HUGE Doctor Who news coming tonight! [Spoilers]

[Umbran]

Well, good grief. Please, BBC, step up and say something already!

 

[sabrinathecat]

I'll believe it when it is officially announced, and not sooner. I think the lack of announcement is rather telling.
Only reason I can think of for the delay is if they are planning some 50th anniversary publicity stunt.

 

[Umbran]

Only reason I can think of for the delay is if they are planning some 50th anniversary publicity stunt.

The other basic reason to delay is to review the material, gauge its quality, see what can be used, what can't, what needs restoration, and so on. If it is such a huge batch, really going over it will take many hours.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Plus, how quickly can you review stuff through misting eyes and MST3K-type commentary?

 

[sabrinathecat]

It all needs clean up an restoration. Simple.
Evaluating in general? Could be done 1-2 stories per day (not episodes, stories).
And why not announce the ones they have gone through? Even a single story would be amazing news. Even if the quality is horrible, just the notion that there is something would be impressive.
So, either they got nothing, or there's the 50th anniversary stunt. Can anyone think of any other reason?

Sadly, it was not just Doctor Who that was destroyed--BBC destroyed almost ALL of their archives. Tons of recorded shows from the 50s, 60s, and 70s were lost.

 

[Umbran]

And why not announce the ones they have gone through?

Because, as a business, you want to keep your ducks in a row, and keep your message clear and simple. I, personally, would prefer if they just officially said, "Yes, we have gotten some archival material, and we are in the process of evaluating it," and leave it at that. I can understand, though, that they do not want to make a moving target out of the list of stuff they have. Let them review, let them actually do the restoration, review again, and then tell us what is there. The last thing they need is to promise things, and then not be able to deliver.

Sadly, it was not just Doctor Who that was destroyed--BBC destroyed almost ALL of their archives. Tons of recorded shows from the 50s, 60s, and 70s were lost.

From a historical perspective, yes, it is sad. But, honestly, I don't much care about the rest.

However, this may present another reason why they might delay in announcing things - initial rumors were that they had gotten a huge chunk of material, and Doctor Who was only part of the batch. The term "three tons" was used. If it was not cataloged properly before they got it, they may not know what they have, and may have to wade through all of it before they can say. Then, it is more than just doing a focused review of Doctor Who serials. If the collection is truly massive, the person-hours need to review and catalog becomes an issue.

And, honestly, from a business standpoint, holding off for the 50th makes about three tons of sense. That's not a "stunt", that's just good marketing.

 

[sabrinathecat]

Marketing = stunts.
Given the rumors floating around, resolving the matter one way or another now would make more sense. Waiting is unnecessary.
There were other great shows mostly lost, including most of the first year of Callum.

 

[Umbran]

Marketing = stunts.

Waiting until the public's attention is on the matter without any action on your part is not a stunt. It is making the best use of your resources.

 

[Morrus]

It's all confirmed as a hoax.

Film archivist Philip Morris of the Television International Enterprise Archive, who has spent decades travelling the world looking for… lets call it “insecure media”, has issued the following statement, regarding his believed involvement in the recovery of a large amount of missing Doctor Who episodes.


Much of it is is capitals.




A BRIEF STATEMENT .
T.I.E.A DOES NOT HOLD ANY MISSING EPISODES OF THE LONG RUNNING DR WHO SERIES. THE ORIGINAL VIDEO TAPES WERE WIPED SUBSEQUENT FILM COPIES WERE EITHER RETURNED TO THE BBC AND SENT TO LANDFILL ODD FRAGMENTS HAVE SURFACED TWO EPISODES ON 16MM FILM BUT THATS IT. THE PROGRAMMES IN QUESTION LIKE MANY OTHERS WERE DESTROYED AS THEY HAD NO FURTHER COMMERCIAL VALUE .THEY ARE NOT MISSING BUT DESTROYED THE END.I am sorry if this upsets some people but these are the facts.I have also become aware of the tracking of some of our clients shipments these are local cultural materials sent to us for migration to a modern format as the playback equipment in the country of origin no longer exists and as such is the best road to preserve international cultural heritage .I will be making no more statements on this subject.Philip MORRIS Executive director T.i.e.a




Rival archivist, Ian Levine, tweeted in response;








@JM_Watson Deeply sick, distressed, disheartend, all hopes dashed, all joy gone from the world. That’s it. DO NOT ASK ME TO SAY ANOTHER WORD




— Ian Levine (@IanLevine) June 20, 2013

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/06...s-they-are-not-missing-but-destroyed-the-end/

 

[Umbran]

Okay, so, because I like to pick nits...

What he says is they, "...do not hold any missing episodes...".

So, it could be that known copies of episodes could exist, but are not yet in their holdings! So, for example, if there were negotiations going on as to the price to be paid for those copies?



(Because letting it go is no fun.)