If You Found

[Graeme Briscoe]

Right this ones been bugging me.
Before we start and no disrespect to Pau. V here.

If you found a whole stack of episodes how long would you take to announce that they were back. for me I would plaster it over Twitter and other various media my one demand on its return would be it gets no private attention whatsoever at mbw.

I see no point it keeping it under wraps am not only one who thinks this way.

[Jeff Haynes]

The only legitimate reason to keep episode discoveries a secret is that if an announcement would jeopardize their or further episodes recoveries. Of course I’m not in charge.

[mikeberke]

My one demand would be that they give certain episodes a serious makeover. Say for instance, Marco Polo, would love to see it colorized and cleaned using state of the art technology, and also recut to movie form with subtle cgi where necessary, and edit for a tighter pace.

[Greg H]

There's lots of variables. If it was a completely straight forward scenario, sure. If I purchased fury at a carboot and it was perfectly preserved I would shout about it. However if it turned out to be somehow sensitive and there could be more from a similar source or a new detective trail I would not say jack to anyone until all my 16mm were home to roost and I had exhausted investigations. That's me anyway

[Graeme Briscoe]

Yes but you could still say there coming instead of hiding it.

[Greg H]

Oh, I should add, if there were commercial concerns, such as the BBC taking the hunt for missing episodes more seriously via a very well timed and well selling release, that would be another excellent reason.

[cjones]

There is one obvious advantage to sitting on the find for a while: you get the chance to check what you have, and its condition. Doubtless Philip Morris has eyeballed his haul, and almost certainly has an excellent idea of what (if any) DW can be found in it, but it makes perfect sense to me that he would not make any announcements until the contents themselves have been checked and their condition assessed. Doing it the way he's doing it removes this possible source of recrimination and bad feeling. After all, what happen if (say) DMP, Marco, or Macra were among the haul, and word got out, only for us to subsequently find that they were unrestorable due to vinegar syndrome or whatever?... 

Also - and this point is often glossed over - Mr Morris is a businessman as well as a DW fan. Announcing what episodes he has straight off the bat might not be conducive to making money off them. 

[Deleted]

I might put an episode on Youtube and watch the fireworks. Of course I would just hand over what I have and say that I look foward to watching it on DVD.

[Philip C Huish]

It would all depend on a number of factors

1. How many I had found 
2. How long it took for me to confirm that the film cans I'd found actually were what was on the films
3. The condition of the films
4. Exactly which ones were being returned

Personally, I'm not likely to find any so it's a moot point.  In the unlikely event I came across any it'd be a small number and I'd not be after anything for their return (except being included in their progress and an early copy of any DVD).  other people on the other hand have other priorities and would want to negotiate a fee (of some kind) for their return which would take time.

I'd wait until I knew exactly what I had and what condition they were in before I'd say anything but as I'd have nothing resting on the outcome of the return (except the glory of it) it wouldn't matter  when I announced it.  

[Mark Vanderlinde-Abernathy]

If I knew that the collector or the source I had found the episodes with had no others and knew not where more could be, then I would first secure the episodes if possible. If the collector sells them to me and I knew they were safe in my possession then, to save ourselves from months of endless bickering on these forums, I would announce it on the forum here. At which point I would contact someone (like Paul) to send the films to.

But that would require a lot of positive outcomes on my part. In likelihood the collector won't want to give up his episodes, he may have leads to other episodes (both dr who and not), and there could be a lot of unknowns for me. If I don't feel comfortable, I'd email Paul privately and let him take charge.

[Philip C Huish]

Dec 28, 2013 19:52:40 GMT Philip C Huish said:

It would all depend on a number of factors

1. How many I had found 
2. How long it took for me to confirm that the film cans I'd found actually were what was on the films
3. The condition of the films
4. Exactly which ones were being returned

Personally, I'm not likely to find any so it's a moot point.  In the unlikely event I came across any it'd be a small number and I'd not be after anything for their return (except being included in their progress and an early copy of any DVD).  other people on the other hand have other priorities and would want to negotiate a fee (of some kind) for their return which would take time.

