2025

2025

January

8 - the new year kicks off with a lengthy post on GB from Aron Challinger, stating that the delays with curating the Melbourne hoarder's collection is that the entire hoard has moved universities twice. It now sits with the University of Southern Queensland.

However in a subsequent post, Aron says that despite the hoarder possibly having taped "all of 60's Doctor Who", the tapes were most likely the ones that were thrown out before Aron was contacted.

10 - Aron makes 2 more fascinating posts giving further background as to what the Melbourne collector recorded - here and here.

February

25 - On X, FIF post an intriguing picture of a huge hoard of film cans, stating they were found in a collector's shed and there are more inside the house. They post that it will take them until at least Christmas to catalogue everything.

March

11 - On FB, FIF announce their new podcast. An extract featuring Tim Burrows speaking with John Franklin is here. FIF's Vimeo account is located here, with a second extract from the podcast available here, where John talks about dealing with private collectors.

Future episodes will feature Sue Malden, formerly of BBC Archives, and Paul Vanezis.

17 - FIF release their third Fab Podcast snippet, featuring Sue Malden, on their website. In this episode the team define "missing episode" and talk about FIF's returns to date.

Their Facebook post is here.

18 - Under this same FB post, FIF reply to a query about missing episodes, saying "there are several missing episodes of vintage television" to be announced soon, and that a number of "important announcements" will be made.

21 - FIF release part 4 of the Fab Podcast, featuring Sue Malden once again. Sue discusses the work of FIF in liaising with official archives such as the BBC and BFI.

The article also mentions the five collections that have formed the case studies:

• the Tim Beddows Collection
• the Terry Burnett Collection
• the Maurice Haynes Collection
• the David Moore Collection
• the Martyn Stevens Collection

27 - On X, FIF announce their upcoming presentation of missing episodes of vintage television, billed as "Recovered". The event is being held on 11 May 2025 at The Phoenix in Leicester. They will showcase some of the episodes of vintage television that FIF have recovered since they've been operating.

Another podcast excerpt accompanies the announcement on their site, in which Justin Smith of De Monfort University states that they have certain items in the pipeline which he can't announce until closer to the event date.

In the replies on the corresponding Facebook post, FIF also say they will be making "several important announcements" between now and the event and some of the recovered episodes come from two collections containing "thousands" of films.

29 - In a discussion about DMP and bond stores, on GB Jon Preddle replies to Servorobot about the APS bond store - an independent bond store belonging to Australian Program Services based in Chippendale, Sydney. APS imported and distributed US and UK television programs.

Servo later clarifies that APS did not hold any BBC programs.

April

6 - On X, FIF announce their team members Sue Malden, John Franklin and Prof Justin Smith will appear on the next episode of podcast The Humming Projector. The podcast's official site is here.

7 - On their FB, FIF confirm they will announce "recently recovered" missing episodes at the 11 May festival.

12 - On their FB, FIF announce they have recovered "hundreds" of 16mm film cans from a converted pig shed on a farm, which once belonged to a important person in the industry. They will announce the details at the Leicester event (see March 27.)

On Richard Latto's X, he mentions that FIF will also announce another find from the Terry Burnett collection.

14 - On FB, FIF announce that one of the episodes of vintage episodes to be announced on 11 May is an episode of Boyd Q.C. - the fourth episode of this series to be recovered by the group.

21 - On their X, FIF post that they have been busy collecting films over the Easter holiday. The following day, FIF show pictures of 2 film cans they say were retrieved from the collections of two former BBC cameramen.

23 - On their FB post announcing the find of a missing episode of ITV drama Emergency Ward 10. FIF also mention that they have found a total of 50 episodes of the program, most of which are missing. While the earliest episodes recovered are from 1961-62, most are from 1964. This is right in the wheelhouse of missing Who. 

A link to a short podcast excerpt is here. 

25 - On FB, FIF announce the program for Recovered! on 11 May. No episodes of Who are listed.

30 - FIF post their updated list of BBC shows produced in the late 1950's and 1960's to be shown at Recovered! - no Who is among the listed titles.

May

1 - FIF announce that they have officially established a charitable trust, called "The Film is Fabulous Trust".

11 - At FIF's Recovery event, Sue Malden states she hopes FIF can be involved in returning missing Doctor Who, that there are "one or two" episodes known to be in private collections and and that they know "a few places where they might be".

12 - On the lack of any new announcements at Recovery, despite what FIF said previously online, on GB Scot Ferre speculates that "certain finds were postponed".

13 - On GB, JonGraeme says he spoke to both John Franklin and Sue Malden at the Recovery event and the comment "not ready to announce things at this time" came up more than once.

Meanwhile, the Radio Times publish quotes from Sue Malden that "we know fairly certainly that there are missing episodes in private collections", and that "when the time is right" FIF may be able to assist in returning these to the archives.

14 - On GB, Scot Ferre makes reference to a post in the "Spoiler section" of the forum (original link not found), where someone posted a supposed list of 10 missing episodes and where they are to be found in the UK:

The Daleks' Master Plan, episode 9 "Golden Death", The Daleks' Master Plan, episode 11 "The Abandoned Planet", and The Smugglers episode 3 - a collector in Pembrokeshire.

The Moonbase episode 1 and The Evil of the Daleks episode 3 - Kent

The Wheel in Space, episodes 4 & 5 - Sussex

The Space Pirates episodes 4 through 6 - a collector in Sussex.

Downthread, member The Evil Dalek says he has seen this list many times over the past two years and either someone is repeating a hoax or it is a genuine list. And member JayJohn reminds that this list has also appeared in the self-same thread back in December 2024 (see December 2024, 30).

25 - On The Sirens of Audio podcast, Aron Challinger is interviewed, with an update on the Melbourne hoarder collection (at 1:05:00). Aron confirms the collection does include material from the 1960s and "the BBC has been involved" in talks regarding this material. He also confirms that based on the earliest material, the collector could have recorded everything from The Faceless Ones onwards. 

However, Aron reiterates that 95% of the collection was thrown out two weeks before he was contacted. No missing Who appears to be on any of the tapes that were retained. "Only a couple of dozen" tapes went back to the BBC and none of them contained missing Who. Aron does remain hopeful that there may be other large collections out there, primarily film, that may contain missing material.

Aron also speaks to the film can labelled "The Macra Terror", as discussed on the 42 to Doomsday podcast.

Prof. Jason Bainbridge will announce in June/July what else is happening with the collection, from an Australian/pop cultural standpoint, and a YouTube channel may be on the way to discuss the contents of the collection in depth.

June

12 - On GB, after a brief recap of all things omnirumour, Scot Ferre posts that he still believes The Power of the Daleks exists but "it's not in the right hands yet". Steve Manfred adds downthread that he was told in 2013 of a Halloween party where Caroline Skinner was told by Morris that he held all of Power and The Tenth Planet: 4.

