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A   C H A N G E   O F   I D E N T I T Y    N E W S L E T T E R     8

NEWSLETTER ON THE MISSING EPISODES OF DOCTOR WHO - 7 Sep 1997

Edited by : Bruce Robinson (robinsba@ozemail.com.au) &
            Robert Franks (TelesnapGuy@compuserve.com)

Victoria : 'Perhaps we've landed in a world of mad men.'
The Doctor : 'They're human beings, if that's what you mean.'
('The Enemy of the World' episode 1)

NEW SOUNDTRACK DISCOVERY
THE CELESTIAL TOYMAKER AUDIO
THE GREAT TELESNAP SEARCH
MISSING CLIP "DISCOVERED"!
THE NEXT WEEK CAPTIONS
THE MUTANTS STORY GUIDE

*** WELCOME! ***
Gosh, you're probably all saying. It only seems like a few weeks ago that
issue #7 was released. Well, you're right! The last issue was delayed for
almost a month - so to get the newsletter back on track with bi-monthly
releases, issue #8 is being released as quickly as possible.

Here's a useless piece of trivia - it's just over a year since the first
'Change of Identity' newsletter was released. And did you know that the
first issue was only received by 6 people??? Fortunately, due to the
support of many, many fans, that number has increased to almost 300. Just
as significantly, it's about a year since I released my first
reconstruction, which was 'The Savages'. 

It's about time that recognition be given to Robert Franks for the
never-ending contribution he makes to this newsletter. So everyone, please
say hello to Robert, the new co-editor! Take it away Robert ...

I distinctly remember having issue #2 of this newsletter forwarded to me. I
also remember my first E-mail to Bruce - it was full of 'that bit wasn't
quite right' and 'you should change that'. Bruce has put up with all of
these 'suggestions' from the beginning. It's even come down to the wire
sometimes where we were verifying information the night before publishing
(or as close to publication that a net-letter can get). I hope that you all
find these little details interesting. A certain friend once told me that
he loves knowing these details, but worries that others may find it all a
bit boring. I have yet to be bored by anything I've discovered. 

Enjoy the newsletter and take care,

Bruce & Robert

*** RECONSTRUCTION UPDATES ***
Due to the extensive update provided in the last issue, and the fact that
only five weeks has passed since issue #7, there isn't a lot of news to
report. So here's a brief update ...

(a) Bruce Robinson
The next two stories I intend completing are 'The Enemy of the World' and
the enhanced version of 'The Power of the Daleks'. Originally, I was
planning to have both stories out in October, but this now appears unlikely.

(b) Michael Palmer
Michael has just recently released 'The Invasion' episodes 1 & 4, as well
as enhanced versions of 'The Reign of Terror' and 'Mission to the Unknown'.
Michael's next projects will be an enhancement of Richard Develyn's 'The
Underwater Menace', as well as a new story, 'The Celestial Toymaker'.

(c) Richard Develyn
Richard, with the assistance of Robert Franks and Michael Palmer, has just
released 'The Power of the Daleks'. Robert has also performed a re-edit of
a number of Richard's previous stories, mainly to insert the Australian
censored clips (eg 'Fury from the Deep'). Richard has completed his work on
'The Evil of the Daleks', which now just needs the addition of the credits.
Richard has also commenced work on 'The Macra Terror' which should be
completed in early 1998.

*** A SMALL DISCLAIMER ***
In the previous issue of this newsletter, an interview with Steve Roberts
was published. Some people have made the inference that as a result of the
interview being published, Steve is the person responsible for providing
the missing episode clips for the reconstructions. However, it should be
clearly stated that this is NOT the case. At no time, has Steve, or any
other BBC employee, been approached to provide copies of the clips. Their
only involvement has been in providing details about certain broadcasts.
Please do not contact Steve or anyone at the BBC about obtaining copies of
the reconstructions or existing episodes.

*** MISSING EPISODE CLIP "DISCOVERED" ***
Although suspected for quite sometime, it can now be pinned down that a
three second clip used in 'The War Games' 10 has been lifted from missing
episode 'The Wheel in Space' 1.