I'd wait until I knew exactly what I had and what condition they were in before I'd say anything but as I'd have nothing resting on the outcome of the return (except the glory of it) it wouldn't matter  when I announced it.  

Of course the first action I took when finding an episode would be to message someone on here (like PV) and ask for advice/help

[Richard Develyn]

Dec 28, 2013 19:39:32 GMT Jeff Haynes said:

The only legitimate reason to keep episode discoveries a secret is that if an announcement would jeopardize their or further episodes recoveries. Of course I’m not in charge.

Or their release.

And I'm not in charge either :-)

Richard

[Graeme Briscoe]

Plus would you not want a certain percentage of takings.

[Alex Dering]

Graeme,

You're absolutely within your rights to be vexed that there is still no official announcement from TWHGFAFE (Those Who Have Gone Forth And Found Episodes). But, if we're doing this by "rights" there's the other side to consider. TWHGFAFE are the ones who went FAFE. They did the legwork. Try a few scenarios in your head. The BBC will be very grateful to get these episodes back. And the second the episodes leave PM's hands, that gratitude will be all the BBC will give him in exchange unless there's a contract -- a very carefully worded contract -- in place.

But to get to that point, PM, his lawyers, the BBC, their lawyers, the lawyers' lawyers, etc. will take months. During that time (I seriously hope) the collection will be carefully evaluated, and conservation efforts will be begun. Quite possibly, a significant percentage of the films are seriously damaged. I suspect -- I will probably wake up having night sweats over it -- some true gems will simply be too far gone. I hope that, if that is the case, the public will be told which items we missed out on so we can all lift a glass.

So let's try a few cases. Let's assume PM brought back an enormous number of films. I'll pick 10,000 just as a good round number that, from all the rumors, is probably in the ball park, I mean the cricket pitch.

Right off, I wipe out 20%. That's severe vinegar syndrome and such. I have trouble believing the percentage will be that high, but I'm trying to arrive at a minimum recovery expectation. Of those 8,000 theoretical films, I'll lop off about 15% as duplicates of existing material. We're down to 6,800 films. Of those, I'll guess that about 1/3 will be in good condition.

So, starting from 10,000, only about 1/4 of that is in good condition, 1/5 is the equivalent of rotten fruit, 1/6 is stuff you already have. And about 2/5 of that 10K haul needs a lot of work (which means experts, which means $$$). How do you draw up a contract that's fair to everyone in such a situation? I don't know.

I do know that any information being leaked would be a hindrance for negotiations.

Say PM tweets that he's got Feast of Steven. The fans will start screaming for the BBC to settle up already and get those episodes out to us. This will, as the legal types say, piss off the BBC.

Say the BBC issues a press release saying that they'll offer PM a handsome certificate, suitable for framing, and 5,000 pounds for all the episodes (not each film, 5,000 pounds for the whole pile). The fans will start screaming at PM to stop being so greedy and just hand all the episodes over already (because most of fandom doesn't really care what trouble and effort PM went to, they just want the episodes). This will, I suspect, piss off PM.

It's frustrating, but we're going to have to simply suffer through the next few weeks.

[Deleted]

Of course it dose depend what condition the episodes are in and if I am able to get them back to the BBC or not. I wouldn't find an episode then run out of the place screaming to the heavens that I have found something. I would want to make sure it is safely back in the BBCs hands and let them do the announcements.

I wouldn't want anyone to know to be honest otherwise it might hinder any other potential finds. I would find the "Omni-Rumour" quite distracting an I would feel quite restricted. I certaintly wouldn't tweet and I would watch what I would say in case it would be taken in the wrong context.

Basically I would try to avoid the past mistakes of Ian Levine when he handed over those improved versons of The Time Meddler. I am not criticising him. Far from it. But I would not take any chances and blow the work that I am doing.