Ian Levine thread

[ethantyler]

I imagine Richard Bignell gets tired of saying the same things over and over and over again, constantly correcting the same mistakes because people can't be bothered to check for themselves. If I were him, I would get tired of it. I know I get tired of trying to get people to realise that Planet of Giants was filmed as a four-part story and that it isn't a fan myth!

;D

[Andrew Pixley]

Hi Ethan

ethantyler said:

I imagine Richard Bignell gets tired of saying the same things over and over and over again, constantly correcting the same mistakes because people can't be bothered to check for themselves. If I were him, I would get tired of it. I know I get tired of trying to get people to realise that Planet of Giants was filmed as a four-part story and that it isn't a fan myth!

;D

Mmmmmm. Quite. I remember John Freeman giving me a piece of advice when I joined "Doctor Who Magazine" in 1988; he said "Remember, every issue is a first issue for somebody". As such, I've always attempted not to *assume* knowledge too much and to explain as much as a word count will accept. Not all of your readership will always be running at the same speed in terms of understanding.

And when you're starting off in the wild and wacky world of "Doctor Who", it is very difficult to know which references you can trust. You nip down the library for a decent book ... and at that stage you won't know which is the more reliable book: "The Doctor: 30 Years of Time Travel" by Adrian Rigelsford or "Doctor Who: The Sixties" by Howe-Stammers-Walker. And you also need to be aware that works have been superceded. I still get people using notes I wrote in the DWM Archive for "Spearhead from Space" back in 1991 when we knew next to nothing about the production of this serial when a better reference point for them would be the extensive updates in "The Complete Third Doctor", the DWM Special Edition from a couple of years back. The William Hartnell story title debate alone is a horrific hotbed of upset for many people, and I can see why people get confused and/or offended over the subject.

But I would imagine that it's when people do pick their way through the minefield of what's reliable and what's unreliable and start to learn and discover for themselves that things become more interesting for them. They learn and start to call the shots themselves, deducing new things and making new connections between disparate facts. With the new series on the air, I certainly hope that this happens more and more, because I certainly want to see an entire new generation of keen new devotees all eager to discover more about this fantastic show.

I hadn't realised that the editing of "Crisis"/"The Urge to Live" *was* considered still to be a fan myth ... but I can see why it happens. Back in 1993, I recall meeting one gentleman who was convinced that "The Daemons" had been made as a six-part serial because of a very clever April Fool's article which had appeared in an issue of the late, great "DWB" fanzine.

I suppose quite often people can't be bothered to check things out ... but then again there are so many different websites and books ranging from the reliable to the distinctly stinky, it can be very difficult to know who's telling the truth and who's delivering porkies. And there's still those wonderfully grey areas where nobody knows the answer .... and that's probably what continues to fascinate me!

All the best

Andrew

[Chris Frame]

Fans may benefit from the work of Mr B, but he doesn't do it for us, he does it because he likes and wants to do it. I'm not going to kiss his ass because of his obsessions with Doctor Who. It's his hobby.

[Ian Levine]

Guest-Stephen said:

Does anybody know how I can contact Ian Levine

Here I am.
Someone on the restoration Team forum directed me to this thread.

[Ian Levine]

Richard said:

But that's the point. Ian is a good friend of the Restoration Team and has been for many many years. You have *absolutely* no idea as to why the post was taken down. What if Ian himself asked for it to be removed? What if it didn't come from Ian at all and was from one of the forum idiots who like to post things under other people's names?
Richard

It most certainly DID come from me.
And it was taken down because they didn't like the idea of organising a consolidated team of non-BBC employees to start tracking stuff down.
Paul Vanezis is my dear friend, so I was not in a position to argue, but nevertheless I stand by every word I printed.

And by the way, yes Paul had made his own approaches to Cyprus, but the first I or anyone else at the BBC heard of it was when the Cyprus TV station officially replied to my telex. I had already found a separate print of episode 6 from Bruce Campbell as well.