Meanwhile, on their FB, FIF post about the return of a copy of 1966 episode of the serial Vendetta: The Running Man. FIF explain the process of how private collectors can liaise with the BBC, have their films scanned to digital for storage in the BBC archive and returned to the collector.

July

17 - The Radio Times give a (random) interview with Peter Purves, the actor who played companion Steven Taylor in many 1960's missing episodes of Doctor Who. Purves says how angry he is that the BBC destroyed so many of his episodes. The article also quotes Sue Malden  from the RT interview in May this year (see May 13), where she says "we know think we know where a few of them might be".

27 - On GB, member David John Parker posts about a BlueSky post on the Fesshole account, where the poster says his grandad stole films from the BBC in the 70s. 

31 - On the Doctor Who ME FB Group, member Peter Elliott shares a picture of an article from the Daily Mirror. The article features Sue Malden stating the missing episodes could be in private hands.

August

4 - On GB, member vdbn mentions that on the latest episode of Radio Free Skaro, Stephen says that Paul Vanezis told him years ago that the Doctor Who episodes that he is aware of that are in private collections are "not that significant" (at around 21 mins). The podcasters go on to say which episodes they believe are the most likely to be found.

September

17 - On PMF, the following post appears which I've quoted in its entirety and without additional commentary:

well think of this. in this day and age most people DO NOTHING FOR NOTHING

so if the BBC gave them a percentage of sales for returning a lost episode ALOT MORE MISSING EPISODES ESPECIALLY DR WHO WOULD GET HANDED IN.

THIS IS THE MAIN REASON NOTHING IS BEING HANDED BACK IN.

THINK ABOUT IT. PHIL MORRIS WILL AGREE FOR A START.

ANYONE WHO DISAGREES IS A BBC EMPLOYEE

AND REMEMBER THIS IT WAS THE BBC WHO DESTROYED THEM ALL IN THE FIRST PLACE. YOU WILL GO TO YOUR GRAVES NOT SEEING MOST OF THESE EPISODES EVER AGAIN.

YOU MIGHT EVEN BE READING A MESSAGE FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS MISSING BBC MATERIAL

29 - FIF announce they will participate in The Blackpool Film Collectors Convention on 16 November 2025, together with Dicky Fiddy of the BFI's annual Missing Believed Wiped event. Dick "will introduce four episodes of recovered television, which were found in private film collections by Film is Fabulous! These four previously missing episodes will encompass comedy, drama, and light entertainment."

October

3 - On YT, The Doctor Who Missing Episodes Podcast draws attention to a positive piece of news shared on the FIF Facebook page. 

Not only do FIF announce that their application to become a registered charity has been approved (see May 1), but they state in a reply post (see below) that they are aware of "several" missing episodes of Doctor Who in private collections. They hope to make an announcement about this soon.

Interested persons can now make a donation to the charitable trust to assist in the finding, preservation, storage and returning of missing television and film.

The full text of the reply post is:

"As mentioned by Sue Malden at our RECOVERED event in May, we are aware of several missing episodes of Doctor Who (Sue stated one or two, but there are more than this) in private film collections in the U.K. We are liaising with the individuals about cataloguing and preserving their entire collection, including the missing Doctor Who episodes, and ensuring that copies are returned to the BBC. We expect to make a detailed announcement shortly."

See also the May 11 entry above.

Further, FIF say that:

"We’ll announce the recovery of items as soon as we’ve fulfilled all of the criteria we’ve agreed with the copyrights holders and the owners. This is why raising sufficient funds to acquire collections is so important right now."

So this would seem to indicate genuine movement on the missing episodes front. More detail is given in this regard:

"We are working diligently behind the scenes with several film collectors who own missing episodes of television, including Doctor Who. We hope to be in a position to catalogue their entire film collections soon, and to secure copies of the missing material for the copyright holders. Watch this space."

4 - The following day FIF drop a hint about a 60's comedy find, to be announced at the event in Blackpool in November.

Meanwhile on Zeta Minor, member theboosh posts that he is "hearing it could be as many as four episodes".

5 - The conversation continues underneath FIF's initial post, with more fascinating info about a find of a cache of silent film:

"We’re working frantically behind the scenes to preserve vulnerable film collections, several of which contain rare and missing items (not just episodes of television, but silent movies, lost British features from the 1930s and 40s, plus other gems). The conferment of charitable trust status will allow us to raise funds and do so much more.

"With regards to missing television, let’s be clear, Film is Fabulous! is not a treasure hunt. We’ve said this throughout. We are focussed on preserving collections. We only catalogue collections. If we were to treasure hunt, we’d be shunned by the film community in short time.

"Our comment about the early Avengers episodes was clear: we ‘hope’ to provide more information soon. It’s not certain that we’ll be granted access to the collection in question, or that we’ll be allowed to catalogue the films. However, we’ve strongly encouraged the owner, who is in very poor health, to contact the rights holder about one particular item.

"Film is Fabulous! will continue to post regular updates, and be as transparent as anyone involved in the preservation of film has ever been with their followers."

And this:

"We’ll continue to preserve vulnerable film collections held privately and, rest assured, we’ll update everyone with details of the rare and missing material we’ve recovered in recent months."

9 - Philip Morris appears on the Sense Sphere Podcast, to discuss missing episodes among other topics. A summary of key quotes follows:

5:40 Morris explains that he does not work with FIF but he is friends with them (particularly John Franklin) and is well aware of the work they do. 

12:30 Phil goes on to explain the work of TIEA is still ongoing (cataloguing overseas archives) and as with the work of FIF, it's this cataloguing work that can take a long time.

12:50 Phil also confirms that The Web of Fear was found in its entirety and further states the initial plan was to "release everything" but plans for the 50th anniversary changed that plan (15:50). (Ed:- So, where is "everything"?)

16:30 Phil claims the source of the omni-rumour was Ian Levine and that "he has the evidence" (Ed:- this seems to be based purely on Levine's tweets at the time. The omni-rumour has several other known provenances prior to this.)

20:47 Phil says he does have contact with private collectors but it's in confidence, and even if they have something of interest you can't coerce them, you have to wait until they're ready to deal.

21:45 The interviewer asks Morris whether he might see any of the missing Hartnell stories (Marco Polo, The Savages, etc) before he dies. Phil replied yes, he may see "parts of them", for instance some of the historicals. However he won't specify further than that but he does question the wiped status of The Massacre. Later (53:40) he says it would also be nice if The Smugglers, The Tenth Planet:4, The Moonbase and The Evil of the Daleks turned up.

23:25 Morris mentions he knows the owner of the skip company that served Villiers House, and that when films were returned and rights expired, this person would "help himself to titles" found in the skips. He says he knows this from "first hand testimony", so some might have gone to landfill but others didn't. Morris says "anything could be out there".

24:30 Phil appears to reiterate the claims of FIF that "we know for a fact" there are some private collectors who hold episodes of Doctor Who (Ed:- he doesn't specify whether these are missing episodes).

