The Valeyard

Yeah. I just finished reading that and was about to post it here. It would make a lot of sense if true. And it's been going on behind the scenes for YEARS.

If it is true, it's very sad that we'll never really know what's actually out there in Africa and if the quality is worth all this fuss.

As for the rest sitting in supposed limbo (like Marco Polo), Doctor Who has become a victim of it's own popularity. People know how much the IP is worth and now want their cut.

Josh-da-man

It does make me wonder just how much is out in the wild. Is there really a treasure trove of missing episodes out there somewhere? Has Morris actually seen it for himself, or does he just believe it exists? And if it does exist, what condition is it in?

It's disheartening to think that there could be a complete run of Hartnell/Troughton Doctor Who slowly deteriorating in a warehouse somewhere while everyone fights over money.

The Valeyard

I think Morris believes these copies exist and are of better quality than are currently available. And they're apparently in Africa along with several other BBC shows that were long thought missing. The fact that he's starting to pay back the money the BBC gave him doesn't really fill me with confidence anymore.

I'm going to guess that it didn't help when over-zealous Doctor Who fans started calling all these forgotten television stations to ask if they had any missing Doctor Who stories and if they did have some, they could be worth a lot of money!

And there are still Doctor Who canisters out there. Ian Levine found a few more earlier this year (or late last year). Unfortunately, they were stories that the BBC already had.

FUCK! I want to see Marco Polo!

Josh-da-man

Some of the stuff in that e-mail seems a little fishy. Episodes without audio shouldn't be a problem since they already have the audio tracks for all of the missing episodes.

And could an actor or their estate really hold up a release? It doesn't seem to have been a problem in the past, so it would seem the paperwork is all in order. Or could it be some kind of deal with a guest star in Marco Polo who wasn't cleared? Sort of like those rumors about the old Batman series and its cameos.

Or could there be some kind of technicality that someone like the Hartnell estate could invoke to trigger a contract renegotiation?

The Valeyard

The Restoration Team has said in the past that if a missing episode were found, there would be no rights issue to hold it from being released. From what I've read, all that was taken care of when they started to release the missing episodes on audio. So that part of the story should be false. Even if someone were to attempt to get more money, wouldn't we have heard something by now on that end? "Hartnell heirs fight BBC and holds up release of Marco Polo." This is the first I've seen it mentioned.

I guess we're back to hoping.

milo bloom

Damn, damn, damn.

I was just starting to really wonder about this too, weird about the rights issues. How can actors hold up old episodes anyways?


The BBC could at least put some of the hard to find DVDs back into print, I'm not eager to pay upwards of $100 for some of those stories.

mythmaker18

Just some? I'd say almost 100% of that sounds like crap, especially the bit about "episodes missing the soundtrack". Helllllo, the soundtrack for every missing episode has existed for years, and would be quite simple to match up to a soundless print. Also, the thing about holding out for "better quality" copies of something like Power or DMP sounds ridiculous, too. We all know the BBC wouldn't be able to resist releasing the less-than-great ones first, then getting everyone to double-dip on an upgrade.

[quoute]I was just starting to really wonder about this too, weird about the rights issues. How can actors hold up old episodes anyways? [/quote]

That may have been true in the '70s and '80s, but the Equity rules have changed years ago.


This is so much a non-story.

flansered

For anyone interested, the 50% BBC sale has started at Barnes and Noble. I'm caught up at the moment, but I'll probably use a 20% coupon and order the Spearhead bluray.

milo bloom

Dang, I sat out the Criterion sale (still working through my previous haul), was hoping this would come around. I don't see the date on the website, any idea how long it lasts?

thanks

The Valeyard

^ I may be in for Spearhead on Blu.

flansered

According to Bluray,com the sale goes to 12/15.

bsmith

Hoping that season 8 gets discounted by 50% since its released date fits within that range. An additional 20% off coupon on top would make it an automatic purchase for me.

The Valeyard

That would be great! I have a $20 Barnes & Noble gift card on top of that. Fingers crossed now.

The Valeyard

I grabbed this Monday night. My total was $16 bucks!

kstublen

Was able to snag the Eighth Series for $32.09 online. Couldn't pass it up at that price. Now I'm just missing a few Classic Who releases and I'll have everything. Still bummed a few of the ones I need are OOP...

Jay G.

Is this the thread where discussions about the audio adventures go?

Humble Bundle is doing a deal for some of the audio adventures. Pay what you want for Dalek Empire 1 & 2 downloads:
https://www.humblebundle.com/books

The "audiobooks" come in both mp3 and WAV file formats.

flansered

$15 bucks for the first "season" the Colin Baker lost adventures is a steal. The digital versions for each serial is $13 each on Big Finish's website.

milo bloom

News of a compilation disc:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Doc...Cybermen/20886

Mostly nuWho but with one Peter Davison story.

Just realized that Earthshock is OOP, so very nice to see it here.



============================================



I also wanted to ask a question of the other collectors, I used to frequently find used Classic Who discs at the used DVD and book stores where I live but it seems to have dried up lately. Has anybody else noticed this where you live? I got my classic Who start when I found a dozen or so used discs of various Doctors at a used shop a few years ago.

Josh-da-man

I'm not really sure what the point of that "Cybermen" compilation set is. Six episodes of nuWho that everyone probably already has, a new twenty minute documentary, and Earthshock.

Seems like a waste of money and effort, but then again, it seems like all BBC does is repackage and re-release the same nuWho shit over and over again. Is anyone lining up to buy this?

I wonder if the "bonus" Earthshock will be the full disc (with commentary, deleted scenes, and documentary) that was previously released, or if it's going to be a new bare-bones pressing.

Josh-da-man

I have never seen a used Doctor Who DVD at a store where I live. The selection of titles is generally awful; basically dump bin crap or worse.

milo bloom

I might buy it for Earthshock since it's commanding crazy prices on the secondary market. I'd just slot it into the Davison part of my DVD shelf.

The used stores around me are pretty good. The majority of my whole DVD/Blu collection comes from used places.

Preterite

In the past I've been pretty lucky finding used Who at reasonable prices, but these days it's usually cheaper to import from the UK. Plus the trade dress is a lot snazzier - I'd trade in my whole collection over in a heartbeat!

(Well, except for the Sontaran disc with the "Jim'll Fix It" episode.)

flansered

The only classic dvds that I have ever seen used was the first Spearhead from Space disc and the Key to Time set. I think that most of the people that are paying the high cost for the classic series already knows that they like the show, so there isn't a lot of turnover with used discs. Either that or they are dumping them on ebay like I did with the old Aztecs and Inferno discs after I got the special editions.

milo bloom

So...birthday weekend, wife wanted me to open this early because she was afraid I'd stumble over the box and see it anyways.

First row: Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee
Second row: T. Baker
Third row: Davison, C. Baker
Fourth Row: McCoy, Grant







This leaves only nine Classic Who DVDs that I need, the out of print ones.

I now have complete runs of Tom Baker, Colin Baker (and Richard E. Grant).




Edit: Just opened them all to check the discs: Terror of the Zygons is missing disc 1 (the swing arm is totally missing).

The Valeyard

Your wife truly loves you. Congrats!