Gerald Davis (23 February 1930 – 31 August 1991) was a British television writer, best known for his contributions to the science-fiction genre. He also wrote for the soap operas Coronation Street and United! .
77-534: The Moonbase is the half-missing sixth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who , which was first broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 11 February to 4 March 1967. In this serial, the Second Doctor ( Patrick Troughton ) and his travelling companions Ben ( Michael Craze ), Polly ( Anneke Wills ) and Jamie McCrimmon ( Frazer Hines ) arrive on
154-466: A 16 mm telerecording copy of the original untransmitted pilot, presumably a viewing print made in 1963 and subsequently lodged at the Library. The Film Library also held high-quality original film sequences made for insertion into videotaped episodes. Some of these, such as those from Episodes 1–2 of The Daleks' Master Plan , survive to this day. Other junked sequences were mistakenly entered into
231-519: A broken antennae on the lunar surface. The Cybermen beat crew members sent to fix the antennae to death. The Doctor discovers the pathogen was spread through infected sugar as a Cyberman disguised as a patient reveals itself. The Cybermen recognize the Doctor and use their weapons to capture him and his allies. They reveal that they intend to use the Gravitron to destroy all life on Earth. Polly devises
308-541: A few seconds leading up to it. The sequence had been shown in a 1973 episode of Blue Peter and was retained in that show's archive. Even after the end of the purge, other archive issues persist. Serials from Seasons 22–26 were shown in Germany, with soundtracks dubbed into the German language; some of these episodes no longer exist in German television archives. On 20 April 2006, it was announced on Blue Peter that
385-657: A film library computer system, leading to an impression that they had existed for some years afterward, and inaccurate speculation that the BBC was still destroying clips well into the early 1980s. Following the establishment of the Film and Videotape Library, an audit of the Engineering Department found 60 of the 128 Third Doctor episodes starring Jon Pertwee , which in addition to the Film Library's copies of
462-410: A foreign broadcaster, and had been slightly edited; the missing footage was restored later, through a mix of censor clips from Australia and more complete prints held by private collectors. An appeal to broadcasters in other countries who had shown the programme (notably Canada and African nations such as Nigeria ) produced "lost" episodes from the archives of their television companies. The Tomb of
539-526: A gap at the end of the second production block, which led to the creation of Mission to the Unknown . While the master videotapes for Episodes 1 to 3 of Planet of Giants were wiped in January 1969, the fate of Episode 4's original studio recording tape is not known, though it is generally believed that all material not used in the combined final episode was junked. The serial's 2012 DVD release features
616-415: A lack of rebroadcast rights. As a result, 97 of 253 episodes from the programme's first six years are currently missing, primarily from seasons 3 , 4 and 5 , leaving 26 serials incomplete. Many more were considered lost until recovered from various sources, mostly overseas broadcasters. Doctor Who is not unique in its losses, as many broadcasters routinely cleared their archives in this manner. Until
693-597: A life-sized Dalek would be given to anyone who found and returned one of the missing episodes. In January 2007, ITV began a campaign called "Raiders of the Lost Archive" and although the campaign was run by ITV, they were also looking to find Doctor Who episodes and other BBC shows. One episode of the Raiders of the Lost Archive show aired in January 2007 and a further two episodes in July 2009. In December 2012,
770-597: A limited number of times within a specific timeframe, and deliberately set the fees for further use so high that broadcasters would consider it unjustifiable to spend so much money repeating an old programme rather than making a new one. Consequently, recordings whose repeat rights had expired were considered to be of no further domestic use to the broadcasters. Most Doctor Who episodes were made on two-inch videotape for initial broadcast and then telerecorded onto 16 mm film by BBC Enterprises for further commercial use. Enterprises used 16 mm for overseas sales as it
847-656: A new cover in 1981. An audiobook read by Anneke Wills with the Cyberman voices by Nicholas Briggs was released by the BBC in March 2009. The novelisation was reissued by BBC Books in July 2011 with a foreword by Gareth Roberts . In July 1992, episodes 2 and 4 of this story were released on VHS as part of the video Cybermen – The Early Years . In November 2004, they were included in the Lost in Time DVD set. The full audio of
