Classic Who Audio advert

More from the Beeb's You Tube channel - fun little advert for a few of the audio soundtracks and readings of the Target novelisations:

Regenerations

Some classic regeneration clips from the BBC Classic Who channel on You Tube...

The first Doctor regenerates:



The second Doctor regenerates:



The third Doctor regenerates:



The forth Doctor regenerates:



The fifth Doctor regenerates:



Couldn't be bothered to look up the sixth Doctor regeneration - not exactly one of the best considering Colin Baker wasn't there!

In the Beginning

I'm an old fashioned kind of guy. I'm only just beginning to pick up the odd Classic Who stories on DVD - I collected them all on video (well, nearly all, at some cost!), before I realised that video really was dead. Rather than buy all the DVDs new, I've decided to give a home to orphaned copies from charity and other second hand shops. All good fun as you never know what you will find and when. Well I was in good old WHSmith the other day, and found The Beginning box set for a tenner. Well I couldn't resist. I've had my eye on this for a while (always a sucker for a box set) and the main reason being the Marco Polo recon. So I'm happily watching all these old episodes and extras, which I probably haven't seen for about ten years, before my video machine broke.

And aren't DVD's great. All the extras and bits and bobs, love 'em. But what am I going to do with the huge box of bloody VHS tapes I have! They are worthless in value these days, and I have contemplated throwing them away and just keeping the paper cover slips, in order to save a bit of space, but just can't bear to part with them all. I mean, what if everyone threw away their videos? Then the ones that are left will be worth more! So come on guys, time to throw out those old videos!

But back to the box set, as this is really just an excuse to post the graphic artwork of the boxset cover, and whilst we are at it, we may was well show you the individual covers as well! I know it's old (released in 2006) but it's new to me. That's the beauty of time travel!

And I'm enjoying the Marco Polo recon. Love that story, I just get so sad that we've lost these old Who episodes! Although I think they've cut too much out of this recon and lost a lot of the magic... shame they couldn't have made it two 30 min, or even 45 min episodes.

Damn, I'm gonna have to go and buy Keys of Marinus now...

The deal

For those of you who haven't got round to reading 'World Game', here's the key bits of background for you on what happens after the second doctor's TV adventures end at the conclusion of the 'War Games'...

World Game
Terrance Dicks

Prologue

The following is an excerot from the genuine and original summary record of the trial of the Doctor. The account with which we were, until now, familiar was substantially re-edited for the public record.

In the High Court of the Time Lords a trial was coming to its end. The accused, a renegade Time Lord known as the Doctor, had already been found guilty. Now it was time for the sentence...

A hush fell as the President of the Court rose and began to speak. 'Doctor, you have been found guilty of two serious offences against our laws. First, you stole a TARDIS and used it to roam through Time and Space as you pleased.'

'Nonsense,' said the Doctor idingnatly. 'I didn't steal it. Just borrowed it for a while.'

The President ignored the interruption. 'More imporantly, you have repeatedly broken our most important law; interference in the affairs of other planets is a serious crime.'

Again the Doctor interrupted. 'I not only admit my interference, I am proud of it! You just observe the evil in the galaxies. I fight against it.'

'We have considered your plea, Doctor, that there is evil in the Universe which must be fought, and that you still have a part to play in that great struggle. It is a plea not without merit.' The President paused. Then he said heavily, 'Regrettably, the Court's hands are tied. The abstraction of an obsolete TARDIS is a relatively trivial matter, and might be pardoned. Temporal interference, however, prolonged and repeated temporal interference, is a far more serious matter. It strikes at the root of out Time Lord policy of non-interference in the affais of the cosmos. It draws attention to our very existence, and for many years our safety has lain in silence and secrecy. In short, aggravated temporal interference of this nature is a capital crime, and the sentence is mandatory.

'It is my painful duty, Doctor, to sentence you to death.'

---

Chapter One

...

It was a difficult meeting, held in a security-sealed conference room just ff Temporal Scanning HQ, The three Time Lords present were members of a special sub-committee of the High Council.

Their usual duties were to oversee the work of the Temporal Scanning Service. Normally this was a bureacratic formality, which consisted of rubber-stamping the latest reports. Now, however, they had a real problem to deal with. And a problem which, horror of horrors, might actually require positive action.

They weren't happy about it.

Ragnar, the most senior, summed up their dilemma... 'The evidence is clear. There has been temporal interference - prolonged and repeated temporal interference. So far it is relativelt trivial. Potentially, however, it is highly dangerous. It risks endangering the very fabric of time. It can no longer be tolerated. Those responsible must be tracked down and identified. Once that has been done they must be neutralised.'

