Exactly!! That 25 minutes of An Unearthly Child is magical, and that is due to the gradual unfolding of the mystery. Yes, of course the story could be told faster, but it wouldn't be told any better. We get to identify and understand Ian and Barbara, they become real people that we recognise in a way that is very different from the crash bang wallop intro of Clara in TBOSJ. I'm not saying that the modern approach is wrong - this is simply how TV is these days, and I love modern Who, but it is a very different beast to the television that I grew up with.

I've been watching the BBC 4 repeats of I Claudius - even with the stagey sets, the theatrical and at times non-naturalistic acting it is still perhaps some the most astonishingly gripping television that has ever been made. And it's slow; by today's standards it would be deemed way too slow, but it's never, ever boring.

Yes, 'classic' who sometimes had a lot of padding, but this was a series of 25 minute episodes, no repeats, no iplayer, no sky+, so a far bit of plot had to be repeated or reiterated the next week to keep people up with the plot. Watching a Pertwee DVD all in one go, you can see at a glance how the story sometimes drags, but it wasn't meant to be watched like that. You wouldn't watch your favourite film in short 20 minute bursts a week apart would you? The film would seem awfully disjointed and badly paced. The reverse applies to Doctor Who - you can't judge classic Doctor Who by today's standards.

And, to get back to the point of the thread (and welcome back chuff, btw) - it would be brilliant if some missing episodes were to return to the archives. Especially this year. It's like a new, exciting archaeological find. It may have little impact on today's rapidly changing world (and devotees of 21st century Who may find it boring), but to enthusiasts and those with a genuine appreciation of the history of British TV it would be a wonderful day if, say, Power Of The Daleks returned to the archives.

Is it wrong that I want to see "The Highlanders" returned?

Without a doubt!

Not really, just one poster trying to spoil the hope. Nothing rude has been posted.

I know you're a stickler for detail so will be ok with me highlighting...


..and the response:


But I don't want to bicker about my observation of bickering.

Couldn't agree more!
I worked on remastering a lot of TV drama from that era, and most of it is still brilliant.
It was not unusual to find single camera shots that went on for several minutes, which would be unthinkable today where the audience is deemed to get bored if anything is held on screen for more than a couple of seconds!

Lol!

I don't think it's "spoiling the hope" to remind people to be realistic about these rumours. Contrary to what religious texts and Last of the Time Lords may tell us, hope and faith cannot magically affect positive change in the real world.

The rumours are either true, partially true or untrue. Let's face it, they're probably untrue.

There have been rumours for a while, as there are always rumours about something going round. However, these have been denied by Paul Vanezis on more than one occasion.

Unfortunately, missing episodes rumours seems to have the ability to mutate and resurface as different rumours time and time again, in a perverse game of Chinese Whispers. Most of the time, when someone says they've heard a rumour, it's generally an old rumour being recycled, and almost always one that has already been well and truly debunked, as is the case here.

The name of the country may vary from version to version, but at the end of the day, the one thing they all had in common in all the years I've been a fan is that every single one has been a load of cobblers.

And are still padded at 42 minutes

No they have not.

All Vanezis has said is that nothing has been returned to the BBC. When pressed if anything had been returned and was not at the BBC he was silent.

Agreed.

The only problem with this part is that he BBFC post details of everything on their website that they've cleared and I doubt they'd be inclined to withhold this from being published just because the BBC wanted them to.

Sorry for not posting something more positive on the subject but just don't think this part rings true at all.

Besides, the episodes would almost certainly have required extensive restoration work, so they would have had to have been discovered months ago.

So we have a secret discovery followed by secret restoration work followed by a secret BBFC certificate. An awful lot of people must have been sworn to secrecy over the last few months for no obvious reason.

O.K. I don't wish to dash peoples hopes but after consulting my copy of Wiped (see earlier post) I can confirm that NONE of the missing Doctor Who episodes were ever sold to Turkey or Tunisia. Now bearing in mind when lost episodes have been found at foreign TV companies, they have always been companies that bought the programmes in the first place. So bearing that in mind I think the chances of 40+ episodes having been found is nill. One or two held in private hands perhaps but not in great numbers.

That's the bit that made me lose belief in this rumour.

I'm not holding my breath for this rumour to come true but if did, surely this would make the headlines on all national newspapers and even be worthy of national street parties (maybe not the latter but you get my drift).

I just tend to think of it as 'Previously on Doctor Who' but spread over the episode

Thanks for the responses, and so nice to be welcomed back by some old chums. There has been far less asbo-ing than I might have expected, too!

It really does seem too good to be true, but the rumour has come from People Who Know People, which is the only reason I am giving it credence. There are lots of holes in the story, but that's always the case with rumours ... and it is interesting to read that some people have also heard this.

As for the new stuff ... (yawn) ... the Diana Rigg one was pretty good, but none of the others have lingered in the memory, none have been watched "live", and all have been deleted from the Skyplus as soon as viewed.

Tonight: The Aztecs.

Yes. I do not like the new series at all.

I will decide what excites me, Dr Who news wise.

Quite frankly I am more interested in the life cycle of the Gallifreyan Flutterwing than the 50th Anniversary show.

I agree it's unlikley, but neither is it impossible. No one knows for sure what happened to what copies of what episodes. There was that one guy who saved the very first Dalek serial, whose to say that another person didn't save a lot more? That person could have then moved himself and his family off to Turkey/Tunisia and was too worried about possible implications to come forward or simply just died leaving all those episdoes in his loft until they have no been recovered.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I like to have hope!

African or European?

This rumour is doing the rounds once again!

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/06/...s-in-november/

The Regenerations set is out soon, so we'll know if this part of the rumour is true or not at least:


Animation is expensive, and they've shown more clips from the missing episode than just the regeneration so I really doubt they would do that as a bluff.

Well that's a half decent source who probably wouldn't put it up unless he believed it himself.

But who's his source, and who is their source.

And where's all my tomato sauce gone? etc. etc.

I will believe it when I see the proof and until then I consider the lost episodes as lost in time as Axon space-pod, dead as a Dhravin, as likely to return as Krotons, as likely to be consciously witnessed as the Silence ..... .... ...