Post by William Martin on Sept 1, 2003 15:02:54 GMT
Guest-Laurence said:
No, until something actually turns up, there's no actual evidence that missing material exists. However...it's just as impossible to prove something DOESN'T exist! There was no evidence of a whole lot of things' existence BEFORE they turned up. It's entirely reasonable to assume though that what is discovered / recovered is still the tip of the iceberg of what is out there. Whether or not some of it will ever come to light though is another matter. Some of it will.In the end it all comes down to past experience and personal belief. I believe there is a mass of missing material out there; the film print circuit thrives year in year out and items that are decades old still turn up at random, when least expected. I'm certain things will continue to surface indefinitely whereas other items will remain unidentified, in private collections, forgotten in cupboards and attics, languishing in dusty vaults or warehouse premises somewhere.. .
apart from the most persistent rumours, the episodes of dr who most likley to exist are those from the first 2 seasons as these were sold to the most overseas stations and the bbc seems to have wiped their who archive in reverse, those episodes that may or may not exist are not being sold or swapped very widley otherwise people would find out, I think part of the reason for people not handing over "lost" material is control, once they lend it to anyone outside the "group" then they lose control over who owns it their copy is devalued they no longer have something that is rare and precious it is now one of many, who would want a diamond if they were as common as sand
I think an aknowlegement on the dvd and in the end titles would help a lot as at least their contribution would be on record
it would be annoying if the owner of a copy took the credit