34:25 Phil confirms that Web:3 does still exist, and at 51:40 he says he has "a fair idea" where it is. Phil explains that he'd had to leave the relay station at Jos, with his assistant remaining on site. The films were transferred to the NTA station, however the assistant claims the Jos station manager took 2 episodes away prior, one of which was Web:3 and the other was an episode of The Troubleshooters. 

Phil also reiterates his previous claim that when asked the station manager replied  "I don't know anything about missing Doctor Who" and Phil believes this means the manager was bribed to steal the two films. (Ed:- and why not more?)

40:45 Phil mentions as an aside that TIEA has brought at a lot of film back from Saudi Arabia and that he has been very busy this year with travelling abroad and continuing TIEA's work.

46:30 Phil says that "when the time is right" FIF will announce their finds, and that "they have been through clearances". Fans need to be patient but they won't be disappointed, "it will be fantastic". He also states he does have more missing BBC material, but won't specify what it is.

56:13 Phil confirms that he did excavate some film prints from a desert landfill and that despite this the prints were "fine".

1:06:10 Phil says he will write a book one day if there is enough interest, if he has time and that he has also already been in talks with a publisher.

He goes on to say that the search is still not over, he is not finished checking relay stations across the world - including storage hubs and even radio stations which were also used to store films.

1:04:55 In Phil's opinion there is still hope for complete stories to turn up.

1:17:02 Phil thinks it's entirely possible that Marco Poio and The Reign of Terror could be completed by finds of the episodes.

1:20:35 Phil elaborates on the "bicycle system", saying that whether a program was bicycled on depending on sales negotiations. While this were under way, the films sat at their last location, then if a sale was eventually made the films were transported to the next location. Third party providers were involved in this process, and Phil confirms he has already checked those and cleared out what they had ("mundane" stuff, mostly feature films).

1:22:40 In most cases Africa and the Middle East were the final destinations for prints.

1:31:50 Phil confirms that private collectors in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia have been contacted.

1:34:10 Phil has the tracking records from all the relay stations he's checked and knows what went where.

1:36:00 When asked why Marco Polo was part of the rumours about Enemy and Web, Phil once again says this is due to the omni-rumour and Ian Levine. He also says he doesn't want to start another omni-rumour and prefers playing things close to the chest. However Phil confirms he DOES have more missing BBC material - however TIEA is still cataloguing "some" of this.

1:39:00 Phil says he has never had any money from the BBC and that all his work has been undertaken using his own money.

And meanwhile on X, FIF post that the collection of "a former industry professional", comprising over 1,000 films is being collected, to be catalogued and preserved.

11 - On X, FIF post that they have recorded an interview with them by Tim Burrows of The Doctor Who Missing Episodes Podcast, to be published "this weekend".

Meanwhile on GB, erstwhile Doctor Who Magazine editor Tom Spilsbury drops a bombshell - that in 2013, post the reveal of Web and Enemy and after DWM conducted an interview with Morris, a member of the Restoration Team told Tom that Phil wasn't even in Jos when the Web/Enemy/Troubleshooters films were found; it was actually his assistant. Further, the RT felt they had to "go along" with Phil's account in order to ensure he returned more episodes, which in a separate post he says there was definitely a feeling at the time he had.

Tom follows up with this post, that the RT felt they were "walking on eggshells" around Morris, and that he was so unpredictable that it seemed possible he might never give anything back, "ever".

12 - On GB the plot thickens, with Tom Spilsbury replying to a poster saying the assistant's name was Humphrey. Tim B responds that he recalls the gentleman in question may have been a representative of Zambia TV. Scot Ferre concurs that this name rings a bell.

Given this new information, member Frax Owen speculates what if Morris himself was the superfan who rang the station manager to withhold Web:3?

Meanwhile on PMF, Servorobot confirms that 'Humphrey' worked for Zambia TV.

13 - The DWMEP publishes their interview with FIF, featuring Sue Malden, Prof Justin Smith of De Montfort University and John Franklin.

They recap their own backgrounds as well as the reason FIF came into being: to preserve the at-risk collections particularly of elderly men who were sick or who passed during COVID, and why achieving charitable status has been so crucial to obtaining access to collections and preserving the films.

They explain they are often dealing with ill or distressed collectors, and also their families who are grieving their loss. So the circumstances are very sensitive and require human understanding and compassion. FIF also plan to start obtaining oral histories from collectors, to tell the stories of the collectors and their collections.

Among the finds so far, FIF say they found a nitrate film of the earliest known appearance of Oliver Hardy in a silent film - in much better condition than the copy held by the US Library of Congress.

FIF say they are also concerned with liaising with broadcast services to ensure that found vintage film and television can be seen by audiences. Their first priority however is to consult with rights holders about restoration and scanning of films.

The ability of FIF to raise funds will assist them in handling the logistics and costs of operating to obtain and preserve at-risk material.

At present FIF are poised to return an episode of the "Late Night Horror" series plus 4 episodes of Simon Dee's "Dee Time", which they are in the process of returning to the BBC once restored. Two early Avengers episodes are with a collector and FIF are encouraging them to return to copyright holders.

As regards the potential Doctor Who finds, John says that both a "former industry professional" and other collectors are involved; there are "several" collections with "several" missing episodes. FIF are actively working to preserve and catalogue these collections in their entirety.

John specifies that the recent FB comment related to one collection in particular, comprising 1000s of films with one known missing episode of Doctor Who - and there may be more. Once FIF achieved their charitable status they were due to go in and obtain the collection - on 10 October, the day of recording the podcast (Ed:- and coincidentally, the 12th anniversary of Web/Enemy); however the collector sadly passed in the interim, preventing FIF gaining access. 

The collector's estate has now gone to administration (as both executors of the will had also passed), however FIF's solicitor believes they have an excellent chance to regain access.

Most reprehensibly - apparently some Doctor Who fans have resorted to demanding access to De Montfort University, even to the point of making physical threats against FIF personnel. (Ed:- THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. To those indulging in this sort of disgusting behaviour - sort your bloody selves out quick smart).

FIF say that we will be "very, very happy" with the announcements of finds when they come. This is just the beginning and there is far more to be done.

And meanwhile, on PMF, member nig4life references a FIF Facebook reply (Ed:- I can't find the original FB post) in which they state:

"As regards the legal situation with the deceased collectors estate, following a post stating that 'I hope your lawyer is right about the good chance of been able to access the collection', FiF have stated 'The application will be made to the court next week. We’re very confident that the court appointed executors will allow us to proceed."

15 - The Radio Times picks up the story of a potential return of missing episodes.

16 - On FB, FIF give more details of benefits to supporters, including live festivals at which missing episodes will be screened. For those not in the UK, FIF are looking into livestreaming licences.

In addition there will be email updates, podcasts and online discussions.

17 - On their X, FIF post that more episodes of lost BBC television will be deposited in the archive "soon".

18 - On PMF, Servorobot posts that at the Sirens of Audio event featuring Carole Ann Ford this weekend, Professor Jason Bainbridge will give an update on the collection of the late Melbourne-based collector.

