own. Perfect for listening to in the car, they become something we’re denied in the rush-hour – a radio-play. (SCOTT MORRIS)
I was very impressed with The Massacre. Peter Purves provided an excellent narration and the audio quality was excellent. Although I very much enjoyed the narration from the Doctors for the previous releases, I prefer the companion to narrate as it keeps the story in that era. (CHRISTOPHER JOYCE)
I think the historicals are best suited to audio only format, as they tend to be the most dialogue driven stories. I loved the audio of the Crusade parts 2 & 4. (DYLAN CRAWFOOT)
While I think it unlikely that the BBC will ever release audios without narration (except in video box sets), so long as the narration is in the third person, kept to a minimum, and does not refer to concepts yet to be introduced on the program, I shall be quite happy. (MICHAEL IVY)
The Massacre is a very good story, but it doesn’t work well as audio only, and the narration didn’t explain the unclear bits very well. The Web Of Fear will most likely have the same problem – it’s got too many visual sequences to work very well. (BEN HAUGHTON)
Because of things like the TV tax and the prominence given to audio drama on BBC radio, there’s more of a tradition in Britain of releasing the soundtracks of TV shows in an audio format than there is over here, in North America. Here, this only used to happen on the very rarest of occasions with holiday specials by Jim Henson, The Peanuts, and Doctor Seuss. The market dried up almost entirely once VCRs became more affordable. As a result, officially-released audios hold little value for me on their own. (TOM ROBINSON)
I have recently listened to The Massacre, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I thought the balance between descriptive narrative and soundtrack was pretty much spot on. It only really depends on whom they get to provide the narrative. In this case, I thought Peter Purves did a good job, albeit slightly melodramatic in parts. (TOBY SATCH)
Having them on CD is the main purchasing factor for me. (COLIN BROCKLEY)
I prefer the audios where the script-writer has the Doctor doing the voice over in the first person. To me, it makes the voice over less intrusive. (SUE LAW)
PART D : NOTHING AT THE END OF THE LANE MAGAZINE
Andrew Pixley’s article was FAR too long. Though interesting and very informative, perhaps it would have worked better serialised and in an expanded form. As presented, it was just too much too quickly. (MATTHEW FITCH)
More than anything else, Nothing at the End of the Lane made me feel very guilty for being a passive fan all my life and never really doing anything to add to other fans’ enjoyment of the show. (PETER FRANKUM)
More photos please! Sixty pages of pretty dense text is difficult to sustain. I realise that monochrome doesn’t really bring a lot out of these photos, but you ARE dealing with 60s Who here – it’s not as though the TV stories themselves look any different. (ALEX ROHAN)
A fanzine such as this seems the perfect place to present interviews with lesser production staff involved with earlier stories. DWM has had many great interviews but is less likely to talk to non-directors or non-actors. Your market is clearly more specialized, so it might be worth pursuing this. Not that I DON’T want to see interviews with directors, mind you ... (BEN HAKALA)
This comment doesn’t just apply to the magazine, but I find reading other people’s recollections of watching stories as children pretty dull. I think that as adults it is impossible to analyse what it was that made a particular scene capture our imaginations as a child, because we no longer have childish minds! (DAVID HERRICK)
Very impressed with the first issue. Liked the layout, but thought that some of the photos should have been larger. Bit disappointed that my copy arrived in rather crumpled state. Any plans to make the magazine available in specialist retailers, like the London branch of Forbidden Planet!? (JULIAN KNOTT)
In a way it seems a gap in the market has been identified which other fanzines have yet to exploit fully (perhaps with the exception of DWM’s archives and also the Dr Who in the Archives series they ran a couple of years back). (DOMINIC JACKSON)
Really good. It contains a high word count per page, the articles are varied and interesting, the images, even when tiny, are clear and very well reproduced, the paper is good quality. When is issue two out? (DAVID MAY)
In future issues, perhaps you could have information on other classic TV series that have lost episodes, such as ADAM ADAMANT LIVES!, OUT OF THE UNKNOWN and COUNTERSTRIKE. Also, more information on the junkings and when serials were last shown. (IAN McLACHLAN)
Very professional! Bring on issue #2 – for the Film and Video Reference Season 4-6 if nothing else!! (TONY BLIESNER)
BORING STUFF
The DOCTOR WHO reconstructions are fan-produced endeavours completed without the consent of BBC Worldwide, BBC Television, or any holders of the DOCTOR WHO licence. No infringement on any such copyright holder is intended nor are the tapes produced for any sort of monetary compensation. Tapes are distributed through the worldwide DOCTOR WHO fan network. Support the BBC releases!
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