Duplicitous Blue Peter Employee

[ianphillips]

So I watched the Dalek Masterplan yesterday (Yes, all of it in one day) for the first time and I got on Tardis Wki to read the story notes as I usually do when I watch an episode for the first time and I noticed that the tapes for part 4 were sent to Blue Peter for an episode and were never returned. Alone this isn't anything special, but I also know that the Tenth Planet part 4 was also sent to Blue Peter and never returned. Both of the episodes the clips from these Doctor Who episodes were used in aired in November 1973. That just seems like a bit too much of a coincidence. I know there has already been a lot of research done on what happened to the Tenth Planet episode and I'm sure fans in their ever-vigilance would ahve already noticed this correlation, but what are the chances that there was an employee working at Blue Peter who would steal the tapes after they had been used and sell them to a private collector. Again, this is merely specualtion and I don't have anything to base it on, but what do you all think of this? Also, does anyone knows whether tapes from other shows were never returned after being sent to Blue Peter in November 1973? 

[Ronnie McDevitt]

Both of the episodes the clips from these Doctor Who episodes were used in aired in November 1973. That just seems like a bit too much of a coincidence.

They weren't. The extract from The Traitors was featured in a late 1971 edition of Blue Peter

[John Green]

I was never quite sure about Shep.

Seriously,it would be lovely if the episodes turned up at the BBC,the way that the Zoo Quest materials did.Lovely but unlikely!

[Richard Bignell]

Aug 4, 2016 13:03:32 GMT Ronnie McDevitt said:

They weren't. The extract from The Traitors was featured in a late 1971 edition of Blue Peter

It was the clip from Devil's Planet came from the 1971 Blue Peter, which was then repeated in the November 1973 edition.

The clip from The Traitors didn't feature until 1973.

[Richard Bignell]

Aug 4, 2016 12:46:35 GMT ianphillips said:

So I watched the Dalek Masterplan yesterday (Yes, all of it in one day) for the first time and I got on Tardis Wki to read the story notes as I usually do when I watch an episode for the first time and I noticed that the tapes for part 4 were sent to Blue Peter for an episode and were never returned. Alone this isn't anything special, but I also know that the Tenth Planet part 4 was also sent to Blue Peter and never returned. Both of the episodes the clips from these Doctor Who episodes were used in aired in November 1973. That just seems like a bit too much of a coincidence.

They came from two different places. The Traitors came from the Film Library whilst The Tenth Planet #4 came from BBC Enterprises.

In all probability, The Tenth Planet #4 went straight back to Enterprises after the programme was over. Enterprises still had the complete story for sale to overseas stations the following year, so all four episodes were still evidently available then.

The Film Library did chase the print of The Traitors after Blue Peter used it, but it seems never to have made it back. Blue Peter's film editor, Justin Smith was asked about the prints, but the programme used so much film material from other sources, he was unable to recall the specifics of the episodes in question.

In all likelihood, The Traitors was simply mistakenly sent back to BBC Enterprises along with The Tenth Planet #4, and they quickly dumped it as it wasn't a story they were selling.

[Ronnie McDevitt]

Yes of course Richard. The Devil's Planet extract I remember watching at the time and Purves introduced it as from a "12 part story featuring the Daleks" or words to that effect. Have seen it since of course which confirmed my recollections.
It has been suggested this went out as Day of the Daleks was in production which explained the live Daleks on set and it was hinted by Purves that they may be back in the series soon!
The Traitors extract was of the demise of Katarina or almost.