19 - On their FB, in a post about recovered episodes of independent television, FIF disclose in a reply to a query from Stefan Lipinski about Doctor Who, that they are "removing three more collections next week". There are 1000s of films being retrieved which will take the FIF team a couple of months to catalogue.

On PMF, member Professor_who gives the update from Prof Bainbridge, that it could take up to five years to catalogue the collection of the Melbourne "hoarder".

And on YouTube, the Sense Sphere again features Philip Morris, talking about FIF and how fans will not be disappointed.

2024

January

9 - The year starts off in an unusual place - Reddit. 

On GB, member IceWarrior posts that a Reddit user is claiming to be in possession of three missing episodes, allegedly: 

The Celestial Toymaker, episode 1
The Tenth Planet, episode 4
The Space Pirates, episode 6. 

Other members immediately identify this as a hoax (given that the Reddit user's name is "EffectiveFishing6526").

10 - After claiming down-thread that The Space Pirates is a televisual recording and the other two episodes are film prints, EffectiveFishing6526's post is deleted by an admin. The user had apparently posted in other subreddits as well, and these posts were also deleted.

19 - Regarding the Reddit user, Paul Vanezis drops in to the GB thread to confirm that despite other Redditors encouraging EffectiveFishing6526, Paul has not been contacted in relation to the episodes in question.

February

4 - On GB, Jon Preddle debunks the theory that "The Feast of Steven" (The Dalek's Master Plan:7) may have been telerecorded for overseas sales.

9 - On GB, Hewy asserts that the list Paul Vanezis gave to Russell T Davies and his team was not simply a list of what might possibly be found - and thus the origin of the omnirumour, making the entire phenomenon a spurious one - but a confirmation of what HAD been found - "all recovered and safe".

17 - When asked whether he believes the story of Morris' global search will one day be told, Richard Bignell says he has "no idea", and that he hasn't spoken to Phil in eight years.

March

23 - On PMF, member Bowtiesarecool posts a Twitter link from Film is Fabulous, stating that an announcement of new finds of film and TV will be made soon.

April

20 - On the Missing Believed Wiped Facebook page, Film Is Fabulous post they are assisting with the curation of a large collection of vintage film and television belonging to the late Tim Beddows, founder and former Managing Director of Network Distribution.

25 - Film is Fabulous announce finds of film prints missing from the archive:

Dad’s Army: The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage (Broadcast: 8th March 1969)

The Likely Lads: Entente Cordiale (Broadcast: 16th December 1964)

The Likely Lads: A Star is Born * (Broadcast: 23rd June 1965)

The Likely Lads: Far Away Places * (Broadcast: 14th July 1965)

Steptoe and Son: My Old Man’s a Tory (Broadcast: 8th November 1965)

The two latter episodes of The Likely Lads already existed but only as a digital copy.

28 - On PMF, Mark Humphries shares a report of an alleged quote from Steve Roberts at the Capitol Convention:

Steve Roberts bowed out of the Restoration Team after the DVDs ended - he couldn’t face doing the Blu-Rays. He said point blank there are other episodes out there, they’re just playing the long game and treating the owners nicely in the hope they’ll let them be used.

May

6 - On GB, member typeforty shares information from a post by Ian Levine on the Doctor Who Missing Episodes Unofficial Facebook Group: that although Ian will proceed with animating many missing stories, The Wheel in Space is not being done "for a very special reason".

8 - On the MBW Facebook page, Film is Fabulous reports that over 400 of the 620 films of the Beddows Collection have been catalogued. Several missing items have come to light and will be announced shortly.

10 - 42 to Doomsday release their podcast dealing with the "hoarder tapes", being curated by Aron Challinger and Prof Jason Bainbridge.

June

3 - On GB, Tim B reports that Film is Fabulous are in the process of curating and cataloguing the collection belonging to the late Terry Burnett (he of the Galaxy Four and Underwater Menace returns; see Origins of the Omnirumour).

4 - FIF later post about this on the MBW Facebook page.

12 - On GB, Simon Burt claims that back in 2014, he heard from "someone at the BBC in London" that Phil Morris' behaviour on social media may have led to further deals for missing episodes being "suspended".

Further, Tim B says he believes that the episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan found in the UK were from the Australian audition prints.

17 - On GB, Scot Ferre confirms that he and others remain operating on the assumption that "episodes were acquired but not released".

22 - Film is Fabulous post a summary of their returns to date.

July

26 - On the MBW Facebook page, FIF announce that a large film collection from a deceased estate (namely the late David Moore) is being curated, with a large amount of known missing material already identified.

In a further update, FIF reveal that:

• The majority of films are 16mm, with a small number of 35mm as well as 8mm and 9.5mm Pathe films
• There is a great many episodes of television, predominantly from the 1950s and 1960s, including items from Rediffusion and, of primary interest to Whovians, the BBC
• Details of the items will be announced once scans of the films have been returned to the copyright holders.

August

15 - FIF post an update on the David Moore film collection, stating that not every 35mm film will be salvageable and sadly this includes "a small number" of episodes of missing television. Permission needs to be sought from the copyright holders before they disclose the names of the episodes.

Their cataloguing of the collection will re-commence on 2 September.

September

14 - When asked on Facebook for an update on the missing episodes, FIF state that they have been extremely busy but an announcement will be forthcoming soon.

15 - On Ian Levine's Facebook Group (ILFG), a member shares an update from FIF: that this Monday and Wednesday, the team will announce which missing episodes they have recovered from deceased estate collections.

20 - On GB, Paul Vanezis gives his summation of the state of both the films and their cans, from the  David Moore collection.

21 - On their Facebook page, FIF announce a fundraiser campaign for the restoration of recovered missing episodes of television.

23 - FIF post an update of the progress of the late Terry Burnett's collection.

24 - FIF make an intriguing reply to a post from an enquiry about missing Who (and see September 28).

26 - FIF reach their fundraiser target to restore a missing episode.

28 - On GB, member NrpBazuCd points out a post from FIF's Facebook (see September 24) - in reply to an enquiry about missing Who, FIF says "Let's see what happens in the next few weeks."

30 - On their Facebook, FIF post a lengthy clarification of their purpose and methods in recovering missing episodes, and working with film collectors to preserve precious material. In a comment underneath the post, FIF also clarify that none of the recently discovered missing episodes are Doctor Who.

October

3 - FIF announce a find of a missing episode of 1963 BBC war drama, Moonstrike. Only 3 of its 27 episodes were thought to survive.

4 - FIF make another announcement of a recovered missing 1960s BBC episode - The Third Man: The Man Who Wouldn't Talk. In addition, a 16mm, better quality version of The Third Man: The Man With Two Left Hands, has also been recovered.

7 - On GB, member acb2009 posts a link to another fascinating find - unbroadcast alternative footage of an episode of Thunderbirds, found in a garden shed in Berkshire. The films belonged to a former editor on the program, now deceased. The films were found by his family.