Not of any great significance, as it contains no shots of characters, it
nonetheless shows that research into the series can bring to light these
little known facts. In researching the voluminous tome, 'The Doctor Who
Production Guide: Reference Journal', the authors unearthed many previously
unknown details.

The three second clip is a shot of the actual Wheel itself rotating in
space. This clip exists with it's original soundtrack, and is used for part
of the scene where Zoe is sent home by the Time Lords. Although similar
shots are available in the existing episodes of 'Wheel', BBC documentation
states this was lifted from the missing episode 1. Thanks to Dominic
Jackson and Simon Wiles for bringing this to our attention. 

*** NEW AUDIO DISCOVERY ***
Recently, yet another audio discovery of the missing episodes was made -
the fan responsible was David Butler. At present, it is unclear what
episodes David recorded, but here is a summary of the details currently known.

David Butler's recordings are reasonably clear - however, when compared to
the audios recorded by Graham Strong and David Holman, it appears that only
Butler's 'Mission to the Unknown' is an improvement over existing copies.
However, Butler did not edit the episodes in the same manner as Holman.
This means that many of his recordings have the continuity announcer and
complete closing credits. Because David was very young at the time, he
could not afford to keep buying tapes, so he made the decision to only
retain episodes that would provide the best flavour of the stories. Hence
his collection mainly consists of only the first and last episodes from any
given story.

More details on exactly what stories David did record and the type of
equipment used, will appear in a future issue. In the meantime, Mr Butler's
audios can be enjoyed on the reconstructions of 'Mission to the Unknown'
and 'The Invasion' 1.

*** THE GREAT TELESNAP HUNT ***
In previous issues of this newsletter, a variety of information has been
published about the John Cura telesnaps (a future issue will hopefully be a
telesnap special). However, in summary, it is believed that John Cura
created telesnaps for most DW stories up till 'The Mind Robber'.
Documentation for Cura's services commence from 'The Dead Planet' ('The
Mutants' episode 1), however, it is now thought that he may have even
started from 'An Unearthly Child'. Unfortunately though, many of the
telesnaps are currently missing.

British fan and part-time DWM writer, Richard Bignell, has commenced an
extensive search for the missing telesnaps. Richard's "great telesnap hunt"
involves writing letters to as many actors as possible who appeared in the
telesnapped stories currently missing. Richard is concentrating his efforts
on the following stories : 

Marco Polo
The Crusade
Galaxy 4
Mission to the Unknown
The Myth Makers
The Daleks' Masterplan
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve
The Celestial Toymaker

With the assistance of "Spotlight" (a listing of all UK actors), Richard
has managed to track down contact details for at least 40 to 45 actors.
Some of the more prominent actors include :

Mark Eden ('Marco Polo' as Marco Polo)
Zienia Merton ('Marco Polo' as Ping-Cho)
Julian Glover ('The Crusade' as King Richard)
Jean Marsh ('The Crusade' as Joanna, also 'The Daleks' Masterplan' as Sara
Kingdom)
Michael Gough ('The Celestial Toymaker' as the Toymaker)

Of course, Richard is also contacting the "lesser" names, as they are just
as likely to have utilised Cura's services. In fact, probably more so, as
the chances of them securing an acting role would have been less than the
bigger names. This is actually one of the main reasons that Cura produced
the telesnaps, so that the actors involved would have some evidence of
their past performances. 

Unfortunately, no Doctor Who telesnaps have been discovered as of writing.
However, the search hasn't been entirely fruitless. Richard has received a
number of interesting responses, the most notable being :

Normal Mitchell (policeman in 'The Daleks Masterplan')
Mitchell was aware of Cura's services, and in fact, obtained telesnaps for
some of his non Doctor Who roles - those roles being in the BBC productions
'The Brothers Karamazov' and 'The Flying Swan' (both circa 1965). Both
these productions are currently missing from the BBC Archives

Barry Jackson (Garvey in 'Mission to the Unknown')
Jackson did avail himself of Cura's services during 1959 and 1960, but from
then onwards, started using the official studio stills.

George Little (Haroun in 'The Crusade')
Little did use Cura's services, but only started after 'The Crusade'.

