Post by Tom Tellam on Jan 15, 2008 15:46:49 GMT
Hi. I recently read an account of Space Pirates 2 being found on a domestic video tape in the UK (although in deteriorated condition). This got me thinking about the likelihood of recordings being made in Australia. Unlike the UK I believe almost all the missing episodes were transmitted twice and some as late as 1972 in Australia. According to both the First and Second Doctor Handbooks by Messers Howe-Stammers-Walker the first repeat season of Doctor Who began 9th of November 1966 (at least in Sydney) beginning with The Reign of Terror (The Dalek Invasion and The Rescue being skipped due to A ratings given by hypersensitve censors). There had been two surges of "new episodes" before then showing everything available except Mission to the Unknown/Master Plan. After two new crops of virgin episodes ending with The Faceless Ones Episode 6 on the 26th of January 1968 (in Sydney at least), a second repeat season began on the 12th of February 1968, beginning this time with The Chase and ending with The Faceless Ones again (minus of course Master Plan et al) on 25 June 1968. It may have been during this repeat season that the famous 8mm footage was shot - although that wouldn't explain the Reign of Terror material so perhaps he or she did indulge in that over a longer period of time?
Interestingly this suggests that the stories leading up to The Reign of Terror were only shown once on Australian TV (including most importantly Marco Polo) This also seems to suggest that The Rescue and The Dalek Invasion of Earth were also only ever shown once in Australia until 2003/4). All three though would have been shown in that initial 67 week surge that started in Perth on the 12th of January 1965 and lasting until 22nd of April 1966 when Episode 4 of The Crusade was shown. The second surge had started on 3rd of October 1966 (persumably with The Space Museum).
What is really interesting is the very, very slow and confused manner in which the Troughton stories were broadcast - mostly due to the obstructiveness of the censors... err, I mean Classification Board, which could have made McCarthy blush! A fourth "season" of virgin episodes started (persumably with The Tomb of the Cybermen as The Evil of the Daleks had not yet been purchased) on 5th of July 1968 and ended on 6 January 1969 with Episode 6 of The Web of Fear (just assume Sydney unless told otherwise!).
Can you begin to see what I'm driving at...? The later the better...
The Evil of the Daleks was finally broadcast weekly on the 12 January 1969 to bridge the gap until Fury From the Deep could be offically disected) and it began screening on the 2nd of March 1969. The Wheel in Space is screened weekly as well from the 16th of April 1969.
Then the material between The Faceless Ones (already shown twice) and the Wheel (what the Brits knew as the end of Season 4 and all of Season 5) was then repeated between May and December: Evil 7th May to 16th of May (the School holidays); Tomb and Abominable through August; Ice Warriors to Fury From the Deep was repeated between December 1969 and 23rd of January 1970.
1970 and it's still years before anyone is going to see any of Jon's episodes...
New episodes (from your Season 6), The Dominators to The Seeds of Death, were then transmitted from April 1970. Wheel then got its chance to be repeated across weekday afternoons from 31st of August to 7th of September 1970. Before the remainder of Season 6 is transmitted for the first time, The Dominators, The Mind Robber and The Invasion are repeated from January 1971. Then from 11 April 1971 the rest of the season 6 stories were shown for the first time here.
These last episodes were repeated as well. In January 1972, The Krotons and The Seeds of Death got their second airing. The War Games was repeated from the second week of May 1972 in 50 minute blocks! That was the end of Troughton as the Doctor on Australian TV until 1986!!!
Recently I visited this great page on antique video recorder machines run by this fellow called "Labguy". Although I realise that the machines and the tape would have cost a a fortune, there was at least one model available in the US as early as 1967!!! One machine was marketed with the comment "If you owned one last year, you would have taped the moon landing!"
