A Change of Identity Issue 7

This archive article from 1997 contains several out of date links. It is presented here in its original form as a historical document.

A CHANGE OF IDENTITY

NEWSLETTER ON THE MISSING EPISODES OF DOCTOR WHO
ISSUE 7
27 JULY 1997
Edited by Bruce Robinson (robinsba@ozemail.com.au)

  • “You’re supposed to be so advanced. Yet here you are, taking your revenge like… children.”
    Hobson confronting the Cybermen – episode 3 of The Moonbase


INSIDE THIS ISSUE

INTERVIEW WITH STEVE ROBERTS
THE ICE WARRIORS BBC RELEASE
STORY GUIDES CONTINUE
RECONSTRUCTION UPDATES
THE MEMORY CHEATS!

WELCOME!

Welcome to this slightly later than usual release of the ‘Change of Identity’ newsletter!

There’s actually a good reason why this issue has been delayed – we’ve all been very busy completing reconstructions! My immediate goal of completing The Moonbase and the enhanced Savages has now been fulfilled … see the Reconstruction Update below for further details. If you’re interested in obtaining the videos, please just write in for further details. The other guys involved in the TRs have also been very busy – see the reconstruction summary below for a complete list.

Thanks as always to those people who write in with comments about the newsletter or reconstructions. One common complaint received is that the newsletter is too long. Unfortunately, while I do try to keep it as short as possible, there are heaps of things to cover! Actually a few E-mail people reported some minor problems last time in receiving the newsletter (e.g. characters missing here and there). If anyone notices the problem this time round, could you please send me an E-mail.

I’d also like to thank those people who have been ‘archiving’ the newsletter on their web-site, particularly Robert Franks and Paul Johnson. If your web page also features info on the reconstructions, or even just early Who, then please write in, and it will be mentioned in the ‘Requests’ section.

Enjoy the newsletter and take care,

Bruce

ICE WARRIORS

Regular readers of the newsgroup rec.arts.drwho will probably be aware that the BBC is intending to release the Troughton story The Ice Warriors. The BBC’s Steve Roberts has posted a few messages to the newsgroup explaining the format of the release. The details provided below are a summary of Steve’s postings.

Apart from the existing episodes 1,4,5 and 6, the release will also contain a couple of other additions. Firstly, a short summary of the missing episodes 2 & 3 will be included, but not in the usual “talking head” style. The summary of these two episodes will be provided by using pictures and narration, along with, for the first time ever on BBC Video, telesnaps and the original soundtrack. However, despite some rumours to the contrary, the bridging section will only run for five to ten minutes and will NOT be a complete reconstruction.

Secondly, BBC Video has a requirement that a double tape pack must run to at least 150 minutes. Therefore, the rest of the release is to consist of a documentary, which will be of approximately 45 minutes duration. The documentary will outline the reason that The Ice Warriors is being presented in such an unusual format. It will also provide further details of the BBC junkings and the subsequent recoveries from overseas and private collectors. The tape will hopefully include all the existing clips from incomplete episodes. In some cases, this may be difficult due to the short duration of the clip – however, these clips should appear in a montage sequence.

Steve and his colleagues will be remastering both the pictures and soundtrack of the existing episodes from the highest quality sources.

The video is scheduled as the ‘special release’ for next year, and is due out in the English Autumn of 1998.

TELESNAPS … BRIEFLY

In an upcoming ‘Change of Identity’ issue, an article will be published by Marcus Hearn on the discovery of the telesnaps. However, Marcus can now confirm that the following stories were definitely telesnapped – The Gunfighters to The Mind Robber. It’s still not entirely certain when Cura started taking telesnaps, however, it’s entirely possible that the telesnaps commenced from the very first episode. Marco Polo is the first story in which documentation exists for the payment of Cura’s services (in the form of the PasB documentation – Programme-as-Broadcast. These documents list the telesnaps as part of the ‘Facilities’ fee payments).

In other telesnap news, Richard Bignell (part-time DWM writer) is currently involved in an extensive search for the missing telesnaps. A full report of Richard’s investigation will be published in a future issue. I’d just like to wish Richard the best of success in his telesnap search – we’ve all got our fingers crossed!

RECONSTRUCTION UPDATES

This appeared to be a well-received section last time, so hopefully it can continue as a regular feature. This issue also sees the introduction of a reconstruction summary list – see item (d) below. Thanks to Robert Franks for compiling this list.