Philip Voss (Acomat in 'Marco Polo')
Although Voss had no photos, he did have vivid memories of filming 'Marco
Polo'. In particular, Voss states "I recall emerging from my cave made of
black drapes to a jungle made from one square foot of sand and two tuffs of
grass!"

Zienia Merton (Ping-Cho in 'Marco Polo')
Although Merton had no photos, she also has fond memories of her time on
Doctor Who. In particular, she remembers the filming of 'The Singing
Sands', where stagehands where throwing handfuls of sawdust across the
studio floor! Merton also recalls William Hartnell telling her to say the
word "f***" she should ever fluff a line, thus causing a retake to be made!

A number of the actors (such as Roy Evans from 'Masterplan', and Jeremy
Young from 'Mission to the Unknown') were also shocked to hear that the BBC
destroyed so many episodes. Young, in particular, was unaware that
'Mission' no longer existed.

Although the responses are still trickling in, the chances of locating any
telesnaps appears slimmer by the day. However, Richard has certainly not
given up - his next "project" is to track down the people who worked on
'Planet of Giants'. Documentation suggests that Cura MAY have telesnapped
all four episodes of 'Giants'. Therefore, the discovery of any telesnaps
from episodes 3 & 4 would be a significant find. On the other hand, certain
BBC documentation lists 'World's End' ('The Dalek Invasion of Earth' 1) as
'The Urge to Live' (the "missing" episode 4 of 'Giants'). This may have led
to the telesnaps being incorrectly described as deriving from 'The Urge to
Live' , when in fact Cura really telesnapped 'World's End'. The
investigation continues ...

*** THE CELESTIAL TOYMAKER ***
As many readers of this newsletter will be aware, there are two people
primarily responsible for the current pristine audio recordings of lost
episodes. The first is Graham Strong, who has been a huge help not only in
providing dubs of his own recordings, but also in convincing David Holman
(the second person) to share his tapes with the rest of the world. David
actually started recording episodes from 'The Roof of the World'. Up until
recently, only fair copies of some of David's recordings were commonly
available. The BBC, specifically Paul Vanezis, had borrowed David's tapes
to make DAT recordings for the BBC to archive.

David's recordings are now in Graham Strong's capable hands. Graham has
been using his Phillips N4414 stereo recorder to dub David's 7" tapes into
copies that can be used for the restoration process (the original tapes
were recorded at a 3.75" per second speed). Many other fans have had a hand
in the restoration of these audios - both cleaning up the sound and
repairing bad edits. What follows is a typical example to restore one of
these stories. 'The Celestial Toymaker' was awarded a higher priority due
to the poor copies that had been previously available.

David's audios, although remarkably clear, contain edits performed by David
when originally recorded in the sixties. Most of these consist of the
cropping of opening/closing themes, as David tried to record a continuous
story. In an effort to restore these episodes to as close to their original
form as possible, the following is an example of the restoration of 'The
Celestial Toymaker'. As episode 4 ('The Final Test') currently exists in
the BBC Archives, the restoration work was required to patch episodes 1-3.

The following are a list of edits which exist in David's original recording :

1) the reprise from 'The Ark' is cut. (episode 1)
2) the link between episodes 1 & 2 has a very noticeable cut. Although the
music seems to be cut perfectly, there is an audible jump (this would be at
the end of episode 1 and the reprise of episode 2).
3) episode 3 cuts out rather abruptly.

Thankfully, episode 2 has a complete set of closing credits, and episode 3
has the whole opening theme. This meant that the editing of the conclusion
for episodes 1 & 3 was a lot simpler. All the episodes ended with the same
incidental music playing over a screen where that week's riddle was
displayed. That same music was then replayed after the reprises for the
next episode. The incidental music and closing theme from episode 2 was
used to replace the missing portions at the ends of episodes 1 & 3. This
was an elementary task, although with episode 3, the audio had to faded
from one source to the other, as the cut was rather abrupt.

There has also been some talk over episode 3's reprise. Although episode 3
starts complete with the opening theme music, the reprise from episode 2 is
slightly cut. There is a line of Steven's dialogue which, although it
sounds as if he starts to speak, the remainder of the line is cut. The
general consensus has been that David would not have had the resources to
do an edit of this nature back in the 60's. The reprises of all the
episodes were from 35mm film inserts, so they should be exactly the same as
the previous episode. After some research, it is now believed that the film
insert was shortened before broadcast. 