Meanwhile FIF announce the restoration of another missing TV episode - Saber of London: Four Against Three. Also, in the comments below, they state they are liaising with the estates of MORE THAN TWENTY collectors!

11 - On X, FIF announce their fifth case study of their pilot programme - this one will not involve a collector but a former production team member of "several" classic television series.

14 - FIF announce the finding of a missing episode of Play School. This brings the total finds to 15, plus 9 of better quality.

18 - On X, FIF announce that this week they have catalogued a trove of "BBC negatives, prints and magnetic soundtracks" from a private collection. No other details are forthcoming.

23 - On the Type 40 YouTube channel, an interview with Ian Levine is posted in which Ian re-tells the story of how he rescued film prints of Doctor Who, and for the first time (to my knowledge) clarifies his role in the recovery of The Tomb of the Cybermen.

28 - FIF announce two recovered ATV episodes, featuring Sylvester McCoy: 

Work: Journey to Work (1978)

Work: Unemployment (1979)

November

5 - FIF announce that they are in contact with seven former industry professionals via an article sent to members of the BBC Pensioners' Association. Further, FIF confirm that two collections, being added to their pilot programme, contain missing, rare and unique BBC films and negatives.

22 - After a long period of no new rumours on PMF, Mr Borusa says he has heard a rumour pertaining to The Smugglers, but he "doesn't believe it". Other posters speculate it may just be regarding animation.

December

21 - FIF announce the creation of the Film is Fabulous Trust, with the aim to be approved by the Charity Commission by first quarter 2025. The purpose of the Trust will be to ensure the work of FIF is maintained and film archives preserved for posterity.

Meanwhile, additional funding has been secured by De Montfort University to continue to curate and catalogue the film collections of several late ex-industry personnel.

26 - In a now deleted tweet, a screenshot of which was shared on PMF, Philip Morris states that he has material that he will never return to the BBC to be "desecrated".

30 - On GB, member TimeLoopy shares a post from a private FB group, regarding the alleged locations of 9 (actually 10) missing episodes of Doctor Who:

"The Space Pirates 4, 5 & 6 (Collector in Suffolk). The Wheel In Space 4 & 5 (West Sussex). The Evil Of The Daleks 3 & The Moonbase 1 (Kent). Golden Death, The Abandoned Planet & The Smugglers 3 (Pembrokeshire)."

"I was told that those episodes were in private collector's hands in those areas back in 2020 when I was talking in groups over lockdown. I can't say if it's true but I was also told of a little underground network of private collectors of advanced years who delight in knowing they have films & tv shows nobody else has. It's disgusting to think people are so selfish. I was told that one collector had a relative who worked for the BBC in the early 70's & used to take away film cans weekly. Sitcoms, talkshows & more light entertainment but the guy I spoke to said that this particular had two of the only existing prints from The Gnomes Of Dulwich & almost 20 episodes of Z Cars."

As another year draws to a close, no recovered Who to celebrate BUT Film is Fabulous has gone gangbusters in returning missing telly to the archives! 17 found plus an additional 9 of better quality is nothing to be sneezed at!

The Omniblogger would like to congratulate FIF on their incredible efforts! Fans of archive TV appreciate you!

2023 - November and December

 November

1 - The BBC announces that the entire back catalogue of extant Doctor Who episodes are available for free on iPlayer. Fans note that some episodes appear to be missing (eg. The Abominable Snowmen, episode 1). (Note: iPlayer is not available outside of the UK.)

2 - The BBC announces it will make available a cut-down and colourised version of The Daleks as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations.

3 - On MEF, member John Green shares an announcement from Film is Fabulous - that among other things they will be announcing finds of "lost children's programmes from the 1960s". Could this include missing Who?

Meanwhile it's announced that the newly-colourised version of The Daleks will be shown on BBC4 on the anniversary date at 7:30pm

13 - On MEF, Paul Vanezis announces that that a second instalment of 1970s Basil Brush has been returned, thanks to the Film is Fabulous initiative.

On GB, Tim Burrows claims it was an "ex-BBC guy" who returned the print.

Meanwhile, in an article published by TV Tonight, Mark Stuckey calls for an "amnesty" for film collectors to be immune from legal action should they attempt to return missing BBC material.

14 - After some discussion on GB as to whether the 60th anniversary in 10 days will hold any surprises,  Scot Ferre posts that he has "heard" something that hints about a possible return but it has been passed down a chain so he won't say anything further.

20 - On GB, Richard Bignell posts a fascinating screengrab of the memo that first tipped off him and the other missing episode hunters as regards the involvement of T.I.E. in the overseas sales of Doctor Who.

21 - After surprisingly few rumblings leading up to the 60th anniversary, on GB member Zippy posts that Ian Levine has revealed that Jeremy Bentham told him there will be a "missing episode announcement" this Thursday. (Ian has apparently deleted all Tweets and posts regarding this, so there is no direct link.)

However on his Facebook group, Ian says he "doesn't believe it for a minute".

22 - Further to this, member Scot Ferre says it could be "multiple episodes of a story".

The heat continues on GB, with member chris1973 saying a Facebook friend of his told him it could be "multiple" episodes of a story to he revealed.

Meanwhile, Phil McGill casually drops into the conversation that tomorrow we will all be watching The Tenth Planet episode 4!

23 - The midnight mark passes with no announcement made - but as posters on GB point out, no-one of note has been in to debunk the rumour, which is normally standard procedure in these cases.

Member chris1973 cheekily suggests that if he were making an announcement, he might time it to the original episode's broadcast time of 5:15pm!

But unfortunately, the 60th passes without any news on missing episodes.

24 - On GB, Douglas Wulf enigmatically posts that "perhaps we won't have so long to wait". Doug posts something similar on PMF.

The Independent publishes an article about missing episodes featuring quotes from Paul Vanezis, stating that finding missing episodes of television is a by-product of helping to catalogue people's film collections.

26 - On GB, Andora mentions that in 'Secrets and Scandals', a Channel 5 documentary where missing episodes were mentioned, actor Mark Strickson (Turlough) apparently conducted his own search in Sierra Leone while recording a wildlife documentary! 

Meanwhile on PMF, Doug Wulf keeps up the enigmatic posting - when replying to another member as to his thinking, Doug responds:

"You have a very, very easy way of finding out, but I'll leave that to you.

You'll understand shortly."

Could this be a reference to one of the end of year specials, entitled "The Giggle", in which the (Celestial) Toymaker is set to return?

28 - 29 - Doug makes a series of optimistic posts on PMF, in particular this post, explaining why he feels optimistic for the future of missing episodes.

December

2 - On PMF, Scot Ferre says if he was a "betting man" he would bet on a return announcement this month, tying into the return of the Toymaker. Doug Wulf agrees with him.

On GB, dr caligari points out that during the Hartnell montage at the end of the colourised showing of The Daleks, at one point there appears to be a shot of William Hartnell dressed as the Abbot of Amboise from the completely missing story The Massacre. Other posters claim it is a doctored (no pun intended) shot of Hartnell from an existing episode of The Crusade.