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#1732787405057924-521: A novel written by Davis and Pedler, a subsequent cinema film and a 1999 revival on Channel 5 . With Pedler he wrote the science-fiction novels Mutant 59: The Plastic Eater (1971), expanded from their script for the first episode of Doomwatch ; Brainrack (1974); and The Dynostar Menace (1975). In the 1980s Davis worked in America both in television and on feature films such as The Final Countdown (1980). In late 1989 he and Terry Nation made
1001-631: A place as one of the must-see serials of the Second Doctor era." In Starburst , Paul Mount described The Moonbase as "pretty much the same story as 'The Tenth Planet', differing only to the extent that it's not quite as good." Still, he said it is "cheerful" and "occasionally competent." James Hoare of SciFiNow gave the DVD release three out of five stars, describing the story as "a slightly dull and weakly padded retread of The Tenth Planet " but praising Troughton's performance. In 2010, SFX named
1078-528: A reconstruction of the original episodes, directed by Ian Levine. The production rebuilds the deleted scenes using CGI, footage from elsewhere in the serial, and re-recorded dialogue from Carole Ann Ford , William Russell , and actors impersonating the rest of the cast. When the BBC's complete holdings (both the BBC Film & Videotape Library and the BBC Enterprises ) were first audited in 1978,
1155-550: A solution that dissolves the plastic in the Cybermen's chest units. Alongside Ben and Jamie, the three lead a revolt against the Cybermen. As the crew members begin to fight back against the Cybermen, a large army of them begin to advance upon the Moonbase. The Cybermen attempt to blast their way inside using a large laser cannon, though the laser is deflected by the Gravitron. With the help of Hobson, Polly, and another crew member,
1232-579: A variety of methods. In order of original transmissions, the very last Doctor Who master videotapes to be wiped were the first episodes of the 1974 serials Invasion of the Dinosaurs and Death to the Daleks . The latter was recovered from overseas, initially from a tape in the NTSC format, and later in the original PAL format on a tape returned from Dubai . For four years, Episode 1 of Invasion of
1309-793: Is unusual in that each of its 97 missing episodes survives in audio form, recorded off-air by fans at home. Most episodes are also represented by production stills, tele-snaps , or short video clips. Furthermore, after careful restoration, all 1970s episodes are available in full colour. Efforts to locate the missing episodes have continued, both by the BBC and by fans of the series. The recovered episodes have been extensively restored for release on VHS and DVD ; surviving soundtracks have been released on cassette and compact disc . Many missing episodes have had their visuals reconstructed, either through specially commissioned animation or use of surviving footage and photographs. Between approximately 1967 and 1978, large quantities of videotape and film stored in
1386-472: The Radio Times listings magazine announced it was launching the hunt for more Doctor Who episodes, to tie-in with the show's 50th anniversary. The Radio Times issued its own list of missing episodes. The magazine has also set up an email address specifically for Doctor Who missing episodes that the public can use to contact it if they have any information. In June 2018, Paul Vanezis (a member of
1463-456: The Observer article by saying it was "a misrepresentation of the conversation between myself and the journalist, and most unhelpful". Compared with other BBC series broadcast in the 1960s, Doctor Who is well-represented in surviving episodes. Of the 253 episodes broadcast during the 1960s, 156 still exist – mainly due to copies produced for overseas sales. For example, Seasons 1 and 2 ,
1540-617: The Patrick Troughton era is missing more episodes (53 as compared to 44 for William Hartnell ), there are more Hartnell stories completely missing (6 as compared to 4). Serials highlighted in red are missing all episodes. Serials highlighted in yellow are missing more than half of their episodes. All others listed are missing at least one, but at most half, of their episodes. Serials that are over 50% complete (e.g., The Reign of Terror , The Tenth Planet ) have been issued as standalone releases, with
1617-670: The Second Doctor is particularly affected; of the 14 stories comprising his first two seasons, only The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Enemy of the World are complete, and these only exist due to telerecordings later returned from Hong Kong and Nigeria, respectively. All stories starring Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor are complete, though many episodes no longer survive on their original videotapes and were only available from black-and-white overseas prints upon recovery; these episodes have subsequently been restored to colour using
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#17327874050571694-527: The 1960s, only Steptoe and Son and Maigret have a similar survival record, with all episodes from both series existing in some form. Doctor Who is also comparatively rare amongst contemporaries in that all of its 1970s episodes exist as masters or telerecordings, while other series such as Z-Cars and Dixon of Dock Green are missing episodes from as late as 1975. As of October 2023 , there were 97 episodes unaccounted for. The missing episodes span 26 serials, including 10 full serials. Most of