Episode 2 also contains some distortion problems. US fan Brian Pearce has
made extensive notes on these problems, and is looking into the possibility
of replacing them with poorer audio fill. The distortion only lasts a few
seconds, and is mainly the result of imperfections that exist on David's
original tapes. The distortion takes the form of the audio slowing down and
slurring passages. The longest section occurs for about five seconds (as
the first doll is electrocuted). The others problems concern minor portions
of dialogue, particularly one exchange at the commencement of episode 3.
Graham Strong has indicated that even though the distortion is part of
David's original tapes, it may be possible to repair the damage digitally.

The version of episode 4's telerecording, available on the BBC Video "The
Hartnell Years", is noticeably of poor quality audio. Paul Vanezis points
out that there is nothing actually wrong with the audio on the print
returned from the ABC. Apparently when the viewing copy was made by
Enterprises, they used the optically copied optical track which was rather
poor. Therefore, a new print could be struck with acceptable audio.

Overall, the cuts are minor, but the work involved in repairing them can
take several hours and numerous attempts. In the end hopefully all this
will pay off and everyone can enjoy these episodes as close to the original
broadcast as possible. For further details on the distortion problems with
episode 2, have a look at Brian Pearce's article, which can be located at
the following website :

http://members.aol.com/dwundergrd/telesnaps/CTR.htm

*** NEXT WEEK CAPTIONS ***
Most fans are probably aware of the "Next Episode" captions that appear at
the end of the individually titled Hartnell episodes. In other words, up to
and including 'The OK Corral' ('The Gunfighters' 4), which has a "Next
Episode : Dr Who and the Savages" caption. Despite what the BBC releases
may indicate, these captions do exist at the conclusion of all episodes
pre-'Savages'. For the commercial releases, the BBC have removed the "Next
Episode" caption from the final episode, presumably in the belief that it
will confuse the general viewer. However, in the case of 'The Final Test'
('The Celestial Toymaker' 4), which was released as part of 'The Hartnell
Years', the film print returned to the Archives was actually missing the
"Next Episode" caption.

What is not so well known, is that the tradition of "Next Episode" captions
continued from 'The Savages' onwards. 'The Savages' marked the point in the
series where the individual Hartnell episode titles were replaced by the
more well-known practice of calling the entire story by one name. Of
course, the captions were not "Next Episode" captions, instead they were
"Next Week" captions. For obvious reasons, the "Next Week" captions were
only displayed at the conclusion of the final episode for a story.

For an example of what these 'Next Week' captions look like, have a close
look at the telesnaps for 'The Smugglers' (as published in DWM). On the
very last telesnap (not including the closing credits), a "Next Week : The
Tenth Planet" caption is visible. However, note that the "Next Week"
captions were generally displayed after the closing credits. For instance,
with 'The Moonbase' 4 (as featured on "The Cybermen Years" tape), the "Next
Week" captain for 'The Macra Terror' can be seen at the conclusion of the
credits.

It is interesting to note that just about every story from 'The Savages' to
'The Space Pirates' originally had "Next Week" captions at the conclusion
of the final episode. However, the episode as broadcast, did not always
carry these captions. Many stories had the "Next Week" captions replaced by
a trailer for the following story. These trailers generally consisted of
location film footage shot for the next story. For example, the 'Fury From
the Deep' trailer for the conclusion of 'The Web of Fear' consists of the
Doctor, Jamie and Victoria walking around on the beach. In the case of many
stories, location filming was all that was available for the simple reason
that the studio recording had yet to be made. During Season 4, most stories
were shot only a week before screening, which meant the cast could watch
the previous week's episode being broadcast just before they commenced the
studio recording!

Only two of the existing film prints have the "Next Week" captions intact,
and that is 'The Moonbase' 4 and 'The Mind Robber' 5. In a future issue,
further details will be provided on the trailers that regularly appeared in
place of the "Next Week" captions.

*** STORY GUIDES ***
This issue sees the publication of another story guide, that of 'The
Mutants'. As always, if you're after a more detailed description of what
these guides contain, please refer to issue #6 of this newsletter.