[Ian Potts]

Just another message in favour (sort of) Richard Bignell. I tend to lurk in forums and only post a message where I feel I can add to a debate. One of those forums I used to lurk in was the old BBC forums. When I first started reading Richard did appear arrogant, on occassion I'm afraid. After a while, I noticed when this was so. Firstly was the already mentioned answering the same questions umpteen times (usually "why can't we know what are the new releases more than a couple of months in advance?"- it got to a point when I looked forward to it being asked again, soI could enjoy the argy-bargy. Going slightly off-tangent- why does anyone need to know the reason why something happens within a big corporation like the BBC- it ain't going to change anything you knowing the reason why y'know- ah well.) Anyway, the other times (and the point of my post) he appeared arrogant was when he was defending the BBC. Now, I'm not sure of his status vis-a-vis the BBC, but he does work for them at least in regard as being part of the restoration team, and so he isn't going to want to upset them. In fact, it's very probable that if he has a contract with the BBC, part of that contract states you can't publicly say anything disparaging of the BBC or give out commercially sensitive information. (and release dates of DVD's is comercially sensitive information). As a result, because the BBC itself sometimes ppears arrogant, so would Richard.

[Robbo13]

FAO Ian Levine, since you have posted on this thread, just want to say thanks for saving so many episodes!!

[Wright Blan]

Guest-Ian said:

It most certainly DID come from me.
And it was taken down because they didn't like the idea of organising a consolidated team of non-BBC employees to start tracking stuff down.
Paul Vanezis is my dear friend, so I was not in a position to argue, but nevertheless I stand by every word I printed.

And by the way, yes Paul had made his own approaches to Cyprus, but the first I or anyone else at the BBC heard of it was when the Cyprus TV station officially replied to my telex. I had already found a separate print of episode 6 from Bruce Campbell as well.

Thank you for posting on this forum, Mr. Levine. I have read about you and your work for many years on various websites. You have done an awsome service for Doctor Who and television fans in general in your searches for missing episodes and clips.
I think your idea for forming a group for the purpose of episode retrieval is a good one. I do feel that it would need some kind of support, approval, or accrediation from the BBC so as it would give your effort a level of professionalism not seen before. I believe this has been lacking in past efforts to contact inernational broadcasting organizations.

[Martin Timms]

Richard Bignells work on the DVDs is excellent. No question. He is an invaluable asset to the RT and has improved it immeasurably. However when he gets into debates with people on the net who he does not agree with, or people who get it all plain wrong, then he can be rather obnoxious and condescending.

I think Andy P is right, this is how people come over on the internet due to writing style as opposed to what people are like IRL.

Plus ca change

[Stephen Neve]

Guest-Ian said:

Here I am.
Someone on the restoration Team forum directed me to this thread.

Hi Ian, I hope your go through with your idea. I would like to help with your search if interested.

[Stephen Neve]

Guest-Ian said:

It most certainly DID come from me.
And it was taken down because they didn't like the idea of organising a consolidated team of non-BBC employees to start tracking stuff down.
Paul Vanezis is my dear friend, so I was not in a position to argue, but nevertheless I stand by every word I printed.

And by the way, yes Paul had made his own approaches to Cyprus, but the first I or anyone else at the BBC heard of it was when the Cyprus TV station officially replied to my telex. I had already found a separate print of episode 6 from Bruce Campbell as well.

Mmm.. I thought that was why they may have deleted it. So they don't want non BBC employees tracking stuff down, bit pointless when they ain't gonna bother to do it themselves. Let us fans do it , as in the words of the ninth doctor "there is not anybody left".

[Stuart Douglas]

Guest-Ian said:

It most certainly DID come from me.
And it was taken down because they didn't like the idea of organising a consolidated team of non-BBC employees to start tracking stuff down.
Paul Vanezis is my dear friend, so I was not in a position to argue, but nevertheless I stand by every word I printed.

But isn't Bill Spiby doing exactly the same thing and has been for a while now both here, on the RT Forum and on OG? What's the point of two seperate groups - surely it would be better if Ian et al simply joined Bill's group (see below for details)?

Guest-Bill said:

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


<snipped long list of countires>

[ethantyler]

Does anyone know if Ian going ahead with this idea? I think it's good idea. Usually I would say that it's a bad idea, but Ian has the experience and knowledge required to undertake such a challenge realistically, an experience and knowledge that the average fan doesn't.

Would he/they be looking for unedited/colour episodes too or am I the only person interested in those?

ethantyler (missing the edited scenes from The War Machines 3)

[roberts in manhattan]

why I ask?

AT WYNE were you? ;D

[William Martin]

I have to add my thanks to Ian for saving so many episodes from the jaws of death/burning/landfill.

I can only agree that the amature hunt for episodes has to have
some organisation if only to prevent duplication of effort, it would be a shame if an archive became anti-hunter because of constant pestering by an infinite number of fans.