(a) Bruce Robinson [‘A Change of Identity’]

The enhanced version of Savages has now been completed, and the distribution has commenced. Be prepared for a few interesting additions (but you’ll have to obtain the video to find out!). The fourth story in the ‘Change of Identity’ series – The Moonbase  has also been completed. Compared to the last three stories, this one was relatively easy. An abundance of telesnaps were available (ie those that exist from episodes 2 and 4 could also be used), and thankfully, there were no video clips to fiddle around with!

There’s been a change of plan with the next two stories. Originally, I was going to complete The Abominable Snowmen, as well as an enhanced version of Power. While Power will still go ahead, Snowmen will be delayed for a short time. This is to make way for The Enemy of the World, a 5th Season Troughton story that has yet to be reconstructed. Hopefully, both these stories will be available in Oct/Nov 1997.

After that, I’ll probably give The Crusade a go – the non-telesnap stories are in many ways, the more fun to do! For the other story in the pair (all future videos will hopefully be released in batches of two at a time), I will probably attempt The Abominable Snowmen. But that’s still a fair way down the track …

(b) Richard Develyn & Robert Franks (update by Robert)

Currently Richard is working on scanning telesnaps for The Macra Terror and The Savages. He has also been instrumental, along with Dominic Jackson, in setting up a new distribution network in the UK. See the “UK Distribution Details” below for further information.

As far as new reconstructions are concerned, I’ll be starting work on The Evil of the Daleks soon. Richard has completed the telesnap portions of the episodes and will be passing the results on to me shortly to add the titles and credits. However, as Richard starts to run out of telesnapped stories to complete, this does not mean I will be any less busier.

I have recently completed revised versions of The Highlanders, The Underwater Menace, The Moonbase and Fury from the Deep. All of the stories have had new PAL conversions prepared, and in the case of the former three, new titles as well.  The Highlanders, The Underwater Menace and Fury From the Deep have also had the Australian censored clips inserted into them, as well as cleaning up a few glitches here and there. The Moonbase now offers an improved version of episode 4 that has not been available before.

One last project is The Power of the Daleks. Although I had originally completed a version of Richard’s TR for this story, I was never pleased with how well the 8mm clips appeared. As they were very short, and not of the best quality, this was shelved until recently. Michael Palmer has completed all the work of inserting the clips into the final reconstruction very accurately. I have provided the credits for him to chroma-key into the episode. This should be released in the next month or so (see Michael’s update section below for more information).

Also, there has been a major change in the release of the PAL versions of these stories. PAL versions will soon be available for all of the new stories I have mentioned above. Check the summary below for release schedules.

(c) Michael Palmer

I am currently working on several reconstructions at once. The Invasion is finished, apart from replacing the soundtrack with an improved version, which I may have done by the time you read this.

Regarding Richard Develyn’s Power of the Daleks, I am inserting all the existing clips into their correct places. When I broke down the 8mm clips, it turned out that there were about eleven clips for each of episodes 1 and 2 (some clips being less than 1 second in duration). The only episode without clips is episode 3.

With The Reign of Terror, I have made the sound on episode 4 easier to hear on the quiet parts. I have also inserted the 8mm clips.

The next 3 tasks I will be completing are (a) re-doing Tenth Planet 4 to improve the quality of the sound and picture, (b) inserting clips into Richard’s The Underwater Menace, and (c) adding a better soundtrack to Mission to the Unknown.

(d) Summary of All Future Releases

Key : RD – Richard Develyn; MP – Michael Palmer; BR – Bruce Robinson

The Savages (BR) – available soon!
The Moonbase (BR) – available soon!
The Reign of Terror 4 & 5 (MP) – available soon!
The Power of the Daleks (RD) – late July
The Invasion 1 & 4 (MP) – late July
The Smugglers (RD) – Aug (PAL release)
The Highlanders (RD – Aug (NTSC re-edit and PAL release)
The Underwater Menace (RD) – Aug (NTSC and PAL re-edit)
The Moonbase (RD) – Aug (PAL release)
The Abominable Snowmen (RD) – Aug (PAL release)
Fury from the Deep (RD) – Aug (NTSC and PAL re-edit)
The Power of the Daleks (BR) – Oct
The Enemy of the World (BR) – Oct
The Evil of the Daleks (RD) – Oct (from this point onwards, NTSC and PAL releases will be simultaneous)
The Macra Terror (RD) – Dec
The Savages (RD) – 1998
The Crusade (BR) – 1998
The Abominable Snowmen (BR) – 1998