SEASON 1 STORY 2

B : The Mutants

(a) GENERAL

7 episodes

'The Dead Planet'
     TX(21 Dec 63)  TI(17.16)  DU(24'22")  VA(6.9)   CP(67)  AA(59)
'The Survivors'
     TX(28 Dec 63)  TI(17.16)  DU(24'27")  VA(6.4)   CP(78)  AA(58)
'The Escape'
     TX(04 Jan 64)  TI(17.15)  DU(25'10")  VA(8.9)   CP(45)  AA(63)
'The Ambush'
     TX(11 Jan 64)  TI(17.15)  DU(24'37")  VA(9.9)   CP(29)  AA(62)
'The Expedition'
     TX(18 Jan 64)  TI(17.15)  DU(24'31")  VA(9.9)   CP(27)  AA(63)
'The Ordeal'
     TX(25 Jan 64)  TI(17.15)  DU(26'14")  VA(10.4)  CP(29)  AA(63)
'The Rescue'
     TX(01 Feb 64)  TI(17.18)  DU(22'24")  VA(10.4)  CP(25)  AA(65)

(Note - durations for the first three episodes were calculated from the
Start and Finish times on the Programme-as-Broadcast documentation. No
"official" duration exists for these episodes.)

Total Duration (approx) = 171'45"
Average Viewing Audience = 8.97 million
Average Chart Position = 42.86

Repeat Screenings - nil on BBC1, although the story has been screened on UK
Gold and BSB.

(b) VIDEO FOOTAGE

Status - all 7 episodes currently exist as 16mm black/white telerecordings.
The entire story was about to be junked by Enterprises in 1978, when Ian
Levine appeared in time to save it. The episodes recovered included the
negatives, as well as the B/W telerecordings.

Clips - n/a

Notes -
* in 1987, Enterprises ordered new prints of the Doctor Who episodes,
including 'The Mutants' (aka 'The Daleks'). When they came to duplicate
'The Rescue' (episode 7), it was discovered that the negative was actually
a "sound neg". This meant that the only copy available was a damaged
viewing print. This copy was cleaned, and an optical negative was made from
the cleaned print. Paul Vanezis has since made a D3 transfer from the BBC
Enterprises only video copy, although this is missing the "Next Episode"
caption.

* 'The Ambush' (episode 4) was transmitted from 35mm film which combined
videotaped material.

* released on BBC Video as 'The Daleks' (2 volumes). The release was uncut,
apart from the deletion of the cliffhanger and "Next Episode" caption at
the end of episode 7 (ie leading into 'The Edge of Destruction'). Released
in 1989 by BBC Video (BBCV 4242); US release 1995 (CBS/Fox Video 8253).

(c) AUDIO RECORDINGS

n/a

(d) RECONSTRUCTIONS

n/a

(e) PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL

Telesnaps - PasB (Programme-as-Broadcast) documentation indicates that John
Cura created telesnaps for all episodes, bar 'The Ambush' and 'The
Expedition'. Christopher Barry possesses contact sheets for the episodes he
directed (ie episodes 1,2,4,5 only) - Barry believes that co-director,
Richard Martin, was offered the telesnaps for the remaining episodes.

Behind-the-Scenes Shots - unknown

Publicity Shots -
22 Nov 63 - photocall at Lime Grove D - the Doctor's party meeting the Daleks.
29 Nov 63 - photocall at Lime Grove D - Susan and the Thals outside the
TARDIS.
6 Dec 63 - photocall at Lime Grove D - the regular cast in the TARDIS
console room.
23 Dec 63 - photocall at Shepherds Bush Market - Daleks on patrol.

(f) AUSTRALIAN CENSOR CUTS

'The Dead Planet' DR(05 May 64)   FT(915)   RA(A)   no cuts
'The Survivors'   DR(05 May 64)   FT(917)   RA(A)   no cuts
'The Escape'      DR(05 May 64)   FT(945)   RA(A)   no cuts
'The Ambush'      DR(05 May 64)   FT(841)   RA(A)   no cuts
'The Expedition'  DR(05 May 64)   FT(920)   RA(A)   no cuts
'The Ordeal'      DR(05 May 64)   FT(985)   RA(A)   no cuts
'The Rescue'      DR(05 May 64)   FT(841)   RA(A)   no cuts

(g) OTHER NOTES

* Working Titles - 'The Survivors' (whole story), 'The Caves of Terror'
(episode 6), 'The Execution' (episode 7). The story was originally known as
'The Mutants', but due to the Jon Pertwee story of the same name, the story
is now commonly referred to as 'The Daleks'.