Milvo, the second member of the sub-committee, nodded thoughtfully... 'That may be so. However we ourselves cannot be seen to interfere. Such action runs contrary to all our most cherished principles... Our reputation for detatchment, for non-interference, cannot be comprimised.' He paused thoughtfully. 'Particularly at a time when we are about to put a renegade Time Lord to death for precisely that same reason! It would be most embarrassing to e found committing exactly the same offence ourselves!'

Ragnar frowned... 'Nevertheless, something must be done,' he said irratably. 'Action must be taken. We are all agreed on that, I believe. And we achieve nothing by idly spinning phrases!'

The third member of the sub-committee was - nondescript... His name was Sardon.

'I might, perhaps, be able to offer a solution,' he said mildly.

The other two looked warily at him... He was the representative if the powerful Celestial Intervention Agency, that vast and shadowy organisation that underpinned the formal respectability of Time Lord rule.

The Agency wasn't afraid of getting its hands dirty. Some said they were never clean...

'In my humble opinion, you are right,' he said smoothingly.

'Which of us?' snapped Ragnar.

'Both of you.'

'Since we seem to hold dianetrically opposed opinions,' murmered Milvo, 'it is difficult to see...'

'Not at all,' saod Sardon. He nodded towards Ragnar. 'You are right - the situation is urgent and action must be taken.' He turned to Milvo. 'However, you are also right - the Time Lords cannot be seen to take it.'

'You speak in paradoxes,' protested Milvo. 'How can we act and not act?'

'I did not say we could not act. I said we must not be seen to act.'

'Then how -?'

'We must use an agent. Someone we can control, and if necessary, disown.'

Ragnar looked dubious. 'The task is both delicate and dangerous. It will require a person of great intelligence, courage and ability. It will require many kinds of skills, diplomatic and scientific, not to mention a considerable amount of low cunning. All in all, it calls for a person of truly exceptional quality. Do you have such an agent at your command?'

'I have one in mind.'

'Can he be trusted?' asked Milvo.

'I think so,' said Sardon. 'His life is in my hands.'

'How so?' snapped Ragnar.

'He has just been condemned to death.'

---

...

For all the luxuries of his surroundings, the Doctor knew he was in an oubliette, a superior Time Lord cell for important prisonsers. He knew too that he might be left there to rot for endless days - left indeed until he either regenerated or died of natural causes. On the other hand he might be taken out for execution at any moment.

...

As the Doctor pondered the paradoxes of time travel, the door opened and someone came in. An insignificant-looking someone, a grey man in a grey robe.

The Doctor swung his feet from the couch and rose. 'Execution time? Surely not, I'd hoped for a bit more ceremony. A detatchment of those nice ornamental soliers from the Capitol Guard, solemn drum-beats, that sort of thing.'

The grey man smiled thinly. 'No, it's not execution time yet, Doctor. Perhaps it will never be execution time at all - it's up to you. My name is Sardon. I've come to offer you a deal.'

Chapter Two

...

Chapter Three

'A deal,' aid the Doctor. 'Good old Gallifrey. There's always a deal, isn't there?'

'Fortunately, for you, Doctor, in this case there is. It is up to you to decided whether or not you wish to take advantage of it. If you're too noble to comprimise, you can always choose to stand by your princiles and die.'

...

'I'm willing to listen at least,' he said carelessly. 'After all, I've very little else to do. What do I get out of this proposition of yours?'

'Your life for a start. The death sentence commuted into a period of exile. Eventually, when the fuss has died down and all the scandal you've caused has been forgotteb, there's the possibility of restoration to full Time Lord status.'

'Quite an attractive employment package undr the circumstances,' said the Doctor.

'I should have though so,' agreed his visitor. 'Especially when you consider the current alternative.'

'And what do I have to do to earn all these highly desirable fringe benefits? Something you don't care to dirty your hands with, I suppose?'

'You will be asked to carry out a mission, possibly several missions, for the people I represent.'

'The Celestial Intervention Agency, I take it?'

'If you care to think so, Doctor.'

'What else can I possibly think? Who else but the Agency would be unsruplous enough to employ a condemned criminal like me to do their dirty work?'

...

48 years ago today...

From the Radio Times, 15 April 1964, for the launch of the new story, Marco Polo...

48 years ago today...

From the Radio Times, 8 Feb, 1964...

48 years ago today...

From the Radio Times, 1 Feb, 1964... is this this first published photo of a Dalek?