UK DISTRIBUTION

There have been a few recent changes to the UK distribution of reconstructions. In particular, Dominic Jackson is now co-ordinating the efforts. Here is a short article by Dominic on the current situation …

Up until mid-May this year, Ian Davenport was the sole distributor for all the non “Change of Identity” recons. Understandably, the load eventually got too great for him to handle and he was unable to keep up with demand. He effectively resigned from doing the dubbing work in May. For a while, no-one was available in the UK to meet the demand for the reconstructions. I was occupied with university finals and no-one else stepped forward to fill the breach.

I am happy to say this has now been fixed. Thanks to a number of people contacting Robert Franks and Richard Develyn and offering their services, it has been possible to set up a system of certain stories being available from certain people. Most dub sites should now be operating after they received their masters in late June – certain sites still await high quality masters. In most cases, these are the Michael Palmer reconstructions – however, as mentioned above, Michael plans to produce enhanced versions of these stories shortly [ed : the modified Reign of Terror is now available]. I am now running the UK distribution network, with some assistance from Richard Develyn and Robert Franks. If you have any problems, please address them to me in the first instance, dominic.jackson@virgin.net.

If you are interested in receiving a list of UK distributors and the stories that each person currently provides, please consult the reconstruction FAQ, which can be located at :

http://members.aol.com/dwundergrd/telesnaps/TR5.htm

Note that not all the stories mentioned on the above list have been released in the UK.(DOMINIC JACKSON)

AUDIO ARTICLE CORRECTIONS

Last issue, a short article was published on the Doctor Who audios. Unfortunately, a couple of errors crept in – apologies to Graham Strong.

Firstly, Graham’s audio recordings were only passed on to the BBC in 1994. They have never been used for any of the official audio releases. The BBC used copies provided by James Russell and Richard Landen.

Secondly, Graham points out that the reason he doesn’t have copies of the audios pre-Master Plan is simply because he wiped all his old tapes for re-use. So these stories were definitely recorded by Graham, it’s just that the copies no longer exist.

INTERVIEW WITH STEVE ROBERTS

With the recent release of The War Machines video in the UK, the BBC’s “Doctor Who Restoration Team” is currently in the spotlight (an article about The War Machines restoration can be located in DWM #253, and on the Restoration Team web site). One of the chief members of that team is Steve Roberts. Apart from The War Machines, Steve has been involved in a variety of Doctor Who restoration/recovery work at the BBC, most notably the colourisation of the Pertwee episodes (e.g. Dr Who and the Silurians, The Daemons). Steve explains more about his work in the interview below.

(1) What is your current occupation with the BBC?

I am a Senior Engineer, working for Post Production and Graphic Design at the Television Centre in West London. I’ve been here ever since I left university in 1987.

(2) How did you first became involved with Doctor Who related work?

Back in 1991, the BBC were making a programme to celebrate Lime Grove Studios, which were about to be closed down. A lot of interesting film was coming through the Telecine Department where I worked, such as the Doctor Who pilot, Quatermass II and Nineteen Eighty-Four. I used to hang around watching it being transferred to tape and talking to the Production Assistants working on the programme.

One of these was Teresa Griffiths, who phoned me a couple of months later to ask me if I could suggest a three-part Doctor Who story to fill three half-hour slots which had suddenly become available. We came very close to being able to show Planet of Giants, but we were scuppered by Presentation, who insisted that they wanted half-hour programmes, not twenty-five minute ones. However, she called me a couple of months later to ask me to act as advisor on a series of repeats and a clips compilation (Resistance is Useless) which would be shown early 1992.

(3) Could you provide a brief overview of the Doctor Who related work you have performed at the BBC?

