Thursday, June 20, 2013

The Rumor - Missing Doctor Who Episodes - Statement By TIEA

A statement issued by Philip Morris of the Television International Enterprise Archive, the authority on recovering missing videos and films appears to end the most recent batch of rumors surrounding the finding of 90 episodes of Doctor Who.

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 THATS 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

Ian Levine, the superfan who received false information about the locating of the films had this to say -

Rival archivist, Ian Levine, tweeted in response;

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

— Ian Levine (@IanLevine) June 20, 2013

So all that for nothing.  I am sure Doctor Who fans are devastated by this news.  I was very sure at one point that this rumor was true and it didn't help that some vile people out there fueled the false rumor with lies.  As I said before the internet has an unfortunate side effect of allowing people to lie without any consequences.  Those cowards know who they are and I hope they feel proud of themselves.

I also fault miscommunication and jumping to conclusions as part of this rumor and while we may never learn the whole story, it is one that we should never forget if and when a new rumor surfaces later on.

Desptie what Morris states above, I can't imagine that it is the end.  Just two years ago two episodes had been found and it is still possible that more will come.  That dream of finding all or most is perhaps science fiction but locating more in the future is certainly possible.


8 comments:

  1. Now that I think of it - I find it odd that a man, whose job it is to find missing content, is stating that the Doctor Who episodes no longer exist and are destroyed, not missing.

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  2. Any time I hear of rumours of missing tapes being found, I usually dismiss the information. However, for a while I was starting to believe it might actually be possible.

    End of story: Until I'm actually watching a 'lost' episode, I won't believe it's been found.

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  3. yes - that is a good idea - not until I see it will I believe it.

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  4. First he says yes, then he's told no and then he sees the film cans and now we are back to no. Either Ian Levene is really gullible or someone is winding him up to get back at him to make him a fool. Either way I blame him for getting the fans hopes up.

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  5. Whatever happened to the recordings from returning old satellite transmissions? I remember the initial story then nothing...

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  6. I don't recall hearing about old satellite transmissions. I know that satellite transmitting of TV was in its infancy during the mid 60's so wasn't used for transmitting Doctor Who hence all the films being made and sent around the world.

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  7. The satellite transmissions story appeared on April the First. So, don't hold your breath....

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  8. And there is still lief in this rumor and it is gaining some ground in the past 24 hours.....we wait....

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