It's not very often that a famous celebrity appears on Amazon's discussion page to lend their weight to opinions on a particular DVD release, let alone anything related to Doctor Who missing episodes, but it appears that yesterday actor David Threfall did just that.
Being an industry insider you’d expect him to know far more than the average internet rumour-monger, but what David does reveal appears to correlate with the ninety episodes haul, but in far more detail than before. Even if David does elaborate upon such details as episodes of ‘Masterplan’ stuck together etc I'm still dubious about all this and always will be (!) Equally, I’m dubious that this is the 'Shameless' actor himself, yet I’ve been reliably informed by two talent agents that this is he, and David has no qualms about doing down to earth stuff such as Amazon discussion/reviews.
Anyway - here's David's ‘insider insight’ for our perusal -
Thanks to Ssorg for all the information supplied but as new people seem to be joining the forum. I thought I would present a re-cap of what the current position is with regard to the current 97 missing episodes and the current rumour status on each story.
Marco Polo (1-7) Found 2 complete copies of this story and further copies of several other episodes of this story) Possibly to be announced next along with The Macra Terror and The Massacre
The Reign of Terror (4 & 5) Rumoured to have been found.
The Crusade (2 & 4) Rumoured to have been found.
Galaxy 4 (1,2 & 4) Rumoured to have been found.
The Myth Makers (1-4) Rumoured to have been found.
The Dalek's Masterplan (4,7, 11 & 12) Rumoured to have been found but Episodes 11 & 12 stuck together and need a freezing process to try and un-stick them and may be salvageable if this can be achieved. ALL OF THESE ARE NOT MORRIS FINDS.
The Massacre (1-4) Rumoured to be found and to be announced as next recovered story along with Marco Polo and The Macra Terror. (2nd announcement)
The Celestial Toymaker (1-3) Rumoured to have been found and could be part of third announcement along with the Faceless Ones
The Savages (1-4) Rumoured to have been found.
The Smugglers (1-4) Rumoured to have been found.
The Tenth Planet (4) Rumoured to be found and at BFI- NOT A MORRIS FIND.
The Power of the Daleks (1-6) Rumoured to have been found.
The Highlanders (1-4) Rumoured to have been found.
The Underwater Menace (1 & 4) Rumoured to have been found.
The Moonnbase (1 & 3) Rumoured to have been found.
The Macra Terror (1-4) Rumoured to have been found and would be announced as second recovery along with Marco Polo and The Massacre
The Faceless Ones (2,4,5 & 6) Rumoured to have been found and would be announced as third recovery along with the Celestial Toymaker.
The Evil of the Daleks (1,3,4,5,6,7) Rumoured to have been found.
The Abominable Snowmen (1,3,4,5,6) Rumoured to have been found but extensive restoration work needed on one or more of the episodes.
The Ice Warriors (2 & 3) Unconfirmed rumours that both episodes found in Australia.
The Web of Fear (3) Found and will be included in February 2014 DVD release. It is playable.
Fury from the Deep (1-6) Rumoured to have been found.
The Wheel in Space (1,2,4 & 5) 3 unspecific episodes recovered from Africa by Phil Morris but rumours confirm it has been fully recovered also.
The Space Pirates (1,3,4,5,6) Episode 3 recovered from non Morris source but unconfirmed rumours state rest of story recovered so now complete.
Along with all these rumoured missing episode recoveries there have been copies of existing episodes as well. This will hopefully mean better copies and unedited/undamaged copies of The Crusade (1), Galaxy 4 (3) and The Faceless Ones (3)
If all this comes to fruition then the missing episode status will look like what is listed below
Mission to the Unknown/The Dalek's Masterplan (1,3,6,8 & 9)
The Invasion (1 & 4)
For the sake of argument,let's say that the above is true,that's about 25 more potential DVD releases!That's a whole wealth of new material to be pored over for years to come,not to mention the release schedule which with the rate-determining factor of restoration,could go on for the next 5-8 years if they were released at a rate of 3-4 a year (realistically).It just is so tantalizingly wonderful,I'm going to need a whole new shelf for those releases!