1771-443: The BBC archive – with the exception of An Unearthly Child due to licensing issues – were added to the iPlayer service. Depending on the circumstances, the animated reconstructions were also added to iPlayer. Cells highlighted in green indicate releases where the orphaned episode has been combined with animated episodes to provide a complete serial. Cells highlighted in blue indicate releases where
1848-534: The BBC changed its archiving policy in 1978, thousands of hours of programming in all genres were deleted. Other affected BBC series include Hancock's Half Hour , Dad's Army , Z-Cars , The Likely Lads , The Wednesday Play , Till Death Us Do Part , Steptoe and Son , Dixon of Dock Green and Not Only... But Also . ITV regional franchisees, such as Rediffusion Television and Associated Television , also deleted many programmes, including early videotaped episodes of The Avengers . Doctor Who
1925-408: The BBC's Engineering department and film libraries were wiped or destroyed to make way for newer programmes. This happened for several reasons, primarily the belief that there was no practical value to its retention. The actors' union Equity had actively fought against the introduction of TV recording since the 1950s, when it first became a practical proposition. Before workable television recording
2002-696: The BBC's library was used in the serial, including from former Doctor Who episodes. This story is also the last story to use the original title sequence that had been in use since the first serial . John Levene has an uncredited role as a Cyberman. Levene would return as a Yeti in The Web of Fear (1968), and would go on to play the regular character Sergeant Benton . John Rolfe had previously appeared in The War Machines (1966) and would appear again in The Green Death (1973). Alan Rowe
2079-529: The BBC, although subsequent efforts have reduced that number to 97. Among the most sought-after single lost episode is Episode 4 of the final William Hartnell serial, The Tenth Planet , which ends with the First Doctor's regeneration into the Second. The only portion of the episode still in existence, bar a few poor-quality silent 8mm clips, is the final 27 seconds, comprising the regeneration itself and
2156-416: The Cybermen , though the transmitted version was heavily rewritten by then script-editor Robert Holmes . Davis also adapted several of his scripts into novelisations for Target Books ' Doctor Who range. Following their work on Doctor Who , Davis and Pedler teamed up in 1970 to create the science-fiction programme Doomwatch . Doomwatch ran for three seasons on BBC1 from 1970 to 1972 and spawned
2233-510: The Cybermen , for example, was recovered in this manner from Asia Television in Hong Kong in 1992. Of the 50 episodes recovered since the original BBC audit of its holdings, 24 have been returned from overseas broadcasters: Gerry Davis (screenwriter) From 1966 until the following year, Davis was the story editor of the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who , for which he created
2310-516: The Cybermen march across the Moon's surface towards the base—as one of the greatest cliffhangers in the history of Doctor Who . She ranked the serial the 35th best Doctor Who story of all time and a "classic" in 2015. A novelisation of this serial written by Gerry Davis was published by Target Books in February 1975 under the title Doctor Who and the Cybermen . It was reprinted in hardcover with
2387-415: The Cybermen's first outing. Still, The Moonbase was popular enough for a third Cybermen story to be commissioned. In 2014, The Moonbase was the fifth incomplete Doctor Who serial to be released with full-length animated reconstructions of its two missing episodes . The Second Doctor and his companions Ben, Polly and Jamie land on the moon in the year 2070. Jamie is injured, and workers from
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2464-489: The Cybermen, but their voices also changed to match their new appearance. A device with a dental palate with a small loudspeaker that vibrated to create a voice was used. Hawkins found this uncomfortable as the vibration gave him nausea and headaches. Pre-filming, consisting of the lunar surface scenes, took place took place at Ealing Studios on 17 January. The regular actors were released from rehearsals for Episode Three of The Underwater Menace to film. An overcranked camera
2541-616: The Daleks Episode 2 onwards are complete on the original broadcast videotapes. Unrelated to the regular archive purges, the final shot of The Deadly Assassin Episode 3 (1976) has been excised from the master copy. The shot was removed after its initial UK transmission, following complaints from Mary Whitehouse of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association . Subsequent repeats and commercial releases have restored
