Rediscovered episodes of 'Doctor Who' from the Sixties show the series' chutzpah
- Publication: The Daily Telegraph
- Date: 2013-10-11
- Author: Ben Lawrence
- Page: 30
- Language: English
Culture Update
Rediscovered episodes of 'Doctor Who' from the Sixties show the series' chutzpah, says Ben Lawrence
The discovery of nine episodes of Doctor Who in Nigeria will delight fans all over the world. Each featuring Patrick Troughton in the title role, these were thought to be lost forever. The two stories — The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear — were first shown in late 1967/early 1968 and, despite the odd wobbly set, there was a pioneering quality, a chutzpah about them.
The Sixties is now seen as a golden age for television, reflecting Britain's greatest ever period of social change. Yet the medium was never seen as anything other than ephemera — it was not an art form to be preserved.
Even the BBC and ITV didn't believe that their output had a future, and with this in mind they began a systematic junking of television programmes. Videotape was expensive and storage space was at a premium. Many of the shows that were wiped from the archives have hardly been missed, but the intense, obsessive mythology that has always surrounded Doctor Who has ensured that the adventures of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton were never forgotten.
Rumours spread online last week that nearly all of the 106 missing episodes had been recovered, and the fact that they have not is a sad one. Still, you cannot deny that this unlikely unearthing has a strong emotional power.
The recovery of The Web of Fear (which is still missing its third part) is seen as a particular coup, a long-lost classic whose contemporary setting is the template for the show in the early Seventies.
Sixties' Doctor Who is unrecognisable from the slick production of today. But seeing that grainy footage, listening to that haunting theme tune, the eccentric spirit of a peaceful time traveller remains the same.
The episodes will be available to download via www.itunes.com/doctorwho
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- APA 6th ed.: Lawrence, Ben (2013-10-11). Rediscovered episodes of 'Doctor Who' from the Sixties show the series' chutzpah. The Daily Telegraph p. 30.
- MLA 7th ed.: Lawrence, Ben. "Rediscovered episodes of 'Doctor Who' from the Sixties show the series' chutzpah." The Daily Telegraph [add city] 2013-10-11, 30. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Lawrence, Ben. "Rediscovered episodes of 'Doctor Who' from the Sixties show the series' chutzpah." The Daily Telegraph, edition, sec., 2013-10-11
- Turabian: Lawrence, Ben. "Rediscovered episodes of 'Doctor Who' from the Sixties show the series' chutzpah." The Daily Telegraph, 2013-10-11, section, 30 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Rediscovered episodes of 'Doctor Who' from the Sixties show the series' chutzpah | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Rediscovered_episodes_of_%27Doctor_Who%27_from_the_Sixties_show_the_series%27_chutzpah | work=The Daily Telegraph | pages=30 | date=2013-10-11 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=23 April 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Rediscovered episodes of 'Doctor Who' from the Sixties show the series' chutzpah | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Rediscovered_episodes_of_%27Doctor_Who%27_from_the_Sixties_show_the_series%27_chutzpah | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=23 April 2025}}</ref>
