asia television

[Daniel O'Brien]

I recently contacted Asia Television Ltd (ATV) in Hong Kong, asking if they still had any 1960s 'Doctor Who' material (not necessarily missing episodes). I received a prompt, courteous reply informing me that ATV no longer holds any 'Doctor Who' on film or videotape. To be honest, I expected as much. It's fifteen years since 'Tomb of the Cybermen' was unearthed at ATV and I'd guess their film archive was checked and cataloged years ago. Obviously, this wasn't always the case, as ATV claimed not to have any more 'Doctor Who' after returning 'Web of Fear ' part one in 1978. Alas, 'Web of Fear' parts two to six are unlikely to be sitting in a Hong Kong film vault. I also doubt that any ATV employees would have spirited away film cans rather than see them junked. Given Hong Kong's humid climate, I can't imagine that 16mm film would last long stored at the back of someone's wardrobe. I don't know if there are many (any?) 16mm film collectors in Hong Kong. On the plus side - such as it is - 'Doctor Who' is still shown in Hong Kong and there may be local fans with more information.

[Greg H]

I think it entirely possible that something still lurks in foreign vaults, it will have to pass through their digestive systems though before we stand a chance of getting to see anything though.
As for the state of Dr who fandom in the orient??? Havent a clue! I suspect there will be active fans though, and i'd be suprised if there wasnt a 16mm collectors circuit. The same old obsessions turn up all over

[Daniel O'Brien]

I can believe there are still some 'Doctor Who' episodes in foreign TV vaults, though probably just a handful. Of course, there's no guarantee they would be missing episodes. Moreover, the better organized archives would know what they have and - presumably - be willing to share this information. If there are vaults filled with unidentified film cans, they may well stay that way. I don't know if it's significant that the most recent 'Doctor Who' finds, 'The Lion' and 'Day of Armageddon', came from private collectors rather than overseas TV stations. Under BBC policy of the time, 'Tomb of the Cybermen' was never meant to survive in any form. ATV would have had the same 'send it on, send it back or junk it' deal as other foreign buyers. I doubt the Hong Kong Film Archive holds much BBC material. It wasn't established until 1993, fifteen years after the BBC started consolidating its own archive. By the way, did the BBC ever try selling 'Doctor Who' to Japan? The combination of science fiction and monsters was very popular over there in the sixties. The film 'King Kong Escapes' features a villain named 'Dr. Who', though maybe only in the US dub.

[Greg H]

Yes its a realistic point to raise that mislabeled (etc) material in foreign archives wont necessarily be missing. Knowing the shear volume of material held in archives though, it is entirely possible that a few treats still wait to be uncovered.
I do think its extremely relevant that recent recoveries have come back from collectors though. I wont go into a protracted waffle on this subject. Nuff said.

[wrightblan]

It sounds like it would be better to make contacts fwth former Asian TV employees and see what they know.

[Daniel O'Brien]

Possibly, though it would probably require a Hong Kong-based fan with good TV contacts and a lot of persistence. Former employees might know if other episodes were definitely sent on or junked. There's less chance of them knowing what was kept (officially or otherwise).

[Bobby Clark (synthpopalooza)]

Are there any Doctor Who fanclubs based in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, or other parts of Asia? Maybe that's the best place to make a start, see if any of them can have a nose around Asian TV archives and see what's up ... or have a nose around any film collectors clubs or flea market sales, just on the offchance that one of them has a missing episode and not aware of it?

[Greg H]

Yeah film clubs and the 16mm circuit are great places to search for stuff abroad. Do we have any experts on the global fanbase amongst us???
Theres gotta be a few more Troughtons out there.

[wrightblan]

synthpopalooza said:

Are there any Doctor Who fanclubs based in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, or other parts of Asia? Maybe that's the best place to make a start, see if any of them can have a nose around Asian TV archives and see what's up ... or have a nose around any film collectors clubs or flea market sales, just on the offchance that one of them has a missing episode and not aware of it?

I know there are clubs based in Australia. Along with several posters here. Though if they had connections with former Asian TV station employees, they probably would have already talked to them about missing episodes.

[LanceM]

I was also looking to find info on TV Singapura. Which all the episodes of who were sent to. I was trying to find some reference as what happened to thier archive holdings. No info could be found, I hope they did not junk the lot. Wouldn't that be a shame.

Lance.

[Daniel O'Brien]

Has anyone ever met a 'Doctor Who' fan from the Far East, or the Middle East for that matter? I'm not sure it's ever had the same cult following in these territories. I've heard that science fiction has never been big in Hong Kong, for example. While 'Doctor Who' is more than 'pure' s-f, it tends to be categorized in this genre. Of course, this doesn't mean there aren't still episodes out there. A bigger problem might be finding local fans willing to track them down.

[Ash Stewart]

Never met one, but they exist. There's at least one (and there's probably more) at OG. And every now and then my website gets hits from this sort of area of the world - not many, but there are at least some over ther looking at it.