3 - On PMF, Scot says that it is only a "guess" on his part that the return of the Toymaker is impetus for a recovery.

Missing Believed Wiped is held at BFI Southbank. The only mention of Doctor Who is that David Stead, who formerly returned an episode of The Wheel in Space, returned an episode of comedy series  "Them".

4 - On PMF, Scot Ferre says he read on a website there was "more returned material" which will be shown at special extra MBW event next year. However, Miss Cathcart says that Dick Fiddy alluded to the Film is Fabulous finds being screened at a later date.

8 - On the official Doctor Who Twitter, it's announced that The Celestial Toymaker will be released "soon" with its missing episodes animated.

12 - On PMF, member iamyourservant posts a reply received from Philip Morris on the DWMEFB Group:

"Hi Tony no not at present.Unfortunately there are no guarantees.The task is not an easy one which is why nobody else despite all talk and rumours has moved the dial forward since my last returned dr who recovery."

The member points out the phrasing used by Morris is potentially telling: "since my last returned dr who recovery".

13 - On Twitter, Ian Levine shares a screengrab of a Facebook post by Philip Morris, in which Morris says episode 3 of The Web of Fear is in the hands of "a vocal fan". In a rebuttal post, Levine says Morris is "full of shit".

16 - And rounding out the year with a visit back to Digital Spy Forums (DSF) - member Sambda quotes a reply from Philip Morris on Facebook, when asked for an update on finds of missing Who:

"Hi Tony no not at present.Unfortunately there are no guarantees.The task is not an easy one which is why nobody else despite all talk and rumours has moved the dial forward since my last returned dr who recovery."

Final message for 2023

OK readers, well that was the year that was. The 60th has come and gone, no further returns have happened but hope springs eternal. Many questions - at least in my mind - remain to be answered.

Has Philip Morris' involvement in missing episodes changed the game forever? Will we see any more returns this side of the 70th? Will Film is Fabulous come up trumps and bring us some pleasant surprises in 2024?

Time alone will tell, but in the meantime I want to wish my readers a happy and enjoyable Christmas season and a blessed and prosperous 2024. 

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part 1 - Review and Opinion

Branching out a bit here, as I finally watched this yesterday for the first time and felt moved to comment. 

I had deliberately held off as, despite having taken this series to my heart particularly from Ghost Protocol onward, I had immediate reservations about this film. From the off, Hayley Atwell - whom elsewhere I adore - did not seem to be a match for this particular franchise. Even from seeing the posters - where she is the second largest character featured - I just wasn't feeling it. Also, I wasn't enamoured of the central conceit of the main enemy being a disembodied computer intelligence - again, it seemed a total mismatch for this kind of visceral and very human series.

Firstly, make no mistake - I LOVE these films. The Mission series has evolved into one of the very best, and has thoroughly earned its place in my affections. The characters, the stories, the action, the sheer amount of hard graft that goes into them from Tom and all concerned is staggering and greatly appreciated. It's unquestionably one of my all-time favourite film series: the last three films in particular have felt like movie-making perfection. But, having now watched M:I 7, I can  see that my initial concerns were not only justified, but they were magnified. There appear to be major scripting and plotting problems, not to mention very underdeveloped characterisation. 

Firstly, and in a general sense, one comes away from this film without the sense of charm and likeability that go hand in hand with films 4 through 6. Fallout was a bit too self-important and grandiose at first blush, but due to the high stakes and with the excellent action, characters and storytelling, and particularly that lovely ending featuring a lighter moment between Ilsa and Ethan, I was fully prepared to let that be. Dead Reckoning has less of the self-importance factor, but crucially, there's none of the warmth and humour that make the preceding three films so likeable. Tom has barely any scenes with his castmates from the previous films, let alone any of substance. (Is Cruise doing a Vin Diesel?) The scenes he does have with them are dour and humourless, but this brings me to his scenes with Hayley Atwell.

I'm sorry - I just can't buy Atwell as this notorious, international thief and grand larcenist. She's utterly unconvincing as a master criminal. Not only does she have zero chemistry with Cruise, Grace just seems like some whimsical pickpocket who suddenly gets caught up in something out of her league. And she's an out and out coward - at the first sign of trouble, she runs away from every situation. It just doesn't seem to wash from a practical standpoint - how on earth has she remained at large? Also she doesn't trust Ethan - in crisis situations, she acts liked a frightened animal. I concede that she has a few good moments, but they simply aren't enough to justify her inclusion in the film.

Despite this, they seem to be setting up Grace as the next Ethan Hunt, at one point even dressing her similarly in grey suit vest and pants. They've even brought Pom Klementieff's character into the fold, leaving her alive at the film's end so that she can also be recruited by Kitteridge (as stated on the Wikipedia page for the next film). Are they trying to set up an all female IMF team? If so, they're going about it in the same ham-fisted and inept way we've seen other all-female teams go in recent years.

This brings me however to Pom Klementieff's character, and if anyone deserves to be recruited to the IMF, it's her. She is terrifying in this film; she's relentless, ruthless and a fantastic fighter. She's a nightmare, coming at Ethan in the night in that clown-like makeup in the narrow alley. If anything, the writers should have omitted Hayley Atwell's character completely, given her dialogue, motivation and scenes to Ilsa, and made Paris the one who comes over to the IMF. This would have been so much more satisfying and would have made so much sense as a character arc and from a plot perspective; but as Grace's arc, it pales in comparison to what could have been.

And this is only one aspect of the scripting problems - if the two halves of the key are under the ice of the Arctic shelf, how on earth are they retrieved? Surely the Russians knew where their sub went down, unless of course the Entity fed them false readings. But in that case who exactly retrieved them and how? And how did they then get into the hands of an anonymous courier and indeed Grace? It's never explained. 

Anyone who had the resources and knowledge to locate and retrieve the key surely would also have known that this is where the Sevastopol sunk and would simply have then gone on to access the submarine and win the race. Game over. However as this is a two part film, I'm willing to concede that we may get our answers in the next instalment.

Speaking of the Sevastopol, though, this entire sequence should have been told in flashback. We did not need to spend the first 10 minutes or so with characters we're not invested in: we had to wait so many years to see our favourite characters again it should opened with at least one of them, especially considering we will have such little quality interaction between them throughout the film. We could have started with Ilsa acquiring her half of the key and killing the courier (which is shown anyway later in flashback), establishing that the stakes are serious indeed. Ethan's mission scene should have come next, giving an explanation for what we'd just seen. Then, realising something was off with his mission instructions (he is told not to concern himself with the key's purpose but Ethan immediately smells a rat), we then get the US Intelligence briefing scene with the Sevastopol flashback incorporated, and Ethan arrives and gets the real skinny on what's going on.