Lost script for BBC radio Who discovered

A long-lost radio script for an episode of a proposed Doctor Who radio series, to be made in the late sixties, and starring Peter Cushing as the Doctor, has been discovered in the BBC archives.

Journey into Time was written by Malcolm Hulke, who went on to write some of the most regarded scripts of the classic series of Doctor Who. In the radio play, a pilot of which was recorded but never broadcast, the Doctor, accompanied by his granddaughter, ends up in the midst of the American Revolution. The recording has been lost for many years.

The series was proposed as a collaboration between independent company Stanmark Productions and Watermill Productions, who put forward plans for 52 episodes to be made for Australia and other overseas territories. It would star Cushing, who had previously played a character called 'Doctor Who' in the two Dalek movies made earlier in the decade. Its existence was known about through promotional material discovered in 1989, but the script was thought lost until it was discovered by Richard Bignell in a file of merchandising queries held in the BBC archives.


The series was rejected by the BBC with Martin Esslin, head of sound drama, saying: "As a typical commercial production for unsophisticated listeners in Australia or even some parts of the United States, it stands up quite well. As a piece of science fiction, however, it strikes me as extremely feeble."

The story detailing precisely what happened back in 1966/67, along with the original pilot script, is detailed in the third issue of the production research magazine Nothing at the End of the Lane, published on Monday 16th January.

Sorce.

48 years ago today...

From the Radio Times, 21 December, 1963, here's the story introduction for The Dead Planet (now known as The Daleks)...


I stopped saving the show listings from here, and just saved the clippings if they had photos, so this series gets a little eratic from here...

48 years ago today...

From the Radio Times, 14 December, 1963. Episode four, The Firemaker...


Next week...

TWO missing Who episodes found!

Many folk thought we would never find any more of the missing Who episodes from its early history, but yesterday it was announced that TWO episodes from the original series had been 'rediscovered', an episode each for the first and second Doctors, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton. Galaxy Four, part three (titled 'Airlock'), was first broadcast in 1965 while The Underwater Menace part two, was aired in 1967.

The official Doctor Who Twitter account tweeted a cryptic clue last night: "Christmas has come early for Doctor Who fans. Expect us to tweet some very – no REALLY exciting news in just a couple of hours' time ..."

Later, the account revealed: "Two previously missing episodes of 1960s Doctor Who returned to BBC. Galaxy Four pt 3 & The Underwater Menace pt 2. Details soon."


The episodes were purchased by film collector Terry Burnett at a village fete near Southampton in the early 1980s. He had been unaware that the canisters contained material missing from the BBC archives. Research has shown that the returned episodes originated from the ABC (the Australian Broadcasting Corporation) channel in Australia. It’s likely these prints were returned long ago to the BBC from ABC, and subsequently disposed of, but perhaps "pulled out of a skip" by an enthusiast.

Paul Vanezis, a BBC producer involved in their recovery, pointed out the problems. "Like any old film, Airlock has a bit of muck and dirt on it, which we can clean."

Somewhat trickier is "a ‘tramline’ scratch, a vertical line caused in the past by someone who didn’t maintain their projector. On a big close-up [of villainess Maaga] it can be quite distracting, but we’ll try to get rid of it."

Even more of a challenge is a film break right at the cliffhanger, where companion Steven (Peter Purves) is suffocating in the eponymous air lock. "We’re missing 27 seconds of action completely, as well as the closing credits," says Paul. "It’s a few shots and one line of dialogue from Maaga. But luckily we have the soundtrack and by using other visual material within the episode, we can re-create it."


The Underwater Menace suffers from 20 seconds of cuts made by ABC censors - a scene where a surgeon is trying to inject companion Polly with a syringe. Amazingly, those snippets surfaced separately in 1996.

The film "wobbles up and down all the way through because of worn sprockets", plus there’s a tear in the spool halfway through a crowded cave scene. It means one line is missing where companion Jamie says, "How about me, sir?".

"It’s only two seconds, but because it’s one shot with no cutaways, it’s awkward to fix. But it’ll look quite presentable when it’s finished," promises Paul.


The Beeb Who site states that details of a commercial release will be announced by 2 entertain in 2012. Paul Vanezis says, "We’ll probably do a second volume of Lost in Time" - a DVD compiling archival odds and ends.

So, despite the various high profile campaigns by the Beeb over the years to raise awareness of missing episodes (not just Who, but many other classic TV serials), a film collector in our very own country had these in his possession for what, 20 years without realising their importance.

