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[john_amend_all]

OK, there's enough evidence that something has been recovered to penetrate even my cynicism. So I'm going to assume that the BBC are right, and they really do have all of Enemy of the World and five-sixths of The Web of Fear. Here then, are some incomplete and spur-of-the-moment reactions:

• Under normal circumstances, a serial with one episode missing would be a candidate for animation. But Web is scheduled to go out in early 2014; is that enough time to do it? Or will the 2014 release use a telesnap recon, and hold out the possibility of an animated revisitation?
• Is the imminent DVD release of Enemy a bare-bones release whose purpose is to get the episodes 'out there' ASAP, or have the Restoration Team / BBC Worldwide been sitting on it for long enough to do their usual thorough job? (The rumours have been going around for long enough, so it's quite possible that they have).
• Received wisdom in certain quarters is that Victoria is a "witless drip". I don't know if that impression will be affected at all by the sudden jump in the number of complete (or near-complete) serials with her in. Web, being late in her character arc, probably won't help here; in the commentary on the surviving episode 1, Deborah Watling points out that she's already playing Victoria as unable to cope with the life of a companion.
• The last round of rumours mentioned Web and Enemy in conjunction with Marco Polo. I wonder why.
• The one episode we definitely know will never be recovered (barring actual time travel or actual aliens) is the original Christmas episode, The Feast of Steven. Given that the BBC have gone to some trouble to recreate the original TARDIS set and cast David Bradley as William Hartnell, and since the episode is more or less standalone... it would be an interesting experiment to reconstruct it in live-action. Optional extras would include the scene from the novelisation where the Doctor starts a custard-pie fight, and finding a part for BRIAN BLESSED (since he should have been in the original).

This entry was originally posted at http://john-amend-all.dreamwidth.org/75450.html. Feel free to comment there or here.

Comments

[liadt]

I'm begining to suspect the episodes have been sat on to give the restoration team/animators time to make the two serials fit for release knowing that the fans will want them NOW and the BBC don't want to put out a shoddy product.

It would be a nice touch if The Feast of Steven was recreated. Have more Daleks' Masterplan episodes been found - it would take longer to restore all the episodes. I've started a rumour myself now!

[clocketpatch]

The last round of rumours mentioned Web and Enemy in conjunction with Marco Polo. I wonder why.

I was wondering that myself. I am fairly certain that the episodes were all recovered months back and the beeb has been (somewhat ineffectually) sitting on it until now in order to allow the eppies to be downloadable instantly after the announcement. Which makes good financial sense, really, even if it is a bit infuriating, because it's raised anticipation and then given something to grab and buy immediately without losing any potential costumers due to a five month wait.

[thisbluespirit]

I don't know - there does seem to have been something said at the Press Conference (that JJ linked to) that suggested that even if they knew the episodes were there, the actual handing over of them was quite a delicate negotiation that was actually nearly upset by the internet rumours. There's no telling what that means, or how true it is, but if it is so, then they didn't actually have them in their grubby mits at that point. They must have had them for long enough for the Restoration Team to work their magic, though, but if they knew they were coming and cleared space, I don't know exactly how long that would need to be. *gives up*

Anyway, nine episodes is more than anybody's seen recovered since I don't know when (certainly since September 1991, I know) and it's a miracle! *celebrates*

[john_amend_all]

If you read the missing episodes thread on Gallifrey Base (not that I'd recommend it) you'll find every possible conspiracy theory about What's Coming Next (39 episodes! 42 episodes! 90 episodes!) and Who Knows What's Where, along with numerous faulty attempts at parsing each sentence of each press release and flat-out refusal to believe anything the BBC say.

According to one such theory, the BBC have more than they've let on about (in some variants, multiple copies, even), but aren't saying anything until restoration is complete. According to another, the material is in the hands of a collector and painstaking negotiations are still in progress. It'd be nice to hope, but I'm not sure I dare to.

[thisbluespirit]

:-D