2618-432: The Daleks , all Pertwee episodes already have 16mm telerecordings existing in the BBC archives. In the years since the BBC archive was first audited in 1978, a number of episodes then absent have been returned from various sources. When the BBC audited its Film Library in 1977, only 47 episodes were found to exist. These Film Library copies were a random sampling of viewing prints for various episodes, along with seven of
2695-572: The Dinosaurs was the only Pertwee episode to be entirely missing from the archives, until a black-and-white 16 mm copy was returned to the BBC in June 1983. The story was released on DVD with a partially recolourised version of Episode 1, alongside a higher-quality monochrome transfer of the episode, in The UNIT Files box set. With the exception of the final shot of episode 3 of The Deadly Assassin (1976), archival holdings from Death to
2772-500: The Doctor is able to point the Gravitron at the lunar surface, blasting the Cybermen and their ships back into space. As Hobson and his team reorient the Gravitron to its proper use, the Doctor and his companions slip away. Back in the TARDIS , they dematerialise and activate the time scanner, revealing a monstrous claw waving around . The Moonbase is the second story to feature the Cybermen after The Tenth Planet (1967) earlier in
2849-549: The Engineering Department continued into the 1970s. Eventually, every master videotape of the programme's first 253 episodes (1963–69) was destroyed or wiped. The final 1960s master tapes to be erased were those for the 1968 serial Fury from the Deep , in August 1974. Despite the destruction of these masters, BBC Enterprises held an almost complete archive (with the possible exception of one episode of The Daleks' Master Plan ) of
2926-504: The Episode Three cliffhanger, where the final scenes "are so well-realised it’s easy to forget that they’re animation at all." Doctor Who missing episodes Several portions of the long-running British science-fiction television programme Doctor Who are no longer held by the BBC . Between 1967 and 1978, the BBC routinely deleted archive programmes for various practical reasons—lack of space, scarcity of materials, and
3003-665: The Human colonised Moon in 2070, where the Cybermen plot to take over the base and use it to invade the Earth. This story features the return, and first redesign, of the Cybermen, after their popularity in The Tenth Planet earlier in the season. The serial showed an improvement in ratings for Doctor Who , with an average of 8.3 million viewers. The serial has received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with most preferring
3080-596: The Restoration Team who is also a missing episode hunter) said in a podcast interview that "there is absolutely no question" that some missing episodes are held by private collectors, including "one or two" by collectors that he knows. In August 2020, he described how a copy of The Daleks' Master Plan may have survived in Australia. He reiterated in March 2021 that missing Doctor Who episodes do exist out there. In April 2020, Philip Morris repeated that
3157-452: The actors and writers to sell the programmes abroad had expired. With many broadcasters around the world now switching to colour transmission, it was not deemed worthwhile extending agreements to sell the older black-and-white material. The BBC Film Library, meanwhile, had no responsibility for storing programmes that had not originated on film, and there were conflicting views between the Film Library and BBC Enterprises over which party held
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3234-400: The character Jamie McCrimmon and co-created the popular cybernetic monsters known as the Cybermen , who continue to make appearances in the show, having been revived in the new run. His fellow co-creator of these creatures was the programme's unofficial scientific adviser, Dr. Kit Pedler . Davis briefly returned to writing Doctor Who in 1975, penning the original script for Revenge of
3311-532: The collection, Malden turned her inquiries to the National Film and Television Archive – which promptly returned three full Second Doctor serials – The Dominators , The Krotons , and The War Games , adding seven more episodes and completing two of those serials. These all were standard 16 mm film telerecordings with the exception of The Dominators Episode 3, which was a 35 mm print. Episodes 4 and 5 of The Dominators originated from
3388-583: The film-originated Spearhead from Space , brought that Doctor's episode count up to 64 out of 128. In 1978, Ian Levine located another 65 episodes from the show's first six seasons (plus 14 previously existing episodes), at the BBC Enterprises film vault at Villiers House in London. The episodes comprise 17 full serials, mostly from seasons 1 and 2. According to Levine, the prints of The Daleks were flagged to be junked that very day. Levine alerted
3465-463: The film-originated episodes of Doctor Who ( The Power of the Daleks Episode 6 and The Wheel in Space Episode 5) were junked by the Film Library, while it held such unexplained material as 16 mm copies of The Tenth Planet Episodes 1–3, presumably viewing prints which were mistakenly returned to them at some point instead of BBC Enterprises. Most surprisingly of all, they also retained