Sadly, Terry Burnett doesn’t have any other spools secreted away, "but I’ll always keep an eagle eye open in case any do turn up..." He’s only too happy to have returned this pair. "A lot of effort went into making those programmes and it was very short-sighted of the BBC to throw them out. It’s our television heritage."

"All Doctor Who fans have dreamed of finding a missing episode and you never know how it’s going to happen," says Ralph. So does he believe any more film prints are out there? "Well, one or two other leads are being pursued at the moment. More than that I’m not saying!" (quoted from here)

The hope must be that there are more out there. I for one hoped that more episodes would surface, but believed that they would be scattered far and wide over the world (personally I get the shivers when I think of lost Who episodes potentially crumbling to dust in archives of countries such as Zimbabwe, which as Rhodesia apparently screened early Who, and who probably don't rate looking for them as very important).

We perviously had only tantelising clips from Hartnell's story, Galaxy Four, so to have a whole episode discovered is quite special.

As a big Troughton fan the only shame is that his episode comes from one of his (and perhaps the whole orginal series's) weakest stories. The episode is now the earliest surviving episode of Troughton's reign (episode 3 of this 4-parter has been around for a while).

Troughton, in only his third appearance as The Doctor, was apparently unimpressed with the production.

In a recent biography, his son Michael says he argued with the director Julia Smith - who went on to become the original producer of EastEnders - complaining bitterly about the "ridiculous costumes and make-up of the fish people".

Smith recalled: "There were awful arguments about how Patrick Troughton should play the part; how quixotic the character should be, whether he should play his flute or not."

Innes Lloyd, who produced The Underwater Menace later admitted, "it did look like something from a '50s American 'B' movie".

Even as an audio soundtrack the story struggles. Anyway, all part of the rich tapestry of Who's history. If only is was an episode from Power or Evil of the Daleks, or any of Troughton's Cybermen stories.

The find makes only a modest dent in the number of missing episodes, with 106 instalments broadcast between 1964 and 1969 still being sought.

You can watch a clip from the Troughton episode here, and read a bit about the background to their discovery here. And there's a gallery of screen clips here.

48 years ago today....

From the Radio Times, 7 December 1963. Episode Three, The Forest of Fear. No pic this week!


[Clippings originally harvested from the Cluttings Archive, a now sadly defunct archive of Who in the popular news.]

Shada cover released

The cover from the forthcoming BBC Books official Who publication of the lost 4th Doctor story, Shada, written by Gareth Roberts, has been released. Suitably 'Douglas Adamsy'.


On sale March 15th 2012.

Source - Combom - for all your Who news.

48 years ago today...

Last weeks anniversary of the first Who episode, 48 years ago, reminded me of a little series I intended to run on this blog way back when I first set it up. On the 2009 anniversary I posted some clips from the Radio Times from that first Who episode, An Unerathly Child. Here, from the Radio Times 48 years ago today, is episode two, The Cave of Skulls.



Can you imagine watching an episode of Who these days and all you knew in advance was this! A far cry from the information overload we have in advance of episodes these days. Tune in next week for episode three...

[Clippings originally harvested from the Cluttings Archive, a now sadly defunct archive of Who in the popular news.]

Reign of Terror DVD Animated Preview

Nearly missed this - there's an advanced preview of the forthcoming Reign of Terror DVD release, with animated sequences replacing the lost episodes (as with The Invaision). Looks pretty damn cool...

It's a dodgy vid of the clip - hopefully we'll get a proper version soon.

Watch it here...

Day of the Daleks 'Special Edition' DVD release

It's here - 'with new special effects and sounds',the re-jigged SE version of Pertwee's first encounter with the Daleks... (original version is also an option on the DVD, as is standard practice, so you really can throw away your VHS collection...)

Does it do the job? Only you can tell...

Combom's got a great review of whats new here.

Day of the Daleks SE DVD preview

Combom's got a preview trailer for the forthcoming Day of the Daleks Special Edition DVD, with new special effects and all that... looking forward to this one!

Watch it here.

Too hot to not...

...post


You all know I have a weakness for the lovely Nicola. Well we had to focus on something during those Colin Baker years.


With thanks from WhoFix. Boy we're gonna miss you guys.

No padding in Padders

Another new photo I hadn't seen before, with thanks and appreciation to WhoFix.

Target reprinted!

Now I'm loving this... target Who novelisations reprinted, by BBC Books (will they do them all? And fill the gaps??) with original cover illustrations by Chris Achilleos and nice shiny Who logo... only thing that's missing is the target logo! If only I had the disposable income I'd buy them all again... which reminds me, I haven't got all my first editions yet...

Source: Combom t