Be part of the search for missing episodes!

[Bill Spiby]

Below is a copy of my post over at Outpost Gallifrey on the Videos and DVD forum. I am blatantly plugging this initiative in the hope of recruiting more fans to the search. Please visit the forum, read the full thread and contact me via the personal messages option on the OG Forum, if you are interested in being part of the search.

TEXT

[Bill Spiby]

Oops here it is!

OK here's the first weekly update

A big thanks to all who have contacted me.
Quite a few countries have been contacted this week. Those which have received no or only partial coverage are listed below. There are still LOTS of letters that need going out. So please contact me and I will provide you with TV station contact details, a template letter and a list of missing episodes. Indicate your choice of country and the number of letters you are willing to send (most people do about 5). You will need a pack of airmail envelopes and postage is usually 68p from the UK.

No replies have been received this week. However, I will just recap the previous replies.

All three are from Nigeria (they were the first to be contacted)

Two were received by Andrew Ainsworth
One is sadly of the 'Dr X has deposited a large amount of money and wants your help etc' variety.

One again seems to seek to profit "Concerning your enquiries, the epesodes could be available but in the achives. Before I could detail somebody to go into the achives, I will like to know what are the conditions attached ? What do I stand to benefit ? Let me know before I start the process."

And one came to myself from the Zonal General Manager of the Nigerian Television Authority
"I was checking our T.V. stations in Northern Nigeria to findout if any tapes of "DR. Who" exists. Alas, none has any of the tapes in their libraries.

I have written to T.V.stations in Southern Nigeria, as soon as I get replies, I would Be able to confirm to you whether or not they have any of the episodes you are seeking."

Here is the updated list of countries

Afghanistan
Alaska (US State)
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antartica
Antigua & Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Azerbaijan
Azores (Portuguese)
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkino Faso
Burundi (Rep.)
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Canary Islands
Cayman Islands
Chad
Chile
China (People's Rep. of)
Colombia
Congo (Dem. Rep.)
Congo (Rep.)
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Easter Island
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equitorial Guinea
Estonia
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadelope
Guam
Guatemala
Guinea
Gunea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Hawaii
Honduras (Rep.)
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Korea (North, DPR)
Korea (South, Rep.)
Kuwait
Kyrgystan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Lithuania
Macau
Macedonia
Madagascar
Madeira
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia
Monaco
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Niue
Norfolk Island
Norway
Pakistan
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Reunion
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Samoa
Samoa (American)
San Marino
Sao Tome E Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia & Montenegro
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Somalia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
St Lucia
St Vincent
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Taiwan (Rep. of China)
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad & Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States Of America
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Wallis & Futuna
Yemen
Zimbabwe

[andrewainsworth]

Great idea Bill to post it here to.

[Rob Hardcastle]

Curious to see you've missed out Zambia, which was a country that bought BW Dr Who....have they already come back with a no?

[Bill Spiby]

Rob said:

Curious to see you've missed out Zambia, which was a country that bought BW Dr Who....have they already come back with a no?

Zambia has been contacted, but as yet there has been no response from there.

[LanceM]

Hello Bill,

Have you yet recived any more replys back from the archives that were contacted? Just currious.

Thanks,Lance.

[Bill Spiby]

lancem said:

Hello Bill,

Have you yet recived any more replys back from the archives that were contacted? Just currious.

Thanks,Lance.

Hello Lance,

Replies so far are as follows:

All three are from Nigeria (they were the first to be contacted)

Two were received by Andrew Ainsworth
One is sadly of the 'Dr X has deposited a large amount of money and wants your help etc' variety.

One again seems to seek to profit "Concerning your enquiries, the epesodes could be available but in the achives. Before I could detail somebody to go into the achives, I will like to know what are the conditions attached ? What do I stand to benefit ? Let me know before I start the process."

And one came to myself from the Zonal General Manager of the Nigerian Television Authority
"I was checking our T.V. stations in Northern Nigeria to findout if any tapes of "DR. Who" exists. Alas, none has any of the tapes in their libraries.

I have written to T.V.stations in Southern Nigeria, as soon as I get replies, I would Be able to confirm to you whether or not they have any of the episodes you are seekin

[Wright Blan]

Kind of sad (but not at all suprising) that some of the replies are asking for money. It's going to pretty much be a given that many responses from the third world are going to ask for/ expect to be paid in order to do business with them. More often than not, it will all be for naught in the end.