3542-526: The first Doctor, and one including the Daleks (hinting that it could be a missing episode of The Daleks' Master Plan ), but the owners were reluctant to return them to the BBC. He recommended that the BBC implement measures to ensure that those possessing copies of missing episodes would neither have their collections confiscated nor be prosecuted for possessing BBC property, arguing that such protections would encourage more collectors to come forward with salvaged telerecordings. However, Franklin later responded to
3619-461: The following episodes were absent from their collective archives, but have subsequently been returned to the Corporation through various methods. The 16 stories highlighted have all episodes existing as a result. Except where indicated, all episodes were returned as 16 mm telerecording negatives or prints. Note: Except for Invasion of the Dinosaurs and Death to
3696-629: The gaps are from seasons 3, 4, and 5, which currently lack a total of 79 episodes across 21 (out of 26) serials. By contrast, seasons 1, 2, and 6 are missing just 18 episodes, across 5 (out of 26) serials. Of these missing stories, all but three – Marco Polo , " Mission to the Unknown ", and The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve – have surviving clips. All episodes also have full surviving audio tracks. As of September 2022 , many of these missing serials have been officially "completed" by using animation and/or telesnap reconstruction, and then subsequently released commercially by BBC Worldwide . While
3773-633: The highest in over a year, and Episode Four had the highest Appreciation Index in two years at 58 out of 100. The serial was sold internationally to Australia, New Zealand, Uganda, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Zambia. Clearance was given for the original tapes to be wiped in 1969, although Episodes Two and Four remained in the archives. Ann Lawrence of Morning Star reviewed the first two episodes on 22 February 1967, describing it as better than some recent serials. However, she wanted less screaming from Polly. Paul Cornell , Martin Day , and Keith Topping gave
3850-594: The missing Doctor Who episodes are probably the best-known example of how the lack of a consistent programme archiving policy risks permanent loss. Following the purges and subsequent recoveries, gaps in the Doctor Who archive are spread unevenly through its first 11 seasons. Major losses mostly affect First and Second Doctor serials; although two stories are missing just one episode each ( The Tenth Planet , Episode 4 and The Web of Fear Episode 3), other stories are lost altogether. Patrick Troughton 's era as
3927-563: The missing episodes bridged using animation, visual reconstructions, or narration to the camera. Surviving episodes which form 50% or less of a complete story – referred to as "orphaned" episodes – have been released by the BBC in compilations (e.g., Lost in Time ), or as extras on releases of complete serials. A few four-episode serials of which 50% remain (e.g., The Underwater Menace , The Moonbase ) have also been issued as standalone releases. In 2023, all Doctor Who episodes in
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#17327874050574004-471: The most widely sold abroad of the 1960s era, are missing only nine and two episodes, respectively. By contrast, the less well-sold Season 4 has no complete serials, while Season 5 has only two complete serials ( The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Enemy of the World ). Doctor Who ' s high profile has also helped to ensure the return of episodes which, for other less well-remembered programmes, might never have occurred. Of all ongoing BBC series from
4081-470: The nearby Moonbase arrive to treat him. The Doctor, Ben, and Polly arrive at the Moonbase, where they learn that the Moonbase uses a machine called the Graviton to track and manage weather on Earth. Members of the Moonbase's crew have begun to collapse under the influence of an unknown pathogen. The Moonbase is quarantined, and the Doctor starts to investigate. Crew members begin to die and disappear, and in
4158-403: The new Film and Videotape Library's archive selector, Sue Malden, who paid her own visit to Villiers House and found every remaining Jon Pertwee episode (albeit as a 16 mm black-and-white telerecording), except for two from his final season: Death to the Daleks and Invasion of the Dinosaurs , Episodes 1. In August 1988, 10 years after Levine's and Malden's visits, Episodes 1 and 4–6 of
4235-414: The nine episodes that had originally been telerecorded onto film for editing and/or transmission, rather than recorded to videotape. These film-originated masters were stored in the Film Library, rather than in the Engineering Department with the videotapes. The presence of the viewing prints is less easily explained. The Film Library's remit covers material originated on film, not on videotape – yet two of
4312-399: The orphaned episode was also animated. In addition to the official list of missing episodes, also missing is the original Episode 1 of The Daleks . At some point after the recording, it was discovered that a technical problem had caused backstage voices to be heard on the resulting videotape; in early December 1963, the episode was remounted with a different costume for Susan. This episode