This movie introduces us to two other new characters - both of whom make their debut in flashback, and in hitherto unwitnessed and unknown events prior to the start of the entire series! We are told basically nothing about Marie, Ethan's apparent love interest from back then, and in the course of the film we're really told not much more about Gabriel. Who is he? What is his background and his motivation in working for the entity? Why does Ilsa refer to him as some "Dark Messiah of Death"? None of this is explained or clarified, and while Esai Morales does a brilliant job with his portrayal of this utterly sadistic and amoral character, and is also a beast of a fighter, his motivations are muddy at best.

I mentioned Ilsa above, and I believe that killing her off will come to be seen as a grave mistake by the writing team. To rewind somewhat - I loved Paula Patton in Ghost Protocol: I thought she brought such a genuine warmth, power and likeability to the series. I was gutted when she wasn't brought back for Rogue Nation. At first, I found Rebecca Ferguson's portrayal in that film to be a bit cold and  bordering on pretentious, but I gradually warmed up to her and have taken her to my heart. I am a big Ilsa fan, not to mention Ferguson herself. When you see her in interviews, she is hilarious, an absolute riot. And as I said above, if only she had been the one seeking the key, and the one Ethan was due to intercept at the airport, that would been so much more satisfying from both a narrative and character point of view, rather than having to accept a slew of new unsatisfyingly developed characters.

Even the stunts in this film are somewhat underwhelming. The car chase sequence in Rome is inferior to the Moroccan version in Rogue Nation: there's barely any thrill factor. Ethan being handcuffed to Grace is presumably supposed to be funny, but it falls embarrassingly flat - the humour is microscopically doled out as if with an eyedropper. The scenes with the yellow Fiat is just not funny and not needed. 

Even the much-publicised, much vaunted centre-piece cliff jump doesn't read all that well on screen, diluting its effectiveness. I mean, you can tell it's an insane thing for Cruise to have done (eight times over, no less!) and it is spectacular, but overall for some reason it comes across as understated. (Which I know is saying a lot, considering the preparation that went into it and the personal risk to Cruise, but I couldn't help feel this way as a moviegoer.) Having said that, though, the sequence on the train as its carriages fall one by one into the ravine is jaw-droppingly intense, very effective indeed. It's the most credible sequence in the whole film, with the alley fight coming in second.

In summary, overall I enjoyed this film but I am glad I waited, as it left me with some serious concerns and a lot of unanswered questions. It's vexing to have to wait until part 2 to get those answers, assuming they are forthcoming (especially as it's not been delayed until May 2025!). I'm afraid that in common with every other formerly great franchise of late (Who, Trek, Bond, etc), with Fallout we may have seen our last truly great M:I film. Time will tell.

Reflecting on my personal Who fandom

You are hereby warned - if the moans of a middle-aged Whovian about Doctor Who are not what you're into, then turn back now!

You're still here? Well alright then, let's get into this.

My personal Who fandom has changed radically in recent years; or rather, I have only recently realised and acknowledged my true preferences and opinions, likes and dislikes.

For the longest time, for instance, I was prepared to hang in there with the new version of Doctor Who that began in 2005 (I say "new", but it's 18 years old this year); but despite my initial enjoyment of the revived series in 2005, I’ve come to realise that everything that comes after season 26 is essentially nothing but fan fiction (and in the case of the Virgin New Adventures, literally fan fiction). When fans started running the show, it was no longer about professional television makers purely doing the best job possible; it became about endless navel-gazing, retconning, and completely flipping the original format into what it was never supposed to become. 

But as I say - despite all the ups and downs, as with periods of the original show, I was prepared to keep going, to take the hits and brickbats and keep giving it a chance. I put up with it after Eccleston left and the quality noticeably declined; I endured through seasons 2 to 4, then my hope was renewed with Matt Smith and just as quickly dashed again. 

At the end of Capaldi’s last regular series, however, I finally realised it was time to let go. At last the penny dropped for me: I’d finally had enough, and I found the conviction to just stop watching. Just STOP. It’s proven an incredible relief from the constant angst and disappointment, and I’ve never looked back since.

Now having spent more time in reflection, my views have only solidified, with additional realisations: in other words, despite it having taken a long, long time. Coming out of years of denial, I finally realised where my personal Doctor Who fandom truly lies and I have gradually firmed up my opinions on the show.

I’ve come to realise that to me, true Doctor Who is comprised of two things: 

One, the program that ran from November 1963 through to the last half of 1977; and 

Two, the original run of Target novelisations (including the two Virgin books, The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Daleks). 

Everything outside of this is, for me, only conditionally Doctor Who at best, and a cheap knock-off masquerading as Doctor Who at worst. 

As for the question of canon - for me, it's only the 26 seasons from 1963 to 1989. I no longer accept The TV Movie (The Doctor half human? I don't think so) and the revived series as canon. (And I couldn't be arsed about the audios.)

A quick precis of where my fandom began: I probably first became aware of Doctor Who on television, as the 1970s were turning into the 1980s – so probably either 1979 or 1980. However, in Australia, we weren’t necessarily getting the stories concurrently with their UK first run; we may have been about a year behind (I can't currently verify this - the Australian section of the Broadwcast website is under reconstruction).

The earliest season I can remember seeing on first run is season 18 (which I loved), and I may well have caught some of season 17 as well. I remember The Leisure Hive very clearly, and I have vague impressions of Creature from the Pit. But the ABC ran (almost) year-round, saturation repeats of the whole Tom Baker era, so one of my earliest and clearest memories is of being absolutely petrified of the Daleks as they trundled toward me in what would definitely have been a moment from Genesis of the Daleks.

I remember being very puzzled when I started receiving my first few Target novelisations: only knowing Tom Baker from the show, I kept trying to reconcile who these two very different faces on the covers of both The Daleks and Day of the Daleks were!

But all that said, true Doctor Who on television for me finished with the stories first shown in the UK in 1977. I’ve realised that the principal reason for this is that the arse noticeably falls out of Doctor Who at a very specific point: this being precisely midway through season 15, starting namely with The Sunmakers. This is the point where the Graham Williams era truly begins, and I want to go on record as saying that I believe he is the worst producer Doctor Who ever had. I know there are fans who absolutely swear by his era and love it passionately, but I want to present my evidence and perspective as to why I believe his era (seasons 15 to 17) essentially sounded the death knell of the show in terms of its public acceptance and credibility.

Up until Image of the Fendahl, Doctor Who had always managed to (just about) get away with its meagre budget, turning the simplest elements into mostly believable sets and costumes. And as a general rule, the stories and acting were mostly strong, too, incredibly impactful and memorable. 

However, once we hit the back half of season 15, in late 1977 and early 1978, things really hit the skids. This is where Doctor Who - particularly here in Oz, at least in the popular consciousness - becomes an embarrassment and a joke.

I present five exhibits from season 15 to illustrate just how dire the situation was becoming at this time – and which I would argue had never quite happened to this extent in Doctor Who before and started to hammer the nails into show’s coffin:

1. In The Sunmakers, Mandrel’s under-city hideout is represented almost entirely of nothing but black drapes

2. In the same story, Pluto supposedly has six suns, but when the Doctor goes on the roof of the building all we see is a foggy London sky!