* all filming occurred at Lime Grove Studio D (from 15 Nov 63 to 10 Jan
64), with film inserts at Ealing (28 Oct to 1 Nov 63, 26 Nov 63, 02 Dec 63).

* when originally recorded on 15 Nov 63, the first episode ('The Dead
Planet') was found to be unsuitable for broadcast due to the soundtrack
picking up interference from the assistant director's headphones. The
episode was re-recorded on 06 Dec 63, which forced the production of all
subsequent episodes (ie from episode 4 onwards) to be delayed a week.

* the standard procedure during the 1960s, was to refilm the cliffhanger
sequence at the start of the next episode. However, an exception to this
was the cliff-hanger at the end of 'The Dead Planet' (episode 1). The
footage of Barbara's attack by the "unknown creature" was reused at the
start of 'The Survivors' (episode 2). Interestingly the reprise used was
from the original recording, ie the recording which had the sound problem
mentioned above.

* novelisation by David Whitaker. Original title - 'Doctor Who in an
Exciting Adventure with The Daleks'. First published in 1964 by Frederick
Muller Ltd (issued with a photographic cover). Reissued in 1965 by Armada
Paperbacks with a cover painting by Peter Archer.  It also formed three of
the books reissued by Universal-Tandem (later W.H. Allen) in May 1973,
retitled 'Doctor Who and The Daleks' with a cover by Chris Achilleos. In
subsequent reprints, W.H. Allen numbered this book #16. The current
release, again retitled 'Doctor Who - The Daleks', was released in 1992 by
Virgin Publishing with a cover by Alister Pearson. This was the first ever
Doctor Who novelisation. Whitaker actually novelised the story with an
entirely new opening sequence. This introduced the characters of Ian and
Barbara in a totally different way to that presented in '100,000 BC'.

* In 1989, Titan Books released a script adaptation of the story, titled
'Doctor Who - The Daleks', with a cover by Tony Clark. A new edition was
issued in 1994 with a painting by Alister Pearson.

*** REVIEWS AND COMMENTS ***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MARCO POLO
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was a wonderful job. I was expecting telesnaps - do they even exist
for this story? [ed : telesnaps were taken for this story by John Cura, but
do not currently exist] So, I was doubly impressed at how well chosen the
photos were. I've watched episodes 1-6 so far, and have found the story
surprisingly easy to follow. The actual video footage at the start of part
1 was however very poor on my tape. The rest was great, with the pictures
and audio being very clear.

There was a bit of a problem with the sound for a few moments in one or two
of the latter episodes. However, putting the text at the bottom was a great
idea, as was describing the action during the 'quiet' bits. I also loved
the maps you included during Polo's narration. The story itself was
certainly epic in feel - I knew nothing about it so I was coming to it
fresh. And I guess I have you to thank for that!
(FAIZ REHMAN)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMEN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was eagerly looking forward to watching this Patrick Troughton classic,
and was not disappointed!  The quality of the reconstruction itself is
excellent, and the story itself very entertaining. 'The Abominable Snowmen'
is most remembered for the debut of the Yeti, yet the story also features
terrific location work, many scenes effectively imbued with the moody
atmosphere of the Tibetan monastery, and a chilling, convincing villain in
the form of the "possessed" High Lama Padmasambhava. Troughton is in top
form, and the story sustains it's drama throughout.

