Dr Who fans reach back in time to rescue lost episode
- Publication: The Scotsman
- Date: 1999-01-14
- Author: Robert McNeil
- Page: 11
- Language: English
TARDIS-LOVERS were in a galactic spin of joy yesterday after news of the discovery of a long-lost episode of Dr Who.
The missing programme from the classic BBC sci-fi series appears to have fallen into a bizarre space-time continuum of its own, emerging at the other side of the Earth more than 20 years after it was made.
Hitherto thought to have been exterminated, the 30-minute episode, one of 110 missing from the total of 470, has been unearthed in Auckland, New Zealand.
The first in a series of four called The Crusade, the black-and-white 16mm movie film features the first time-hopping Doc, William Hartnell.
The find is the first for seven years for Dr Who fan,. for whom discovering a lost episode makes life almost worth living.
The film surfaced last week after the president of the New Zealand Dr Who Fan Club, Paul Scoones, and fellow fan Neil Lambess heard rumours of its existence.
Mr Scoones said it was "the ultimate dream of any Dr Who fan. It's been like having a book with missing chapters."
A mobile-cinema owner, Bruce Grenville, had bought the film at a collectors' fair about six months ago and had been showing it around the country.
Mr Scoones said archive records revealed that the film had been sent to the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation in 1967. Its whereabouts since then had been a mystery.
"It means there could be more in New Zealand and people are completely unaware of what they have.' said Mr Scoones.
The film is now back In London with the BBC which, since the advent of cash-spinning video, has sought to retrieve all episodes. The corporation will restore the show, copy it and release it on video.
However, Mr Grenville will be allowed to keep the original print, which he hopes to sell at auction.
It is an incredible 35 years since Dr Who first had the nation hiding behind its collective couch in fear. Since then, there have been eight Time Lords, with William Hartnell (1963-66) being followed by Patrick Troughton (1966-69), Jon Pertwee (1970-74), Tom Baker (1975-81), Peter Davidson (1982-84), Colin Baker (1984-86), Sylvester McCoy (1987-89) and Paul McGann (1996).
Recent speculation has raised the prospect of Eddie Izzard, the camp comedian, giving the series the kiss of life as the ninth doctor. But the rumour has since been comprehensively poo-pooed by leading Who exports.
The series was axed in 1989 but Dr Who made a comeback in a 1996 film. Among the many baddies encountered by the good doctor during his travels. none achieved as much fame as the Daleks, created by Terry Nation. who got the name from the spine of the DAL-EK section of an encyclopaedia.
Mr Nation said that the inspiration for their gliding motion came when he saw a performance by the Georgian State dancers.
Other intergalactic foes included the Cybermen, the all-too human Autons and the slippery Sea Devils.
Caption: A scene from the missing episode of Dr Who, dating from the 1960s, featuring William Hartnell, left, as the doctor and Julian Glover.
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: McNeil, Robert (1999-01-14). Dr Who fans reach back in time to rescue lost episode. The Scotsman p. 11.
- MLA 7th ed.: McNeil, Robert. "Dr Who fans reach back in time to rescue lost episode." The Scotsman [add city] 1999-01-14, 11. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: McNeil, Robert. "Dr Who fans reach back in time to rescue lost episode." The Scotsman, edition, sec., 1999-01-14
- Turabian: McNeil, Robert. "Dr Who fans reach back in time to rescue lost episode." The Scotsman, 1999-01-14, section, 11 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Dr Who fans reach back in time to rescue lost episode | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who_fans_reach_back_in_time_to_rescue_lost_episode | work=The Scotsman | pages=11 | date=1999-01-14 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=21 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Dr Who fans reach back in time to rescue lost episode | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Dr_Who_fans_reach_back_in_time_to_rescue_lost_episode | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=21 April 2025}}</ref>