Firstly, I should point out that most of my work subsequent to Resistance is Useless has been as part of the so-called “Restoration Team”, which was formed to carry out the colour restoration work. The members of this team were originally Ralph Montagu (a BBC Graphic Designer), James Russell (a Design Engineer with Rank Cintel and the son of film director Ken Russell) and myself. The team now includes Paul Vanezis (originally a VT Editor, now a BBC Director) and Richard Molesworth (a freelance writer and researcher). We all share a common interest in both Doctor Who and quality.The first thing we did was the colour restoration of three complete Pertwee stories and a couple of other episodes.Following this, I decided to have a bash at repairing the damage on the PAL master tape of The Sea Devils episode 5. This was so badly scratched that it was untransmittable – in fact the much poorer quality NTSC-sourced copy was transmitted in the 1992 repeats. A scratch on a 2 inch Quad tape shows up as a series of flashing dots on the screen. I devised a method of masking the damaged areas using a signal generated by a Commodore Amiga, and replacing it with information averaged from the areas immediately above and below the damage. The results were excellent and this tape is now the official transmission master for this episode.

Thirty Years in the TARDIS arrived on the scene in 1993 and I was released by my department to work full-time as a researcher on it. Paul and myself were also responsible for compiling all the clips used in the programme, and Ralph managed to get himself a job directing the first of the five-minute Doctor Who and the Daleks vignettes – the one about the history of the Police Box.

Graham Strong, and later David Holman, lent us their original off-air audio tapes which we copied directly on to Digital Audio Tape – these are now available for use in future BBC projects.Some of the money we had left over from the colour restorations was used in a project to transfer original collector’s prints of episodes directly to digital videotape. Although the BBC had film copies of these prints, they were obviously a couple of generations down from the original, so it seemed a good idea to go back to the best source. Paul subsequently relaid the soundtrack on one episode of The Tenth Planet (episode two, I believe) using Graham Strong’s off-air recording, which was much clearer than the optical track on the film print.

Paul was given the budget to make The Five Doctors Special Edition, to which I contributed the “phantom companion” effects. I’d always been bugged by the way they were simply mixed out of the shot – I thought it would be much more interesting to have them dissolve like smoke. This was done in a very “cheap and cheerful” way, using a tape of swirling smoke to key the background gradually through the companions in the foreground, but I think it improves on the original. Interestingly, the smoke loops were both originally filmed for Doctor Who – the first for The Dalek Master Plan episode 1 and the second for The Five Doctors.

For the last couple of years, I’ve had the permission of BBC Archives to pursue recovery of missing material from both private collectors and television stations. This has resulted in recovery of material from ABC (clips from The Power of the Daleks) and from the Australian film censor’s office, as well as quite a few non-Who programmes. I’ve just successfully negotiated for the return of a five-minute clip from Galaxy 4 from a private collector, on the condition that it is used for an official BBC project.

Most recently Paul and I co-ordinated the restoration of The War Machines for BBC Video, which has resulted in the most complete version of the story since the sixties.

(4) What discoveries of missing Doctor Who footage have you made? How was this footage discovered

Personally, I’ve only found a couple of things. The first was when I was working on Resistance is Useless. I called up a can of film that should have contained the Daleks burning down the forest from episode two of The Dalek Master Plan, but when I put it on the telecine it was quite obviously the previously unknown 35mm insert film from episode one! The episode two clip was nowhere to be found though…. It later transpired that it had been stolen and sold to a private collector. Once the collector found out he had stolen property, he promptly returned it to us, and I was able to hand it to Adam Lee (at that time BBC Archive Selector) as he walked on to stage for the first “Missing – Believed Wiped” conference – a nice way to start the proceedings.

We think that the library had the episode one film all the time, in the form of the original 35mm negative. However, because it was a similar length to the episode two clip, it had been mistaken for the same sequence and labelled as episode two. When the print of episode two was flagged as missing, a new print was struck to replace it – from the negative of the episode one film!

I also found a couple of very short clips from episode four of The Abominable Snowmen in a copy of Late Night Line-Up, a BBC Arts programme that featured an article on the Visual Effects department, and also included ‘Tomb’-style Cybermats, a Yeti and a foaming Cyberman in the studio!

(5) How much work was involved in the colourisation of the Pertwee episodes?

A lot! There’s little point in me going through it all again though, as full details can be found on my website. These articles were originally written by me and published in Doctor Who Magazine.

Point your browser at:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SteveRoberts/restorat.htm

(6) Recently, you have been restoring the cuts made to The War Machines. How has been this achieved, and how vital was the censored footage discovered by Damian Shanahan?

