Planet Mondas

This morning Philip Morris issued this statement through the facebook page of his company Television International Enterprises Archives Limited.

A BRIEF STATEMENT.

T.I.E.A. DOES NOT HOLD ANY MISSING EPISODES OF THE LONG RUNNING DR WHO SERIES. THE ORIGINAL VIDEO TAPES WERE WIPED SUBSEQUENT FILM COPIES WERE EITHER RETURNED TO THE BBC AND SENT TO LANDFILL ODD FRAGMENTS HAVE SURFACED TWO EPISODES ON 16MM FILM BUT THAT’S IT. THE PROGRAMMES IN QUESTION LIKE MANY OTHERS WERE DESTROYED AS THEY HAD NO FURTHER COMMERCIAL VALUE .THEY ARE NOT MISSING BUT DESTROYED. THE END. I am sorry if this upsets some people but these are the facts. I have also become aware of the tracking of some of our clients shipments these are local cultural materials sent to us for migration to a modern format as the playback equipment in the country of origin no longer exists and as such is the best road to preserve international cultural heritage. I will be making no more statements on this subject.

PHILIP MORRIS Executive director T.I.E.A.

Uberfan Ian Levine responded by tweeting

Deeply sick, distressed, disheartend, all hopes dashed, all joy gone from the world. That’s it. DO NOT ASK ME TO SAY ANOTHER WORD

However Levine later deleted that tweet and wrote:

NO, I believe there is FAR more to this than meets the eye. After feeling deflated I realised logically there’s MUCH more to it

To which another tweeter replied:

You got Matt leaving right, the show starting next August right. Two out of three aint bad, cheer up

Levine responded:

Having thought long & hard about this, despite what’s been said today, I instinctively believe you’ll see it ends up 3 out of 3

Is this the final end for The Great Missing Episodes Rumour of 2013?

As the missing episodes rumour rumbles on we thought we’d give you our thoughts on how the alleged recovery might have occurred.

In the 1960’s and 70’s the BBC and ITV sold their programmes overseas but the actual distribution was done by a company called  Television International Enterprises Limited. TIE would “bicycle” prints around Africa for both broadcasters. The company was set up in June 1959, went into liquidation in 1991, and was dissolved in 1994.

In March 2011 the similarly named Television International Enterprises Archives Ltd was set up.

The TIEA website says:

TIEA is an independent archive presentation and recovery organisation created by Phillip Morris (Executive Director), with the sole purpose of preserving international foreign cultures TV and Radio Heritage

Television International Enterprises and Archives LTD (TIEA) operates in a very competitive worldwide media environment. We provide advice and assistance in all aspects of the care and storage of archival materials. This includes 16 & 35mm negatives and prints, 2 inch (Quadruplex) videotape, 1 inch A & C format videotape, industrial 1 inch videotape and analogue cassette formats (Philips 1500/1700), U-Matic, Beta SP & MII). Additionally through our network of industry contacts, we can also source parts for most film and videotape equipment whether it is still in everyday use or not. Alternatively we can source a reliable transfer facility for any format your material resides on.

TIEA also offers a unique service to all televisual archives across the globe. We identify purchased material in archives and return them to the country of origin. The major benefit is that the host archive no longer has to pay to store and manage this excess material, nor pay for the disposal of it. The originating  archive benefits by having spare copies for resale. This service costs the host archive nothing at all

We can provide free playback equipment on all formats to assist in the migration of materials on to a new format all transit costs of materials is covered by ourselves we are the world leader in archive assistance.

We therefore believe it’s possible that someone travelling around Africa searching for missing episodes of Doctor Who, and other programmes, who went into a TV station and said “Hi, I’m from Television International Enterprises Archives, have you anything belonging to us?” might strike it lucky; especially given that the names of the two companies are so similar.

As previously reported we have been following the recent rumour about a substantial number of missing episodes of Doctor Who having been recovered.

Following a series of tweets by uberfan Ian Levine, Rich Johnston of the Bleeding Cool website, has published another article titled The Doctor Who Missing Episodes Rumour Gains A Little More Weight. Three Tons Worth.