4389-451: The programme videotapes they held, although typically they would not be wiped or junked until the relevant production department or BBC Enterprises indicated that they had no further use for the tapes. The first Doctor Who master videotapes to be wiped were those for the serial The Highlanders , which were erased on 9 March 1967, a mere two months after Episode 4's original transmission. Further erasing of Doctor Who master videotapes by
4466-494: The programme, The Moonbase came in 20th for the 1960s stories and 113th overall (out of 241), similar to its ranking of 112 in the 2009 poll. In the Doctor Who Magazine poll for the show's 60th anniversary in 2023, The Moonbase was voted the eleventh best story of the Second Doctor's tenure, out of a total of 21. In a 2010 article, Charlie Jane Anders of io9 listed the cliffhanger to the third episode—in which
4543-545: The remaining missing episode of The Web of Fear was stolen, and claimed that "at least six" missing episodes are currently in the hands of private collectors, but they are uncertain how they would be treated if they returned the episodes to the BBC. Morris later tweeted that a blog claiming he was negotiating with these collectors was "completely false and fake". In November 2023, film collector John Franklin repeated Vanezis' claims to The Observer , which reported that two more missing episodes had been found, both featuring
4620-478: The resolution of patching the hole in the Moonbase with a drinks tray as one of the silliest moments in Doctor Who 's history. The reception to The Moonbase led directly to a return of the Cybermen; on 3 March 1967, script editor Gerry Davis commissioned Pedler to write what would become The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967). For the Doctor Who Magazine poll in 2014 of the first 50 years of
4697-406: The responsibility for archiving programmes. As each body believed it the other's responsibility to archive the material, each thought nothing of destroying its own copies as necessary. This lack of communication contributed to the erasure of much of the Corporation's film archive of older black-and-white programming. While thousands of other programmes have been destroyed in this way around the world,
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#17327874050574774-532: The season. Due to the success of The Tenth Planet , producer Innes Lloyd hoped they could be the new returning foes replacing the Daleks , began discussing the return of the Cybermen with their creator Kit Pedler during the month The Tenth Planet was airing. The serial was commissioned on 18 November 1967 as Dr Who and the Return of the Cybermen , with Davis as a co-writer to help develop Pedler's ideas, as Pedler
4851-485: The serial an unfavourable review in The Discontinuity Guide (1995), writing that it was "illogical and boring, reducing the Cybermen to the role of intergalactic gangsters". In The Television Companion (1998), David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker noted that it was a remake of The Tenth Planet but was "far superior" in the way the Cybermen were portrayed. They also praised the music, acting, and
4928-504: The serial, accompanied by linking narration from Frazer Hines, was released on CD in 2001 and is also available for MP3 download. This serial was set to be released on DVD in October 2013, with episodes 1 and 3 represented by new animation from Planet 55 Studios; however there were production delays. The eventual release date was 20 January 2014. Paul Mount of Starburst described the animation as "a decent job" that particularly shined in
5005-523: The serial, and Davis improved Jamie's role at the editing stage. Meanwhile, director Morris Barry wanted Troughton to act less like a clown and the costume's baggy trousers were taken in; the character also lost his hat as recommended by a BBC Drama executive. The Cybermen's costumes and appearance was changed to look more robotic from those in The Tenth Planet, which could be cumbersome. Eleven costumes were made. Peter Hawkins returned to voice
5082-510: The series in the form of their 16 mm film telerecording copies until approximately 1972. From around 1972 to 1978, BBC Enterprises also disposed of much of their older material, including many episodes of Doctor Who. The final 1960s telerecordings to be junked were those for the 1966 serial The War Machines , in early 1978, shortly before the junking of material was halted by the intervention of fan Ian Levine . Enterprises' episodes were usually junked because their rights agreements with
5159-446: The shot from off-air video copies. Internally, the wiping policy officially came to an end in 1978, when the means to further exploit programmes by taking advantage of the new market for home videocassette recordings started to become apparent. The prevailing view had also begun to shift toward the attitude that archive programmes should, in any case, be preserved for posterity and historical and cultural reasons. The BBC Film Library