The basic sources of footage from The War Machines were:-

a) Good quality but censored prints returned from Nigerian Television.

b) A complete but poorer quality negative of episode two, returned by David Gee in Australia.

c) A sequence involving a War Machine firing on a telephone box, excised from the episode, but existing in an edition of Blue Peter.

d) Sequences from the Australian censors discovered by Damian Shanahan.

e) Off-air audio recordings of the episodes from Graham Strong’s collection.All the material was transferred to videotape and the sections edited together. The soundtracks were then lifted off onto DAT and given to Mark Ayres – he matched the sound levels of all the sources together and then took out any clicks, pops and noise. These were remarried with the pictures during “grading”, a process of matching all the pictures together, correcting levels and removing brightness and contrast variations. The pictures were also passed through a system which digitally reduced the dirt, scratches and grain.

Damian’s clips were vital – without them, the story would be much less complete. In fact, it is probable that without them, BBC Video would not have commissioned us to restore the story – they would have just taken whatever the library offered them.

The restored version is not complete – it is still missing about a minute of the interminable warehouse fight from episode three, and a couple of lines involving Polly from episode four. It’s as complete as we can make it though!

(7) Do you have any Doctor Who related work planned for the future?

Future projects will hopefully include a way of releasing the Australian clips and other rare footage to a wider audience, and a collaboration with BBC Research Department to reconvert the old NTSC masters back to PAL in a way which will eliminate the usual conversion defects

.(8) Thank you Steve for your time!

You’re welcome!

MORE STORY GUIDES

Unfortunately, there is only room left in this issue for one story guide – 100,000 BC (or An Unearthly Child as it’s usually called!). Note that a couple of slight changes have been made to the guide – in particular, the format in which dates are displayed, as not all countries read dates in the same way! Also, don’t forget that the durations quoted for each episode are from the original broadcast. Due to slightly different tape speeds, the transmission speed can vary on repeat screenings.

A more detailed description of what the guides contain can be found in issue #6. However, here is a brief overview of the abbreviations used :

Section (a) – GENERAL
TX – date on which episode was originally screened
TI – time at which episode was originally screened (in 24-hour time)
DU – duration of the episode in minutes and seconds FROM THE ORIGINAL BROADCAST.
VA – viewing audience in millions
CP – chart position of the episode for the week (where available)
AA – audience appreciation figures (where available)

Section (f) – AUSTRALIAN CENSOR CUTS

DR – date on which the episode was reviewed
FT – total feet of film reviewed
RA – rating allocated to episode (“G” = general, “A” = adult)


SEASON 1 STORY 1

A : 100,000 BC

(a) GENERAL

4 episodes

EpisodeTXTIDUVACPAA
An Unearthly Child23 Nov 6317.1623’10”4.411463
The Cave of Skulls30 Nov 6317.3024’35”5.98559
The Forest of Fear07 Dec 6317.1623’38”6.96156
The Firemaker14 Dec 6317.1524’23”6.47055

Total Duration (approx) = 95’46″Average Viewing Audience = 5.9 millionAverage Chart Position = 82.5

Repeat Screenings:

  • episode 1 was repeated on 30 Nov 63 at 5.06 pm. It received a rating of 6.0 million – no chart position or audience appreciation figures are available.
  • all four episodes were repeated as part of the BBC 2 Five Faces of Doctor Who feature from 02 Nov 81 to 05 Nov 81. The episodes were screened at approximately 5.40 pm.

(b) VIDEO FOOTAGE

Status – all 4 episodes exist as 16mm black/white telerecordings (the prints have always been held in the Film and Video Library since its inception in 1978).

Clips – n/a

Notes :

  • released on BBC Video as An Unearthly Child – uncut, apart from deletion of “Next Episode” caption at the end of The Firemaker. Year of release – 1990.

(c) AUDIO RECORDINGS

n/a

(d) RECONSTRUCTIONS

n/a

(e) PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL

Telesnaps – nil (however, there is documentation indicating that John Cura was taking telesnaps for the BBC at the time).
Behind-the-Scenes Shots – Barry Newbery has photographs of the sets used in the story. These have been published in various magazines including Doctor Who Magazine and The Frame.
Publicity Shots – Photocall on 09 Oct 63 (on the Palaeolithic set).