On June 17 Ian Levine tweeted:

Look, I DO believe no episodes have been found, based on what certain people told me at the BFI. But I suppose they could have lied to my face

Today Levine tweeted:

I am so f*****g speechless, I have no idea how I am going to sleep tonight. I was utterly wrong, but I was lied to, yes barefaced lied to.

I have just seen “three tons” of evidence that tells me it’s all true. Saying no more. Apart from that I now believe it again.

I’ve now been given proof that backs up the entire story, from 2011. So yes I now really believe he has found 90 missing episodes

Levine is referring to online details (click on “Carrying” to read it) of a shipment to Philip Morris, who has travelled to Africa, and several other countries, searching for missing episodes of Doctor Who, and other missing television.

As Johnston writes in his latest article, the Liverpool address rang a bell with one member of the Planet Mondas Forum, who remembered seeing this posted on Roobarb’s Forum on February 25 2011

I work at a regional branch of a large international logistics company. On Tuesday morning a customer called in to collect a box sent from Zambia via Nigeria containing BBC tapes and 16″ films, supposedly for returning to the archives. The guy apparently said (I didn’t serve him myself) that the box contained recovered 60s material including episodes of Doctor Who (the only programme he mentioned by name, it seems) and that we’d be hearing all about it before the end of the year. Naturally I was keenly excited, particularly given that this seemed to suggest a major find, but, having encountered neither box nor customer myself, I couldn’t pursue the matter directly. I’ve checked the paperwork but I can’t fathom why BBC archive stuff would be addressed to a Merseyside address, especially one where the company name given doesn’t match the stated premises or postcode (hence why we couldn’t deliver the box and the customer had to fetch it himself). Then again, the shipper may have just cocked up the address slightly, it’s all perfectly kosher and I’m just fretting inappropriately. After all, the customer did say all would be revealed in time.

Moral minefield. Do I sit back and let things take their course or do I potentially overstep the mark, professionally speaking, and tell all to Auntie?

On Jan 13 2011 Paul Vanezis wrote this on the Missing Episodes Forum:

It’s a new year and investigation in some African countries is ongoing.

I was hoping to have provided quite a bit more information by this stage and it probably feels to many that nothing is going on and work has stopped.

Nothing could be further from the truth. However, we really can’t say anything at this stage for many reasons which I won’t go into just yet. I hope you all understand.

However, to confirm what has been posted by us previously, several countries have been visited by Phil Morris. We can confirm that there is no material in either Zambia or Kenya. We also have pending invitations from two other countries, but a visitation to them will depend on overcoming a certain amount of red tape.

Yesterday Vanezis wrote:

And let this be the final, sensible remark on the matter. The only way this will be resolved is if the BBC decide to make a statement. They won’t be doing that here, so if anyone wants to speculate about this ridiculous situation, you can do it elsewhere.

Now it has to be said that we still have no facts or evidence to prove or disprove the missing episodes rumour, we’re just updating you on developments, and keeping our fingers crossed.

Since Rich Johnston’s original article regarding the possible recovery of a substantial number of missing episodes of Doctor Who first appeared on his Bleeding Cool website, several other sites have picked up on the story.

Kasterborous, blastr.com, tvshowsondvd.com, io9.com and aintitcool.com have all carried the story, while back at Bleeding Cool, Johnston published a follow-up article titled Reaction To Those Doctor Who Lost Episode Rumours.

Of course this rumour has been around for quite some time in one form or another. On May 7 Doctor Who expert Paul Vanezis,  stalwart of the Missing Episodes Forum, wrote:

Just very quickly to nip this in the bud. Someone forwarded me the text of one of these tweets and the main gist appears to be that Tenth Planet 4 was returned to the BBC last year (untrue) and the Restoration Team are working on a lost Troughton adventure (also untrue).

