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Post by Paul S. Hayes on Apr 8, 2012 18:34:07 GMT
Also with it being a poor country I could easily see the scenario where parts of their archive could have gone walkies prior to the war if ready money was offered to someone working there. As some of the DW material was repeated in the late 80's there would still seem to be an interest in the programme there and doing a quick google search I just found that they held a film festival in Sierra Leone last October so there should be a few films clubs dotted around the country - it's a long shot but everything is until it turns up trumps.
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Post by John Wall on Apr 8, 2012 18:48:23 GMT
Also with it being a poor country I could easily see the scenario where parts of their archive could have gone walkies prior to the war if ready money was offered to someone working there. As some of the DW material was repeated in the late 80's there would still seem to be an interest in the programme there and doing a quick google search I just found that they held a film festival in Sierra Leone last October so there should be a few films clubs dotted around the country - it's a long shot but everything is until it turns up trumps. Considering the way prints went walkies in a first world country like the UK you could well be right !
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Post by Jamie F on Apr 8, 2012 19:01:37 GMT
If nothing else, it adds slightly few more avenues where recoveries coud occuer. Unlikely, but again better than knowing for certain that episodes are definitely lost forever.
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Post by John Wall on Apr 8, 2012 20:44:21 GMT
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Post by Andrew Haddow on Apr 8, 2012 21:16:01 GMT
Funnily enough, I found that post today too. It must be Richard Tipple, who is a member of this board. Apparently, although the official language in Sierra Leone is English, 95% of the population speak Krio, which is a stumbling block. There aren't any free online translation tools either.
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Post by Richard Tipple on Apr 8, 2012 22:25:02 GMT
Hello John, that post was made by me. I'm afraid I've not had any responses yet.
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Post by John Wall on Apr 8, 2012 22:33:24 GMT
Hello John, that post was made by me. I'm afraid I've not had any responses yet. I think you get 10 out of 10 for initiative
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Post by Richard Tipple on Apr 8, 2012 22:39:44 GMT
Hello John, that post was made by me. I'm afraid I've not had any responses yet. I think you get 10 out of 10 for initiative thanks John! With the language barrier and all I thought an expat forum might be a good place to start! Of course anything even approaching a lead would be passed on to the relevant parties!
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Post by John Wall on Apr 8, 2012 23:37:59 GMT
I think you get 10 out of 10 for initiative thanks John! With the language barrier and all I thought an expat forum might be a good place to start! Of course anything even approaching a lead would be passed on to the relevant parties! Are there other parts of the world where a similar approach could be tried ?
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Post by francisniemczyk on Apr 8, 2012 23:49:41 GMT
Hi all. In answer to everyone (and to clarify a few misunderstandings) we did not know before very recently that Sierra Leone had retained material beyond their contract period. I am certain that some material was there until the late 1980's because material was broadcast out of contract. The station itself was not destroyed in 1999, but the building that stored all their film was. Once we're sure of our facts we'll write something up, but what we do know is that despite the BBC sending telexes to these stations back in the mid 80's, very few responses were forthcoming. When the BBC & Enterprises said there was nothing more to be found because they'd contacted everyone, they were mistaken as the return from Hong Kong proved. We think the episodes in Sierra Leone were Galaxy 4 through to The Smugglers. Regards, Paul Many thanks to everyone for the clarifying the situation regarding archive material in Sierra Leone, and to everyone's valiant efforts in pursuing that and all the other leads over the years: we all greatly appreciate it. Paul - when you say that Sierra Leone formerly had the episodes from 'Galaxy 4' through to 'The Smugglers', that's presumably minus 'Mission To The Unknown' & 'The Dalek Masterplan' which, as I understand it, were not bought by Australia, and never offered to any other country? Best wishes, Francis
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Post by Jon Preddle on Apr 9, 2012 2:20:03 GMT
Paul - when you say that Sierra Leone formerly had the episodes from 'Galaxy 4' through to 'The Smugglers', that's presumably minus 'Mission To The Unknown' & 'The Dalek Masterplan' which, as I understand it, were not bought by Australia, and never offered to any other country? Those two Dalek stories certainly didn't screen in SL when the other season 3 episodes did back in 1970.
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Post by Simon Smith on Apr 9, 2012 10:53:14 GMT
Well, from what I have heard(from various different sources) the people searching for missing episodes didn't even contact Sierra Leone in the 80's. Places like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Cyprus, Hong Kong etc. were contacted, but certain other countries were not. By the time someone realised that Sierra Leone HAD screened Doctor Who, and decided to make contact, the civil war was well underway.
By the "station" I meant the place that stored the episodes, not the offices.
As far as"How would they know?" Well, it is not uncommon for certain businesses to keep records of what they do and don't have in their possession at any given time. While the BBC may not have had a clue what they had in their archive, it would not be at all strange for the people in Sierra Leone to have had a detailed list of what was in their archive. Sadly, said archive was destroyed in the fighting.
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Post by Richard Bignell on Apr 9, 2012 11:48:23 GMT
Well, from what I have heard(from various different sources) the people searching for missing episodes didn't even contact Sierra Leone in the 80's. Places like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Cyprus, Hong Kong etc. were contacted, but certain other countries were not. I would place too much credence on that. It's also proved not that unusual for an overseas archive not to actually have the first clue what they hold as well.
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Post by John Wall on Apr 9, 2012 11:52:28 GMT
A point that has been made a couple of times is that some of what we are calling "archives" were actually nothing more than "film stores".
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Post by Jamie F on Apr 9, 2012 19:05:46 GMT
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