(f) AUSTRALIAN CENSOR CUTS

An Unearthly Child DR (14 Apr 64) FT(887) RA(A) no cuts

The Cave of Skulls DR (14 Apr 64) FT(923) RA(A) no cuts

The Forest of Fear DR (05 May 64) FT(886) RA(A) no cuts

The Firemaker DR (05 May 64) FT(914) RA(A) no cuts

(g) OTHER NOTES

  • working titles – The Tribe of Gum (entire story), The Fire-Maker (episode 2), The Cave of Skulls (episode 3), The Dawn of Knowledge (episode 4). The entire story is also commonly referred to as An Unearthly Child.
  • all filming occurred at Lime Grove Studio D (from 18 Oct to 08 Nov 1963), with film inserts at Ealing (9 Oct to 11 Oct 1963). However, material was also filmed at Ealing on 19 Sep 1963 of the London montage for the TARDIS scanner and the model TARDIS in the desert. This material was used in both the pilot episode and the broadcast version of’An Unearthly Child.
  • novelised by Terrance Dicks as ‘Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child’ (#68). Release date – Oct 1981.
  • Titan Books have released a script adaptation of the story (entitled ‘The Tribe of Gum’)

REVIEWS AND COMMENTS

Thanks as always to the people who have been sending in comments about the reconstruction they’ve seen. However, remember that this section is for ALL the reconstructions, not just the Change of Identity ones. So if you’ve got something to say, we’d love to hear it!

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THE TENTH PLANET

Tenth Planet is brilliant. Polly climbing onto the top bunk in episode 3 was my favourite bit!

As for episode 4, I think that it’s a great effort. Although there are some sound drop-outs and recurring pieces of footage, which is unavoidable I guess, its not much different to watching a normal episode. It makes me wonder why the BBC can’t do something along these lines.

All in all, it gives me hope that one day the entire Doctor Who catalogue will be complete again. With growing interest in the missing stories. and increasing numbers of episode hunters combing archives hoping to be fandom’s equivalent of Howard Carter, I am convinced that if it doesn’t turn up, it will be made up.

(GARY ZIMMER)
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THE POWER OF THE DALEKS

I recently watched Power of the Daleks. I was amazed by the quality of the pictures and the video footage, although the audio was not always excellent. This was my first contact with a 2nd Doctor story. Your reconstruction, once again, made me feel as if I was watching the true episode. I would only complain about the size of the captioning, which I found too small (it’s smaller than Marco Polo) and too white. I think a light shade of green would be less hard for the eyes. Another think that annoyed me a little was the absence of captions during certain video sequences. The audio was not perfect and I missed some of this (unimportant) dialogue.

(DOMINIQUE BOIES)
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MARCO POLO

So far, I’ve watched parts 1 to 5. I haven’t found the switch between colour and black/white pictures at all annoying. There is, however, a simple solution for those that do find this a frustration: turn down the colour on the TV!

To be honest, this reconstruction doesn’t work as well as Power, but I hasten to add that this is not your fault – it is of course due to the lack of available visual material. Even though Marco Polo was probably the most photographed Hartnell story, there are clearly many scenes that just are not represented at all. One solution might be to use photos (of the regulars) from other stories (in fact I did see at least one Keys Of Marinus photo sneak in) but I could see this enraging the “purists”, so you’re in a no-win situation.

That said, you have done your best. The map/narration scenes work wonderfully well and you are obviously still striving to improve where possible as evidenced by the differentiation (by colour) of descriptive text and spoken words. The chess match and Ping-Cho’s song were also brought to life with imagination.

(DAVID MAY)

LETTERS

Just enough space left for a couple of letters …

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I’ve seen the Change of Identity reconstructions of Savages and Power, and it was your version of Power that I was referring to [ed : in a rec.arts.drwho newsgroup posting]. It’s superb, and I watched it from beginning to end in one sitting, something I don’t always do with the existing stories, especially six parters! I just don’t see how it could be better.

The only fault with The Savages was that the story itself was light – not your fault! But again, I found myself judging the story and acting, not ‘did he match up the pictures to the action’. I’ve heard the audio, read the book, seen the DWB photonovel – yours is the first version that allowed me to ‘see’ the story. As you can imagine, it’s not often that I get to ‘discover’ a new Doctor Who story!

