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Post by andybell on Dec 13, 2011 19:24:29 GMT
Now thats depressing....need to change the mood a bit - YAY 2 episodes found! I'm sure there are more out there!
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Post by George D on Dec 13, 2011 23:24:45 GMT
very sad news
Hopefully this is a wake up call for us to do more... and quickly.
Thanks Paul and everyone for all your done. We appreciate it. please let us know what we can do to help you.
PS. If someone wants go down and go through the debre, ill chip in for the airplane ticket.
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Post by John Andersen on Dec 14, 2011 4:38:24 GMT
Based on what Paul said, I am guessing that the trail ended at the Sierra Leone TV station and archive. He sounds convinced that was the last official location. If the episodes remained at that location for almost thirty years, that must have been a very secure archive. Chances are very slim that anything made it out of there. A couple prints might have ended up in the hands of employees or collectors, but that is not a lot to go on if you are looking for a lead.
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Post by John Fleming on Dec 14, 2011 11:16:57 GMT
I see they bought Marco Polo and The Massacre, two of the stories without a single second of surviving footage. When I posted this I hadn't thought about the archive holding everything they had purchased, I just picked the two I would most like to see. As if the loss of Reign of Terror 4 & 5 weren't bad enough, more episodes lost to senseless wars. I realise that sounds a bit selfish given the number of people killed in the civil war, and the fact that we have lost 25 episodes tops whereas Sierra Leone have lost 40 years of archives, but it really grates, particularly that it happened so recently.
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Post by Rob Hutchinson on Dec 14, 2011 18:43:44 GMT
it depends on how something was destroyed as to whether there is a chance if anything survived. if it was fire and totally gutted then there will be nothing left. if it was blown up there is a chance something survived... perhaps somebody picked through the wreckaged and salvaged some stuff? perhaps some sort of ad in the local newspaper asking for anything salvaged to be returned may produce something? long shot i know and really the people of sierra leone have more things to worry about than lost DW.
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Post by John Fleming on Dec 14, 2011 19:40:27 GMT
I think this is a non-starter. You or I might consider a film canister or two to be worth saving but we're talking about some of the poorest people in the world, living through horrific conditions. They would not have been interested in salvaging films.
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Post by davidthrelfall69 on Dec 14, 2011 21:55:48 GMT
So in 1990 Sierra Leone held the following episodes that are still missing.
Marco Polo 1-7 Reign of Terror 4,5 The Crusade 2,4 Galaxy 4 1,2 & 4 The Myth Makers 1-4 The Massacre 1-4 The Celestial Toymaker 1-3 The Savages 1-4 The Smugglers 1-4
Is that all true! despite it making Hartnell and Doctor Who officianados weep at the loss!
If they had been recovered back then we'd be sat here today with only 11 Hartnell episodes missing (9 episodes of the Masterplan plus Dalek Cutaway Mission to the Unknown or whatever people wanna call it and The Tenth Planet 4) Upsetting or what!!!
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Post by Ron Merritt on Dec 14, 2011 22:29:45 GMT
Wow if that's true and they had those until the mid to late 90's and someone there just dropped the ball in the 80's that is truely depressing! I've been happy as could be about the two found episodes and still am but this is one of those if only and what could have been moments.
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Post by Alan Grover on Dec 14, 2011 22:40:13 GMT
What was the likelihood that Sierra Leone had those thirty three episodes up until the archive was destroyed?
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Post by Jon Preddle on Dec 14, 2011 23:03:53 GMT
What was the likelihood that Sierra Leone had those thirty three episodes up until the archive was destroyed? On a scale of 1 to 10, probably 8 or 9....
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Post by dennywilson on Dec 15, 2011 0:05:14 GMT
Not sure if Sierra Leone has been searched or not, just thought I'd bring it to someones attention Hi Andy, Well it's a good spot, although a few people have already emailed me with the info. I can now confirm that there is no material in Sierra Leone, but I can also say that we think the report is correct, that there were Dr. Who and other films in Sierra Leone in the early 1990's. In fact, we think we know which ones. I'm afraid that between 1991 and 2002 the civil war prevented any meaningful exploration of their archives and we very recently discovered that the TV station, including their entire archive, was destroyed during the civil war, we think in 1999. The list of material lost is far too distressing to print here. Regards, Paul But has this been confirmed - a paper trail or anything that says there were stuff there,or at least records that the prints weren't returned to the BBC? Not just "Reports" This would cut the number of possibility existing prints down,since we all know episodes were bicycled around country to country.
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Post by George D on Dec 15, 2011 5:20:29 GMT
I agree with Dennyi would like to hear some verifi action explaining what contact took place previously and by whom, what contact took place recently and withwhom-also how. This fits I in with recent finds in Africa and is ut consistantwith previously discovered information
Also how many sets of prints were in Africa and how much more could still be out there
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Post by Paul Vanezis on Dec 15, 2011 7:53:07 GMT
...would like to hear some verifi action explaining what contact took place previously and by whom, what contact took place recently and withwhom-also how. Yes, I think everyone wants that, but the time for that is in the future. When the dust has settled, the story will be told, and it's surprisingly quite interesting. Regards, Paul
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Post by George D on Dec 15, 2011 14:42:02 GMT
Maybe I'm being ignorant or optimistic but I'm wondering if the debree of the destruction could be protecting the film underneith
This remind me of the burning of the library of alexander
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Post by John Green on Dec 15, 2011 14:56:58 GMT
More interesting,though is the fate of the scrolls from the library at Herculaneum.Now carbonised solid blocks,they are being slowly deciphered. Nil desperandum,as the Romans might say. I think it's the thousands of remaining ancient texts from this library that the Italians are refusing to retrieve. Doctor Who link: the Romans.
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