The reconstruction itself is smooth and unobtrusive, easily allowing the
viewer to imagine what it must have been like, back in 1967, to experience
the Yeti for the very first time. Thanks in part to what I have seen via
the wonderful reconstructions such as 'The Web of Fear', 'Fury From the
Deep', and now 'The Abominable Snowmen', I believe season five (1967/68)
was truly a "classic" period in Doctor Who.
(MARK PARMERTER)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE MOONBASE (COI VERSION)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The story is badly hit by the loss of episode three, in which all the major
action takes place.  Having said this, it also has, in my opinion, the
dumbest characterisation of the Cybermen - and in only their second story.
Why oh why do they have to go around using sarcasm and one-liners when
they're supposed to be an emotionless super-race - it is hard to understand
and it demeans them.

The scene in episode two where the Doctor notes that "There are some
corners of the universe that have bred the most terrible things... They
must be fought" is the first strong and explicit piece of second Doctor
characterisation. Hartnell, if he had still been going by this time, might
have left it to Ben and Polly to do more along the lines of their solvent
attack. Instead, Troughton takes the forthright, attacking stance that the
Cybermen must be defeated. This is the first real flowering of the
Troughton interventionist characteristic, and although it doesn't reach the
McCoy-like subtleties of 'The Evil of the Daleks', it is still a welcome
development.

'The Moonbase' lends itself far less to the COI style of reconstruction
than do 'Power' and 'Savages' (forgetting 'Marco Polo' as a non-telesnap
story). It's simply that, whilst Power is full of delightful subtleties and
brilliant use of an established race of monsters which come out well when
you have the script to explain them fully, Moonbase has very few
subtleties. It could easily have been any other race of monsters instead of
the Cybermen - they seem just to be there to bump up the viewing figures.
One of the weaker stories of Season 4.
(DOMINIC JACKSON)