(LANCE PARKIN)
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Just wanted to drop you a line and express how much I have enjoyed your wonderful Power of the Daleks TR – it is stunning, as are all of the TR’s I have seen, including Web of Fear and Fury From the Deep. Two months ago I didn’t even know these videos existed, then I stumbled across Robert Franks’ website, requested a few, and have watched them over and over ever since I received them! The time and effort that goes into their production is obviously great, yet very much appreciated by this fan! I have also enjoyed reading your “Change of Identity” newsletters recently posted on the “Rassilon Trading Post” homepage, and look forward to more!

Thanks again for devoting so much time to restoration of these classic sixties stories, and that also goes for the fine work done by Richard Develyn and Robert Franks, Michael Palmer, and all the others. Keep up the fantastic work!

(MARK PARMETER)

THE MEMORY CHEATS

Thanks to those who’ve already written in with their recollections of early Who. This issue sees Chris Avery present his thoughts on the four earliest Doctor Who stories he can remember. Hopefully, Chris’ memories may inspire other people to write in!

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The Celestial Toymaker (age 3.5 years) : My mum didn’t want my older sister and I to watch Dr Who as she didn’t think it was suitable. However my Grandparents let us watch it one evening when they were babysitting. I have one very vivid memory – someone in a red and white soldier’s uniform (which just goes to show how much the brain fills in when you are watching in black / white), a cook arguing about something, a bugle playing Come to the Cookhouse Door, and a general feeling of frustration from the regular characters. This is my only memory of this story and I can only assume that we weren’t allowed to watch any more, as I can’t remember any more from the Hartnell era.

The Power of the Daleks (age 4 years) : I think that we must have watched it regularly from this point onwards as I can remember something from virtually every story. Maybe my parents felt that Patrick Troughton was less threatening than his predecessor, or maybe with an extra 7 months life experience they felt I could cope. I can remember hundreds of Daleks on a production line with a slimy Dalek creature being put into each one. Coincidentally this is the one scene which has recently been recovered, although I haven’t seen it. Do you think I would be disappointed?

The Highlanders (age 4 years) : I don’t have any clear memories of this story, other than general Scottish-ness!

The Underwater Menace (age 4 years) : I can remember Polly being operated on and I also remember feeling very sorry for the Fish People being forced to live underwater for the rest of their lives. The image of the fish people is one of the most enduring memories I have of early Dr Who, and I was quite amazed when several years later, I saw a picture in an early DWM, that they were exactly as I remembered them.

(CHRIS AVERY)

REQUESTS

Lee Moone is looking for copies of the Second, Third & Fourth Doctor strips from the UK comic ‘TV Comic’, but not those previously reprinted by Marvel in the ‘Doctor Who Classic Comics’ range. Send Lee an E-mail at <LEEMOONE@aol.com> if you think you can help.

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The Behind-the-Sofa (BTS) Web Page (which includes the scripts for the missing episodes) now has a new co-ordinator. David Herrick has taken over the reigns from Richard Tinsley. David has recently uploaded a batch of new scripts to the website, which can be located at :

http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Union/BTS/

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Robert Franks (TelesnapGuy@compuserve.com) is interested in hearing from people who have on their web-page, a link to Robert’s page. Robert is keen to return the favour.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to the following people for providing help with this issue: Steve Roberts, Dominic Jackson, Michael Palmer, Andrew Pixley, Graham Strong, Chris Avery, and of course, all the people who sent in reviews and comments.

A special thank you to Robert Franks, who apart from providing continual support of the reconstructions and this newsletter, also happens to be a terrific friend.

For story guides, thanks to : Keith Armstrong, Robert Franks, Richard Bignell, Brian Pearce, Dominic Jackson, Steve Phillips and Graham Strong.

BORING STUFF

The Doctor Who reconstructions are fan-produced endeavours completed without the consent of BBC Worldwide, BBC Television, or any holders of the Doctor Who licence. No infringement on any such copyright holder is intended nor are the tapes produced for any sort of monetary compensation. Tapes are distributed through the worldwide Doctor Who fan network. Support the BBC releases!

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the editor. Some editing of contributions has been made.

Issues 1 to 6 are still available (#1-3 in plain text only, #4 – 6 in plain text or MS Word 6). Please write for more details – in particular, whether you wish to be placed on the MS Word 6 mailing list.

Please send all comments/suggestions/questions to :
robinsba@ozemail.com.au