As far as I’m aware, Tenth Planet 4 has not been returned to the BBC (and I would surely know about it). The Restoration Team are not working on a lost Troughton and readying it for release. In fact, at the moment, nothing is being worked on, on the DW front. I should also add that nothing has been returned to the BBC in the form of a missing Doctor Who since I last posted i.e. one of the known to be lost 106 eps. Nothing has changed since I last came here to say nothing has been returned.

What I think has happened though is that someone has pooled together all the current rumours about the so called return of lost DW and is purporting to be an insider to justify his claims. Whatever the rumour, it’s an anonymous one and not based in fact. Disappointing I know, but there you go. As usual, this will be my only comment on the matter.

Now, as far as we’re concerned Vanezis is a well respected figure in Who fandom, so his intervention should have been enough to put this rumour to bed, right? Wrong. While many fans accepted what Vanezis wrote, others remained unconvinced. For some his denial was simply not specific enough.

One fan responded with:

He simply debunked a couple of elements of the tweets and ignored the substance of them.

And so discussion continued on internet forums with various missing stories rumoured to be possible recoveries – but very soon posts were being deleted hither, thither and yon, and threads locked…

On Gallifrey Base well known American fan Steve Manfred, wrote:

I can report that BBC Worldwide Americas have no knowledge of any plans for any box sets of anything (apart from Complete Series 7) for the rest of this year, and they’ve heard absolutely nothing about any new missing episode recoveries.

He later wrote on the Planet Mondas Forum:

I made that post on GB in response to someone upthread who was claiming that not only have three whole stories been found, but that they were already being scheduled for a DVD release in a box set by the end of the year.  If that latter part were true, BBC WA would know about it by now to get it scheduled for their version of the release, as they’ve always seemed to need more advance warning for any releases than their UK counterparts. 

I’ve no knowledge one way or the other about whether a recovery has happened or is happening or is about to happen.  I’ve been hearing the same rumors you’re discussing here since last November, and I still hold out hope there could be something to it this time.

On twitter yesterday Doctor Who author Jonathan Morris tweeted:

Three words regarding rumours raising fans’ hopes of missing episode recoveries: cruel, irresponsible, bullshit

Uberfan Ian Levine also tweeted :

“There will always be 106 Doctor Who episodes missing”. And yes you can quote me on that

My previous tweet was not ironic. I too wanted to believe ninety episodes had been found. I now believe none have been found. A massive hoax

Meanwhile fandom’s very own version of The Time War was breaking out over the original Bleeding Cool article, between Gallifrey Base (The Time Lords) and Doctor Who Online (The Daleks).

Steven Hill of Gallifrey Base, wrote:

IMO they were all being irresponsible and deserve no apologies. All three of them just wanted the empty accolades that would come later if the story is proved true.

DWO responded:

We didn’t claim anything to offer an empty accolade, Steven, and regarding the tweet that started this whole thread off – we had permission from the BBC to do it.

And regarding the announcement, it is still to come – possibly by the end of this month / early July.

Rassilon Hill (picking up his scary metal glove thingy) replied:

Permission is irrelevant to the hoped-for accolades, Dave, and only slightly relevant to the irresponsibility.
I’d be grateful if you could post the exact contents of the original tweet, so we can all see that no claims were made. I don’t recall the words any more, but I am pretty sure there was a claim about an exciting announcement coming soon

The Dalek Supreme Online (levelling his blaster):

The original tweet simply stated:

“Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day for #DoctorWho fans – and not just because the new series is back… ” (29th March)

then after the announcement of Tennant and Piper in the 50th we tweeted:

“Oh, by the way, the recent 50th Casting announcement ISNT the ‘exciting news’ we talked about yesterday – It IS exciting though ” (30th March)

The original announcement – for whatever reason – was, and still is, held back. We still stand by the decision to put it out, as we believe the permission behind it is qualification enough to have done so.

Rassilon Hill (toying menacingly with his glove):

I certainly respect you standing by your decision. I stand by my opinion that it was irresponsible. Just because the BBC said you could didn’t mean you should, and certainly didn’t mean you had to.