In many of the third world nation-states, graft is central to getting things done. Scratch the above sentence. It should read: In ALL nation-states, graft isw central to getting things done (but it is definetly so in the third world). Bureaucrats who earn peanuts for salary depend on sleezy doings to pay the bills. Making sure their palms get greased is an unofficial part of the job. Even the ones sympathetic to the cause expect to get some kind of reward or compensation for their work.

I really do expect the chances of episode retreival from Africa to be minimal. Television stations were obvious targets in the various continential civil wars. Any tapes would probably been destroyed in the fighting. On top of this, there are the usual unforseen disasters (fires, earthquakes, mudslides, floods, etc.) That would desrtoy stations and eveything with them. Same with most of Asia. Lots of bad things could have happened in forty years.

OT: By the way, Lance, aren't you graduating soon? Where are you going to college?

[LanceM]

That is a very good point Wright Blan, I had not taken into account the political and ecological aspects of this issue. And I am graduating tomorrow, which is my last day of school, then I go to an graduation ceremony this Sunday. Then I have to go back to my school, where we receive our official diplomas. I am very looking forward to summer here, and next fall am planning to attend Boise State University for at lease one year or so. I am not sure what I want to major in so I will take some core classes, and some electives. Then later after I have a basic idea of what I want to major in I will start to look at other colleges that specify in my chosen major. Well, leave a reply back sometime. I hope that this summer might uncover some missing episodes ( Summer here in the US that is ). If anyone else has any info or input please feel free to leave a post.

Thanks,Lance.

[Wright Blan]

lancem said:

That is a very good point Wright Blan, I had not taken into account the political and ecological aspects of this issue. And I am graduating tomorrow, which is my last day of school, then I go to an graduation ceremony this Sunday. Then I have to go back to my school, where we receive our official diplomas. I am very looking forward to summer here, and next fall am planning to attend Boise State University for at lease one year or so. I am not sure what I want to major in so I will take some core classes, and some electives. Then later after I have a basic idea of what I want to major in I will start to look at other colleges that specify in my chosen major. Well, leave a reply back sometime. I hope that this summer might uncover some missing episodes ( Summer here in the US that is ). If anyone else has any info or input please feel free to leave a post.

Thanks,Lance.

And it's not just the Third World that has the natural disaster problems, either. I saw on CNN this afternoon that there were bad floods in New Zealand. Hopefully there is no major loss of life. Also I hope that those alledegely missing Marca Terror episodes that Neil thinks are down there weren't destroyed. That'd be ironic for them to be lost in a flood. More important than that... I hope it hasn't hurt the production of Peter Jackson's new "King Kong" movie down there.

Lance: congrats on graduating! Good luck at Boise State next fall. You do realise, however, that the Boise St. is going down next year against UGA ;D. Go Dawgs! Sic'em! Woof! Woof!
I

[steve davies]

Hi Bill,

I know this might be a little late but I would love to join in,
How do I contact you for info.

Best and good luyck

Steve

[Bill Spiby]

steve said:

Hi Bill,

I know this might be a little late but I would love to join in,
How do I contact you for info.

Best and good luyck

Steve

It's not to late, this is an ongoing initiative and every offer of help is gratefully recieved and thankfully applied. Simply contact me through the personal message option on the Outpost Gallifrey Forum and I will forward contact lists, sample letter and missing episode list.

[LanceM]

Bill,

I am currently in contact with the Cayman Islands Government, they were wondering if the BBC has any reccords of where episodes were sent to in the islands? Would you please be able to help me here?

Thanks,Lance.

[Wright Blan]

lancem said:

Bill,

I am currently in contact with the Cayman Islands Government, they were wondering if the BBC has any reccords of where episodes were sent to in the islands? Would you please be able to help me here?

Thanks,Lance.

Did they say how far back their archives go?
Anyhow, you could give them a general list of episodes, noting what is missing from the BBC archives, but that would be rather tedious.

I am impressed, however that you got a reply.

[Richard Bignell]

Did they say how far back their archives go?

Why would the Cayman government have any television archives?

For the recorde, there's no indication of the Cayman's ever purchasing any DW material. Indeed, I've got a sneaking memory that they got their television service comparatively late in he day compared to other places in the Caribbean.

Richard