As Doctor Who finds itself in an unusually shaky position regarding its future, the long-running sci-fi show has had some exciting developments emerge from the past. Two episodes unseen since 1965 were recently discovered and subsequently released worldwide—a triumph for a show whose pre-1970s archives are largely lost to time, thanks to the BBC’s disinterest in archiving TV shows back then. Nearly 100 Doctor Who episodes were among the casualties. But with the first and third episodes of the William Hartnell-starring “The Daleks’ Master Plan” resurfacing, fans now have reason to believe that even more could be found.
A Radio Times report on a public London screening of “The Daleks’ Master Plan” episodes noted that the circumstances of the recovered episodes suggest that’s certainly a possibility. As we now know, the missing material was discovered almost by accident when the preservation group Film is Fabulous! found it in a trove held by a collector who’d recently passed away, apparently unaware of the treasure they’d been keeping.
In a panel held alongside the screening, Radio Times notes, “Television producer and missing episodes hunter Paul Vanezis explained that the recovered episodes were discovered to be ‘cutting copies’—prints used for technical review before duplicates were made for overseas distribution. This means that there were probably more copies of the episodes made than was previously thought.”
This is surprising, since “The Daleks’ Master Plan” in particular was thought to be especially difficult to find episodes from, due to the fact that it was never sold for international broadcast, in part because censors in countries the BBC tried to sell the serial to believed the story was too violent. Internationally distributed film reels have become a common source for past recoveries of missing episodes, whereas stories never sold for distribution are believed to be harder for potential recovery, as they were often early targets for the BBC’s then-policy of archival junking. Even with this latest find, seven of the 12 total episodes of “The Daleks’ Master Plan” remain missing.
All that said, “The Film is Fabulous! team are clear that they are not episode hunters and have no special interest in Doctor Who. Their remit is to preserve British film culture. The unearthing of missing episodes is a happy byproduct of their work with the film collector community.”
Even still, the fact that two segments of the 12-part “The Daleks’ Master Plan” are now viewable again after 60 years has no doubt struck a chord among vintage media enthusiasts. Here’s hoping more people feel inspired to take another look at the old prints they’ve been holding onto. Maybe there’s some more Time Lord history waiting to be found!
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Read the full article here