*** LETTERS AND OPINIONS ***
~~~~~~~~~~~
You mentioned in issue #7 about how there is documentary evidence that Cura
was taking telesnaps at around the time of 'An Unearthly Child'. There is
perhaps more proof of this - in the first chapter of 'The Sixties', David
Howe mentions the BBC "Suspense" play 'Man on a Bicycle' (starring Carole
Ann Ford, tx 18 Mar 63).  It won't surprise you to know that the programme
no longer exists (in fact nothing at all exists from any of the 48
'Suspense' plays) - but there are telesnaps from it (a couple of which are
published in the DWB Interview File, p19).

So Cura was taking telesnaps at this time - and if telesnaps exist from
'The Mutants' (strictly correct titling here!) and 'Marco Polo' was
telesnapped, perhaps '100,000 BC' was as well? 
(DOMINIC JACKSON)

*** THE MEMORY CHEATS ***
What are some of the most vivid memories fans have the sixties stories?
Malcolm Morris puts forward his two cents worth ...

My name is Malcolm Morris and I was born on 12th August 1957. I was
therefore six when I watched the very first episode of Doctor Who. Do I
remember it? Yes I do!  I remember looking forward to it, and I remember it
being delayed due to Kennedy's assassination - I also remember it being
repeated the following week in case anyone had missed it (you don't hear
this mentioned too often - am I the only one who watched it?). However I
have no memory at all of the following three episodes and until a few years
ago, was convinced that 'The Daleks' was the first story. 

Talking of Daleks... were these first stories really scary? Well the sight
of a sink plunger menacing Barbara at the end of the first episode of 'The
Daleks' gave me nightmares for a week! Only when a Dalek was revealed in
all it's full glory did the dreams go away. The scariest Dalek story I
remember was the 'Haunted House' episode from 'The Chase'. It seems hard to
believe now, but I really did hide behind the sofa when first watching this
episode (I also remember having no knowledge of who Dracula and
Frankenstein were - children really were more innocent in those days!)

Now Cybermen were a different thing altogether - everyone in the playground
agreed that they were the scariest thing around. I get very disheartened
when I read that people feel that the recent rediscovery of the 'The Tomb
of the Cybermen' has devalued it's classic status .... the story is exactly
as I remember it and it is every bit as good today as it was when first
broadcast. To worry about whether the walls were made of silver paper or
not is missing the whole point ... the air of menace exuded by the Cybermen
is incredible, and to this day the scene where the Cyber Controller emerges
from his tomb brings a shiver to my spine. Incidentally, I remember seeing
a still from 'Tomb' in a newspaper before it was first shown, and thinking
that the Cyber Controller was merely a standard Cyberman with half finished
make-up!

I have lots more fragment of memories from the 'black and white era', such
as the Cyberman being hidden in a hospital bed in 'The Moonbase', a
Chumbley circulating around the TARDIS in 'Galaxy 4', Ian and Barbara being
attacked by a vegetation covered statue in 'The Keys of Marinus', the four
travellers finding their future selves as exhibits in 'The Space Museum',
Ice Warriors hissing etc. etc. But the most important thing I remember was
that all my friends watched and enjoyed the series. The first Doctor was
not a dark and mysterious character - that was invented later (fans of the
NA version of the 7th Doctor please take note). He was a friendly and kind
old man, and even though we didn't know where he came from, we didn't
really care too much! 

Like most of my generation I stopped watching Doctor Who during Jon
Pertwee's era. The Doctor as a member of the establishment, based on Earth
with military backup held little interest to those of us who had followed
the series from the beginning. I only really picked the series up again
when at University (the reason that the 4th Doctor is often accused of
employing 'undergraduate humour' is that all the original fans of the
series were undergraduates at the time - the series was simply refinding
it's first audience).
(MALCOLM MORRIS)

*** TRIVIA QUESTION! ***
Here's a very quick trivia question! Not including the telemovie and other
spin-off shows (such as 'Dimensions in Time'), name as many Doctor Who
episodes that you can where the opening titles are longer than the closing
credits (hint - there aren't too many of them!). Answers in the next issue,
but no prizes unfortunately!

*** REQUESTS ***
This issue looks at a few upcoming conventions around the world.

Firstly, there's 'Timestorm', an Australia convention which is to be held
in Melbourne later this year from 21 to 23 November. The major guest is
Sophie Aldred. For further details, send an E-mail to Richard Nolan at
<kergulen@onaustralia.com.au>.

The following weekend will see the biggest Dr Who convention stateside.
Visions '97 continues a fine tradition by hosting such guests as Peter
Davison, Louise Jameson, Frazer Hines, Chris Barrie and many others. The
convention takes place in Chicago, Illinois from 28 to 30 November. Details
can be located at :

http://www.xnet.com/~tardis/visions.html

Also in the States, February brings us Gallifrey One, which is turning out
to be quite a Reconstruction-lovers convention (with many TR's being
screened). Guests for the con include Colin Baker, Steve Cole, Gary
Russell, David Howe and many others. Join us from 13 to 15 February 1998 in
Los Angeles for a great time. Information can be located at:

http://www.concentric.net/~jslyon/

And, of course, there's CSO (Convention of the Sunshine CapitOl) which will
be held in Brisbane Australia from 24 to 26 April 1998. Guests include
Caroline John, Geoffrey Beevers and Keff McCulloch. Visit the following
web-page for further details :

http://www.cth.com.au/usr/timelord/cso.htm

Ever wanted to know the ratings for 'Nightmare of Eden' part three? Or what
the BBC's duration listing is for 'The Macra Terror' episode 2? Or how
about a full cast list for 'Time and the Rani'? Well, Brett O'Callaghan has
put together all of these facts into "WHOinfo", a database program designed
for Win 95. The latest version can be downloaded from :

http://www.cbl.com.au/~boc

Last, but not least, Dominic Jackson has recently set up a missing episodes
/ reconstruction web-site. From what we've seen so far, it looks fantastic!
In fact Dominic has put together one of the most informative pieces on
early / missing Dr Who, "The Dr Who Video and Audio FAQ". Check out the
page at :

http://freespace.virgin.net/dominic.jackson/

*** ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ***
Thanks to the following for help with this issue : Keith Armstrong, Richard
Bignell, Ian Edmond, David Howe, Dominic Jackson, Malcolm Morris and Andrew
Pixley. For the 'Celestial Toymaker' article, thanks to Brian Pearce, David
Holman, Graham Strong, Richard Develyn, Stephen Cranford and Paul Vanezis.

*** 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!

Issues 1 to 7 are still available (#1-3 in plain text only, #4 - 7 in plain
text or MS Word 6). Alternatively, the back-issues can be obtained in HTML
format - either E-mail Robert, or visit the following web-site :

http://freespace.virgin.net/dominic.jackson/coi/
************************************************************************