Creating an interactive piece about missing episodes

[alyssamercante]

Hey everyone. First of all, I want to tell you all that this is the probably the most extensive, impressive group of people I've encountered. I could spend days reading through these threads (I'm getting there, haha), and it's completely overwhelming—in a good way.

Okay, so. I'm Alyssa. I'm a fairly new to Who fan in the scheme of things. An American who spent some time in England (Newcastle, specifically) in her mid-twenties, I got into the show in about 2012, after undergrad. Naturally I watched all of new Who and have since spent my spare time going back and watching the original episodes. 

I've known about the lost tapes for quite some time, but haven't plugged myself fully into the world. I write, edit, and design for an online editorial property called Ceros Originals. We create hypervisual editorial pieces that encourage viewers to explore and interact, and I'm currently working on a massive long-form interactive piece about the missing episodes.

Ideally the piece would be broken down into sections: a background on why the tapes are missing, an interactive graph of what is missing, a map on where they were found, and a visual representation of how the found videos were restored or recreated (can you see the theme I'm going for, haha).

I'm running into some trouble, however, and it's mostly because of the massive scope of this piece. I'd love to get my hands on some Doctor Who Magazine scans, and I'd also love to get a clearer picture of how many episodes/serials were missing, how many were found, where, and their method of recovery or reconstruction. There is a lot of information online, but most of it stops after 2014. The Wikipedia page is helpful, but I would much prefer to get some information from you incredible people.

If anyone has any suggestions on where I should be heading/looking, that would be incredible. Also, if anyone is willing to be interviewed for the piece, you can drop me a line at [e-mail]. I can Skype you if you're out of the US or call you otherwise. Can even send you some questions via email. 

Thanks in advance. 

[Mark Tinkler]

If only someone had written a book about it... oh hang on, www.amazon.co.uk/Wiped-Doctor-Whos-Missing-Episodes/dp/1845830377

[alyssamercante]

Sept 19, 2018 19:07:16 GMT Mark Tinkler said:

If only someone had written a book about it... oh hang on, www.amazon.co.uk/Wiped-Doctor-Whos-Missing-Episodes/dp/1845830377

Ah yeah I know about that book, thanks Mark! Unfortunately even the second edition is over five years old! As I mentioned in my OP, looking for some updated info.

Thanks again.

[Qasim Yusuf]

Sept 19, 2018 18:52:55 GMT alyssamercante said:

Hey everyone. First of all, I want to tell you all that this is the probably the most extensive, impressive group of people I've encountered. I could spend days reading through these threads (I'm getting there, haha), and it's completely overwhelming—in a good way.

Okay, so. I'm Alyssa. I'm a fairly new to Who fan in the scheme of things. An American who spent some time in England (Newcastle, specifically) in her mid-twenties, I got into the show in about 2012, after undergrad. Naturally I watched all of new Who and have since spent my spare time going back and watching the original episodes. 

I've known about the lost tapes for quite some time, but haven't plugged myself fully into the world. I write, edit, and design for an online editorial property called Ceros Originals. We create hypervisual editorial pieces that encourage viewers to explore and interact, and I'm currently working on a massive long-form interactive piece about the missing episodes.

Ideally the piece would be broken down into sections: a background on why the tapes are missing, an interactive graph of what is missing, a map on where they were found, and a visual representation of how the found videos were restored or recreated (can you see the theme I'm going for, haha).

I'm running into some trouble, however, and it's mostly because of the massive scope of this piece. I'd love to get my hands on some Doctor Who Magazine scans, and I'd also love to get a clearer picture of how many episodes/serials were missing, how many were found, where, and their method of recovery or reconstruction. There is a lot of information online, but most of it stops after 2014. The Wikipedia page is helpful, but I would much prefer to get some information from you incredible people.

If anyone has any suggestions on where I should be heading/looking, that would be incredible. Also, if anyone is willing to be interviewed for the piece, you can drop me a line at [e-mail]. I can Skype you if you're out of the US or call you otherwise. Can even send you some questions via email. 

Thanks in advance. 

Some recommended websites are
BroaDWcast: gallifreybase.com/w/index.php/Main_Page
The Destruction of Time: missingepisodes.blogspot.com/?m=1

You should also check out the fanzine Nothing at the End of the Lane:
www.endofthelane.co.uk/index.html

As Mark said though, Wiped really is the best source of information on the missing episodes.

[alyssamercante]

Thanks a lot Qasim. Do we know how recently Destruction of Time has been updated or who runs it? I was on it the other day and none of the posts are linked. I'm trying to get my hands on Wiped, but unfortunately it's harder to get in the States at a reasonable time!


Cheers and thanks again.

A

[Robert Lia]

I got my copies of Wiped In the United States threw Amazon when they were first issued. You might also try Abe Books as well, you might get find a book seller with a copy available.

[ianphillips]

Sept 19, 2018 20:11:36 GMT alyssamercante said:

Thanks a lot Qasim. Do we know how recently Destruction of Time has been updated or who runs it? I was on it the other day and none of the posts are linked. I'm trying to get my hands on Wiped, but unfortunately it's harder to get in the States at a reasonable time!


Cheers and thanks again.

A

I don't know who runs DoT, but it was last updated on the 14th, so it's up to date and a great source for information on missing episodes.

[Jon Preddle]

DoT is run by New Zealander Brad Phipps, who is a member of this forum.

[Charles Daniels]

Sept 19, 2018 19:34:31 GMT alyssamercante said:

Sept 19, 2018 19:07:16 GMT Mark Tinkler said:

If only someone had written a book about it... oh hang on, www.amazon.co.uk/Wiped-Doctor-Whos-Missing-Episodes/dp/1845830377

Ah yeah I know about that book, thanks Mark! Unfortunately even the second edition is over five years old! As I mentioned in my OP, looking for some updated info.

Thanks again.

As far as I know most of the interesting or powerful data is over 5 years old anyway.
It's not that there's nothing new that's been uncovered or worth knowing about, but the real meat of the story and the data is fairly nailed down by things like Wiped. I wish of course that the data was more in flux and rapid than it is. But if you are talking about interfacing with a larger public, there's nothing exciting on that level since 2013.

That said, the Destruction of Time is a resource I can recommend.
As is Broadwcast.

The news doesn't move terribly fast I'm afraid, but we are talking about events really from about 1966 to about 1983, for the most part.

[Qasim Yusuf]

Just seen the finished website now. Great work!

[Rob Hutchinson]

www.ceros.com/originals/doctor-who-missing-episodes-found-infographic/

[samnurden]

Nice website. Very interactive. If you're looking for extra info, you might want to try reaching out to a couple of good youtubers, maybe. A couple of people on youtube have covered this stuff extensively, so there's always reference stuff there that you could check and re-confirm.

Also, there's a slight error in your "What's still missing?" category, as you've listed "The Wheel In Space" as "The Wheel Of Space." Thought I would give you the heads up. Those little errors sneak in at the worst of times.