I just wonder if anyone has any information about the types of video recorders available in Australia, at least by 1972 when the last of Troughton's episodes were played for the last time (some forever it seems and others until 1986 - which I do remember clearly). It seems likely that the early Pertwee episodes were shown here in B&W. Also after the switch to colour no Who was shown in B&W again until 1986 - which may limit the chances of a domestic recording of a missing colour episode of the Pertwee era. Still the Third Doctor Handbook only details the New Zealand experience. Perhaps some more intricate research on the actual dates of broadcasts of Third Doctor material across Australia is warranted? I was recently watching a clip from a Countdown episode in early 1979 and Tom Baker was being interviewed about the new series to be shown in Australia... starting with The Horror of Fang Rock! Clearly we were a bit behind still by the end of the decade.
Also I think the tardiness of broadcasts in Australia, matched with the arguable higher standard of living here during the period might mean that something was captured and maybe transferred to other media. I think that is all food for thought.
Interestingly this suggests that the stories leading up to The Reign of Terror were only shown once on Australian TV (including most importantly Marco Polo) This also seems to suggest that The Rescue and The Dalek Invasion of Earth were also only ever shown once in Australia until 2003/4). All three though would have been shown in that initial 67 week surge that started in Perth on the 12th of January 1965 and lasting until 22nd of April 1966 when Episode 4 of The Crusade was shown. The second surge had started on 3rd of October 1966 (persumably with The Space Museum).
What is really interesting is the very, very slow and confused manner in which the Troughton stories were broadcast - mostly due to the obstructiveness of the censors... err, I mean Classification Board, which could have made McCarthy blush! A fourth "season" of virgin episodes started (persumably with The Tomb of the Cybermen as The Evil of the Daleks had not yet been purchased) on 5th of July 1968 and ended on 6 January 1969 with Episode 6 of The Web of Fear (just assume Sydney unless told otherwise!).
Can you begin to see what I'm driving at...? The later the better...
The Evil of the Daleks was finally broadcast weekly on the 12 January 1969 to bridge the gap until Fury From the Deep could be offically disected) and it began screening on the 2nd of March 1969. The Wheel in Space is screened weekly as well from the 16th of April 1969.
Then the material between The Faceless Ones (already shown twice) and the Wheel (what the Brits knew as the end of Season 4 and all of Season 5) was then repeated between May and December: Evil 7th May to 16th of May (the School holidays); Tomb and Abominable through August; Ice Warriors to Fury From the Deep was repeated between December 1969 and 23rd of January 1970.
1970 and it's still years before anyone is going to see any of Jon's episodes...
New episodes (from your Season 6), The Dominators to The Seeds of Death, were then transmitted from April 1970. Wheel then got its chance to be repeated across weekday afternoons from 31st of August to 7th of September 1970. Before the remainder of Season 6 is transmitted for the first time, The Dominators, The Mind Robber and The Invasion are repeated from January 1971. Then from 11 April 1971 the rest of the season 6 stories were shown for the first time here.
These last episodes were repeated as well. In January 1972, The Krotons and The Seeds of Death got their second airing. The War Games was repeated from the second week of May 1972 in 50 minute blocks! That was the end of Troughton as the Doctor on Australian TV until 1986!!!
Recently I visited this great page on antique video recorder machines run by this fellow called "Labguy". Although I realise that the machines and the tape would have cost a a fortune, there was at least one model available in the US as early as 1967!!! One machine was marketed with the comment "If you owned one last year, you would have taped the moon landing!"
I just wonder if anyone has any information about the types of video recorders available in Australia, at least by 1972 when the last of Troughton's episodes were played for the last time (some forever it seems and others until 1986 - which I do remember clearly). It seems likely that the early Pertwee episodes were shown here in B&W. Also after the switch to colour no Who was shown in B&W again until 1986 - which may limit the chances of a domestic recording of a missing colour episode of the Pertwee era. Still the Third Doctor Handbook only details the New Zealand experience. Perhaps some more intricate research on the actual dates of broadcasts of Third Doctor material across Australia is warranted? I was recently watching a clip from a Countdown episode in early 1979 and Tom Baker was being interviewed about the new series to be shown in Australia... starting with The Horror of Fang Rock! Clearly we were a bit behind still by the end of the decade.
Also I think the tardiness of broadcasts in Australia, matched with the arguable higher standard of living here during the period might mean that something was captured and maybe transferred to other media. I think that is all food for thought.