I’d be careful with saying “we didn’t claim anything” though…your claims, nebulous though they may be, are right there above. And I describe the expected eventual accolades as “empty” because it’s not your announcement. See how many people are already lofting the name “Bleeding Cool” for posting a detailed rumor – it’s not as if BC are the ones who found episodes*, returned episodes*, or had any bleeding cool thing to do with any of it – yet they will still get accolades (and are already doing so). That’s how that works, and we all know it. It always leads to that phrase, “You heard it first here, folks!”

*Disclaimer: I’m not saying anything has been found or returned, nor am I saying the DWO tweets had any correlation to the missing episodes rumor.

Finally the war was time-locked when Doctor Who Online published this article on it’s news page:

Missing Doctor Who Episodes Rumour

As a Doctor Who website, posting a news item relating to missing Doctor Who episodes is a particularly conflictive task. On one hand you want to hold off on posting news due to the possible reaction you might get from smaller circles of fandom, whereas on the other hand, it’s surely our duty to report it – after all, news is news, right?

Some of our readers may remember a news item we posted a few years ago about the possibility that The Web Of Fear may have been found – note the words ‘possibility’ and ‘may’. While we also added that our source was reliable in the past and had no reason to disbelieve them, this particular news item turned out to hit a dead end and despite the majority of our readers who were grateful for the reporting of the story, we did face a backlash from some smaller circles of fandom on online forums.

A couple of days ago, Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool News, posted a news item relating to some of the rumours that have been doing the rounds for the past few months – rumours that, up until now, we have avoided reporting on.

The rumour is that a considerable number of lost Doctor Who episodes have been found by “an eccentric engineer who worked for broadcasters across Africa with a taste for science fiction and a habit of taking things for safe keeping”.

DWO can confirm that we have been approached with news from several high-profile sources, some of which confirm these rumours and some that conflict with them and the actual figure of the number of episodes rumoured to have been found.

Whilst it would be easy to blurt out everything we have been told, we retain the caution from previous rumours and hoaxes, and will simply hold out for official confirmation – when and if it comes. What we will say is that *should* the rumours be true, despite the initial excitement at the possibility, it would be wise to sit back and let the BBC do what they need to do to secure these episodes *if* in fact they have been found.

And with that hostilities appear to be over, at least for now – and there’s still not an official word been said – or a single missing episode returned to the BBC vault.

In a final desperate bid to find out if there is any truth to the rumour a reporter from Planet Mondas telephoned lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat last night, at his luxury penthouse apartment in Cardiff Bay, he said:

“Ach! I’m tryin’ te watch some Doctor Who wi ma wee pal Gareth Roberts, son… [line becomes muffled]… put Web on, Gar, I dinna like the Hartnell historicals… [line becomes clear] Sorry I have nee comment ta make. Ring back at the end a November, son. Gidneet!”

Okay, we made that last bit up.

The final word goes to your humble site owner, Mike Nuttall:

I’m just wondering how long we can all continue discussing this when not one of us has a single piece of evidence to prove that any of it is actually true.

I love being a Doctor Who fan sometimes, we’re such an optimistic bunch.

Under the headline Will Doctor Who Have A Very Special Surprise For Us In November? Rich Johnston of the Bleeding Cool website has decided to go public about the rumour that “a whole host of Doctor Who episodes” have been discovered.

Johnston, writes:

What I’ve been hearing, and some of it is attributed to an eccentric engineer who worked for broadcasters across Africa with a taste for science fiction and a habit of taking things for “safe keeping”, is that the BBC have secured a large number of presumed-wiped episodes of early Doctor Who.

He later updated his article with:

Shortly after posting, I received further confirmation of the details listed above from another, better connected source. I don’t think I need to cross my fingers quite so hard any more.

What we hear is that these episodes were discovered by a dedicated Doctor Who fan, who had a very clever idea, but as our sources describe negotiations as “ongoing” and “delicate”, we can say no more than that.

Of course, this isn’t our first time at the rodeo, and we suggest you take all this with a pinch of salt, and like Rich, keep your fingers crossed.