5236-559: The shots on the Moon, but they felt the direction was "lacklustre" in places and called the shots of the Cyberman ship landing "amongst the worst ever seen in Doctor Who ". In 2009, Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times also praised the redesigned Cybermen and the atmosphere. He wrote that the scripts "impart dollops of science without jarring and allow for a good deal of incident and suspense". The AV Club 's Christopher Bahn said in 2014, "Whatever flaws it may have, and it’s far from perfect, "The Moonbase" has more than enough going for it to earn
5313-430: The sickbay, a feverish Jamie begins to rant about a "Phantom Piper", a figure said to appear to a McCrimmon before death. Polly later spots the figure as it leaves, recognizing the figure as a Cyberman . Crewmember Hobson believes the Cybermen died out years ago and asks the Doctor to find a cure to the pathogen in twenty-four hours or else they will be forced to leave. The Moonbase's Gravitron begins to malfunction due to
5390-436: The six-part story The Ice Warriors were discovered in a cupboard at Villiers House when the Corporation was in the process of moving out of the building. Shortly after the junking process was halted and the BBC established its Film and Videotape Library for the purpose of storage and preservation, archive selector Sue Malden began to audit what material remained in the BBC's stores. When investigations revealed large gaps in
5467-510: Was cast as Doctor Evans, an early victim of the space plague and also provided the voice of Space Control. He later appeared in The Time Warrior (1974), Horror of Fang Rock (1977) and Full Circle (1980). ^† Episode is missing The Moonbase was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 11 February to 4 March 1967. The serial was an improvement in ratings for Doctor Who ; Episode Two (8.9 million viewers) were
5544-700: Was considerably cheaper to buy and easier to transport than videotape. It also circumvented the problem of different countries' incompatible video standards, as film was a universal medium whereas videotape was not. The BBC had no central archive at the time; the Film Library kept programmes that had been made on film , while the Engineering Department was responsible for storing videotapes. BBC Enterprises only kept copies of programmes that they deemed commercially valuable. They had little dedicated storage space, and tended to place piles of film canisters wherever they could find space for them at their Villiers House property. The Engineering Department had no mandate to archive
5621-563: Was developed, if a broadcaster wished to repeat a programme (usually a one-off play), they had to re-hire the actors to perform it again, live, for additional fees. Equity's concern was that if broadcasters kept recordings of the original performances, they would be able to re-broadcast them indefinitely, which would reduce the amount of new production and threaten the livelihoods of its members. Although Equity could not prevent recording altogether, it added standard clauses to its members' contracts that stipulated that recordings could only be repeated
5698-507: Was never retained, but one small portion of it has survived as part of the reprise at the beginning of Episode 2. Planet of Giants is another unusual example. It was originally recorded as four episodes, with Episodes 1–3 directed by Mervyn Pinfield , and Episode 4 by Douglas Camfield . To create a faster-paced climax, Episodes 3 and 4 were combined and reduced to form a single episode, with Camfield credited as director. This decision, made by then-Head of Drama Sydney Newman , resulted in
5775-521: Was not experienced at TV writing. To be mindful of costs while still preserving spectacle, script editor Gerry Davis asked for a story developed around one large set. Pedler was inspired by the Space Race . The first three episodes' scripts were delivered 23 December 1967. After the serial was commissioned, a late decision was made for Jamie (Frazer Hines) to be a regular cast member; Pedler adapted to this by having Jamie be unconscious during half of
5852-500: Was turned into a combined Film & Videotape Library for the preservation of both media. The Film Library at the time held only 47 episodes of 1960s Doctor Who ; they had once held 53, but six episodes had either been junked or gone missing. Junkings at BBC Enterprises, however, continued until the intervention of Ian Levine , a record producer and fan of the programme. Following the transfer of episodes still held by Enterprises, there were 152 episodes of Doctor Who no longer held by
5929-515: Was used to create the effect of lower gravity. Scenes with guest stars and the Cybermen were shot 18 January, and the Cybermen shots on the lunar landscape were shot 19 January. Model filming and final pre-filming sequences were shot 20 January. Rehearsals began 31 January. The first three episodes were recorded on successive Saturdays at Doctor Who's then regular home of Riverside 1 , but for Episode 4 it moved back to Lime Grove D . Recordings began 4 February. To conserve budget, music and cues from
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