3. The much-derided CSO-created sets of Underworld

4. In The Invasion of Time, the clearly outdoor locations and the brick wall buildings, supposedly representing the TARDS interior

5. And in the same story, the literal tin-foil Vardans (not to mention the distracting home county-accents).

Now of course there had been failures in Doctor Who’s production values before: the model dinosaurs from Invasion of the Dinosaurs and the hand-puppet Skarasen from Terror of the Zygons, to name just two. But I would argue that these were much stronger stories, better executed overall and held in good esteem by general fandom. Sadly, the last three stories of season 15 are not.

I don’t know what the reason is, but it seems that for some reason Williams was not able to deliver Doctor Who at least semi-convincingly within the budget in the same way as say Barry Letts or Phillip Hinchcliffe would have. With the Williams era we hit the era of cheapness and risibility; the season closers which should be the triumphant end of six months of Who, are limp, completely studio-bound affairs – an unforgiveable way in which to present what once was a flagship BBC production. Shada was meant to be the exception to the studio-bound season closer, but Williams was unable to finalise production of the story and the whole thing was just abandoned.

Now of course this raises the question – was Williams incompetent, or just unlucky? Did his era coincide with the worst excesses and impacts of Thatcherism and the resultant inflation? Well here’s the important point – I don’t give a brass razoo about the background reasons, and it ultimately doesn’t matter. It’s not my job as a punter to read all the production notes, study the history of UK society at the time and come up with all sorts of reasons and justifications. I’ll leave all that to Richard Bignell. All that ultimately matters – especially in the public eye – is what we see transmitted onscreen, and season 15 takes a major and noticeable dive in terms of the program’s ongoing quality and credibility.

Season 16 thankfully redresses the balance somewhat – the stories at least have the benefit of returning to a respectable level of production value. But I am no especial fan of season 16, and the increased production value only partially compensates for what on the whole is a rather bland set of stories. The overall story arc doesn't really hold the interest over six months of episodes. Story-wise I would only make an exception for The Stones of Blood, which at least harkens back beautifully to the Gothic horror of the past for the first half of the story, only to revert to the stupidity of the Williams/Adams era by having Baker act opposite two flashing lights with camp speech inflections in the second.

Under Williams, Doctor Who becomes nasty and cheap, which is potentially forgivable dependent on the kinds of stories being offered up. Under Douglas Adams, however, the show (not to mention the leading man) becomes stupid, which is NOT forgivable under any circumstances.

And you guessed it, dear patient reader: just as I am not a fan of Williams, I am also a harsh critic of Douglas Adams’ contribution to Doctor Who. His style of humour, which works so wonderfully in his own independent productions, fails catastrophically in Who. It’s just not appropriate to the tone and the subject matter; it's jarring and completely undercuts any tension, seriousness, credibility or believability. And in an era where the show is already sagging under the weight of decreasing budgets and cheap-looking stories, this additional strike against the program just isn’t on, and only serves to subject the show to ever-greater ridicule.

It’s under Adams that we get the fourth Doctor – to a whole generation of children, once so iconic, imperious, terrifying and indomitable – giving a literal blow-job a giant green tentacle attached to a massive ball sack. We get Romana casually regenerating into half a dozen or so different potential incarnations– in effect window-shopping regenerations. And we get the Doctor taunting the Daleks - so terrifying in their previous appearance -  for not being able to chase him up a ventilation shaft. And there are many more instances of this I could mention.

Not only that, but whose brilliant idea was it to allow Tom Baker to act on screen with that disgusting herpes sore, no doubt contracted from indiscriminate shagging during the off-season? The poor excuse of “dog bite” has never washed with me: I think we’re all adult enough now to admit what in all probability it really was. I feel nauseous just looking at him in Ribos and Pirate, where the sore is in its fullest, most visible and disgusting glory. How can anyone take this show seriously when the makeup department couldn’t even be arsed to apply a bit of foundation to cover up such a hideous disfigurement on the lead actor’s face?? It's a completely baffling lapse of judgement on the part of all concerned, and I’m genuinely shocked this isn’t discussed more among fandom.

Moving on to season 17, it has its ardent fans, but needless to say I am not one of them. A combination of production failures, laughable acting performances and behind the scenes infighting sinks this season into the pits of crap.

Despite having Daleks, the return of Davros and cool-looking and memorable new robot villains (the Movellans), I still have not watched Destiny of the Daleks all the way through. I just find it so deathly boring and impossible to endure. I’ll admit City of Death is the high point of the season, but this isn’t saying a lot. It still has too much stupidity for my liking but in the context of the story it just about works. Baker is still to silly for my liking; at least Julian Glover carries the proceedings with dignity.

The Creature from the Pit is a write-off for the aforementioned blow-job scene alone, and is just a dull overall story. Nightmare of Eden is just that, and The Horns of Nimon – which on paper is a cracking premise – fails dismally in the execution and performances.

Moving into 1980 and mercifully Williams has moved on, and we enter the era of John Nathan-Turner. Seasons 18 and 19 are for me, the only real returns to form the series has post season 15. I swear by both seasons (even though I still wouldn't consider them "true" Who), which for me prove that John Nathan-Turner was a far, far better producer than the hapless Williams ever was.

With seasons 18 and 19, Doctor Who returns to good production values, good story ideas, and excellent execution. The comedy is tightly reined in, and rightly so. The dramatic stakes feel legitimate once more, and the stories seem like they are being taken seriously by those both behind and in front of the camera.

It's become fashionable - and all too easy - to trash JNT and his era for admitted excesses. But in my view, JNT is overdue a major reappraisal (at least in part). I want to point out that JNT delivered NINE seasons of Doctor Who - and it's my opinion that at least four of these were absolute crackers (18, 19,  25 and 26) with plenty more good quality stories sprinkled across the other seasons (Caves, Dragonfire, etc.). Yes - his penchant for "stunt casting" and the general garishness of the mid-80s hurt the program. But if one breaks down his contribution to the program, his strike rate comes out looking very good indeed.

The main caveat I would add to that, though, is by the very end of the show in 1989, it was gradually becoming all about the companion. No less than three out of the four shows of that last season all focused around Ace - and this flipping of focus that I referred to earlier, has been raised to ridiculous proportions in the revived series. Rose becomes some kind of demi-goddess; Martha becomes a worldwide solider, Donna becomes some kind of hybrid Time Lord/human; Clara gets injected into the Doctor's entire timestream and becomes the raison d'etre for his whole series of adventures, etc etc.

And that's without even mentioning River Song.

The show is called DOCTOR WHO for God's sake - not Doctor Who and all his fecking companions. Twenty-first century Who is a bloody soap opera, and it's not what Doctor Who is to me.

To me, true Who will always be best remembered as that creepy, scary but also fascinating and edifying program (and series of novelisations) that peaked in 1976/77, and lit up my childhood and early adulthood throughout the 80s.