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| + | #REDIRECT [[Doctor where?] |
| − | | publication = The Independent
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| − | | date = 2013-10-11
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| − | | author = Adam Sherwin
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| − | | pages = 31
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| − | | language = English
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| − | | categories = missing episodes
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| − | Classic stories found in Nigeria are now on iTunes.
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| − | Doctor Who fans should raise a sonic screwdriver in salute to archivist Phillip Morris. Like an Indiana Jones digging up old films, he has carried out a ceaseless search for lost episodes of the cult show and uncovered two classic stories languishing in [[broadwcast:Nigeria|Nigeria]] - roads available for download last night via iTunes. Viewers might wish the BBC had shipped more of its programming to Africa while it was systematically wiping its recordings, given the magnificently preserved condition of the nine episodes that have not been seen for some 45 years. Morris found [[broadwcast:The Enemy of the World|The Enemy of the World]] (1967) and [[broadwcast:The Web of Fear|The Web of Fear]] (1968), both starring Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor, gathering dust at a television relay station in Nigeria after he tracked records of BBC overseas shipments.
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| − | The six-part The Enemy of The World, now complete with the discovery of five lost episodes, bursts with the energy of the Swinging Sixties. Matt Smith's latterday giddy enthusiasm is reflected in Troughton's playful splashing in the sea when the Tardis lands at a sun-kissed Australian beach (actually Littlehampton, West Sussex). The Doctor and his assistants, Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Victoria (Deborah Watling), are menaced by a sinister vehicle which floats across the sand. "It's like a sea monster;" ventures Victoria. "No, it's a Hovercraft," the Doctor corrects her.
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| − | The fast-paced episode shown at a special screening featured much gunplay and a daring rescue by helicopter; piloted by plucky agent Astrid. The Doctor, it emerges, bears a close resemblance to Salamander, a ruthless scientist/politician who claims to have solved global famine by redirecting the sun's rays but is actually trying to take over the planet. However, Troughton's Doctor - sporting a skew-whiff bow tie and Harry Hill wing collar - would really rather return to the beach than get involved in any saving-the-world heroics, before circumstances force his hand. There's a charm to this alien-free story, often lacking in the rebooted series, with its conscious delivery of "blockbuster" episodes to feed a global audience.
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| − | The episode of The Web of Fear shown was more a case of "Doctor Where?" as Troughton is nowhere to be seen. The Yeti are running amok on the Tube. The Doctor is missing and presumed dead and the claustrophobic atmosphere builds during the subterranean storyline.
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| − | "If only the Doctor would turn up," be moans Yeti expert Professor Travers in a brave episode which proceeds without its title character - a decision forced on the writers after Troughton negotiated an extra week's holiday for playing a dual role in The Enemy of The World story. The characters trapped underground include a journalist, accused of working for the "gutter press", who has a reputation for "sensationalism" and "distorting the truth". The episode aired months before Rupert Murdoch acquired the News of the World and the Sun.
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| − | The first four Doctor Who episodes from 1961 will be screened on BBC4 as part of the show's 50th anniversary celebrations next month.
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| − | Asked whether viewers might also see the recovered episodes without having to pay Apple £1.89 per episode or £9.99 to download the complete stories, BBC Worldwide said licence-fee-payers had already enjoyed a chance to watch the programmes in the late 1960s. In fittingly mysterious style, Mr Morris declined to appear at the Soho screenings of the episodes, instead sending a message which read: "I cannot be with you as the search is endless. My work must continue." He has recovered nine episodes but cannot rest on these welcome additions to the Doctor Who canon: there are 97 more still unaccounted for.
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| − | Caption: Patrick Troughton as the Doctor in The Enemy of The World
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