Year of the Omnirumour - 2013 - July

July 2013

5-7 - At the London Film and Comic Con, an attendee reportedly has the mike snatched from his hand after asking a question about the recovery of missing episodes. The snatcher was allegedly the MC, David Bickerstaff.

11 - Doctor Who Magazine's 'The Missing Episodes - The Second Doctor, Volume 1' - a special edition featuring a collection of telesnaps from missing episodes - is issued in the UK.

16 - In the 'Any new Doctor Who rumours' thread on MEF, member Alistair Gordon (perhaps not his real name despite MEF rules!) posts that some weeks ago he lodged a Freedom of Information request (FOI) with the BBC, asking for confirmation of how many episodes of Doctor Who remain missing. He states that he received a reply that in essence indicates that the BBC do not consider themselves obligated to release information pertaining to their creative output. 

RM calls AG "a loony" for taking this course.

22 - In two separate posts, PMF member eyeoforion links to the website broadwcast.org as part of following a lead about the rumoured Marco/Enemy/Web boxset, and the possible eventual whereabouts of the film prints of these stories. 

Eye also makes reference to the “bicycle chain” article on the site, and points out there must have at one time been multiple copies of some stories doing the rounds in Australia in the mid-1960s due to near-simultaneous broadcasts in the capital cities.

The following events all occur on 23 July 2013 (UK time) from pages 164 to 180 in the 'Lost 60s Episodes Find?' thread in the Planet Mondas forum. “The member’ refers to a respected member of PMF.

23 - A PMF member alludes to a discovery he has made about the recovery of missing eps. He then later posts an open letter to PV, and requests that someone with rights to post on MEF copies and pastes his letter. The text is:

“An open series of questions to Paul Vanezis.

I have received the following information and would appreciate a clear response so as to confirm whether the information detailed below is correct or a part of a deliberate hoax - intended to prey on Fan's hopes.

1a. A number of Doctor Who stories and/or episodes have been discovered in Hong Kong and were returned to the BBC (meaning any part thereof including possibly Worldwide or Digital Media Services) in 2013.

1b. Extant Doctor Who material has been discovered in Hong Kong and was returned to the BBC (again meaning any part thereof including possibly Worldwide or Digital Media Services) in 2013.

By another route and means of recovery:

2a. FOUR episodes of "The Smugglers" have been recovered and returned to the BBC in 2013.
2b. FOUR episodes of "The Highlanders" have been recovered and returned to the BBC in 2013.
2c. TWO episodes of "The Invasion" have been recovered and returned to the BBC in 2013.

I will respect the privacy of those involved in the returning of the films to the BBC - as I have not sought their permissions to post identities.

I name my sources for the above information as Jon Preddle, John Lavalie and Steven Warren Hill.”

At this stage, the member does not reveal how he came by this information – although the three names quoted give a clue as they are the three people mentioned on the front page of broadwcast.org as its owners and main contributors.

Meanwhile further down thread, member Jason Mahoney states he will post the open letter on GB.

Then, the member names his source as being www.broadwcast.org, a site hosted and run by GB owner SWH and including contributions by Jon Preddle.

PMF member eyeoforion reports that the open letter has now been published on MEF, owned by Paul Vanezis.

Member allyngibson reports that Paul is denying the information in the letter.

The letter writer claims that he has screen grabs to show evidence of his claims that Broadwcast.org has leaked information.

Jon Preddle calls the member ‘a moron’ on MEF.

The member posts that he has re-checked the website – and that JP has now deleted the offending leaked information. The member now reveals that it appears that broadwcast.org was “pre-loaded” with information about missing episodes being recovered, allegedly in readiness to be the first website to release the alleged leaked information.

On page 167, in the first post, the letter-writing member claims that JP has a way of invisibly updating pages on the website. Again, the member does not reveal what he means by this – yet.

The member posts jpeg of the ‘evidence’ on page 169 but later deletes this image. Several members saw it however and state they believe that the member has cracked the case.

On page 170, PMF member Jason Mahoney posts a response from JP on GB:

"If I have nothing constructive to say on the matter, why should I say anything at all?

Now, for those who are interested, the BroaDWcast site has come under some intense scrutiny recently.

What the perpetrator says they saw to be a statement of fact regarding the supposed return of episodes from Hong Kong was nothing more than 'placeholder fill-in text' in the markup code of some of the tables.

Chiefly, to amuse myself more than anything, and as a potential trap for anyone snooping, I tend to fill this space with gibberish, usually relating to missing episodes, as that is a very hot topic at the moment.

My own little joke, not intended to be seen by others, was seen by a selfish "hacker".

So, nothing to see here, move along... If this proves anything, it's that fans are getting jumpy, and will leap upon any tid-bit of information where ever they see it, even if they see it in places they shouldn't be going."

The member then posts the first tangible piece of evidence that broadwcast.org had information on the return of missing eps:

---------------------

Australia
During 2013, Australia's '''UKTV''' celebrated the series' 50th anniversary by showing |EE||[[The Power of the Daleks]]

47 KB (7,215 words) - 23:41, 21 March 2013

---------------------

Meanwhile, on the final post on page 170, Scot Ferre drops in to post that he stands by his contacts who claim to have seen parts of four missing episodes.

On page 171, Lord_Flashheart posts that he has also seen the info the member saw – and that contrary to JP’s claims of ‘hacker’, the info is viewable by ‘very simple means’. It is still not revealed what is meant by this. 

The member adds to this saying that no hacking is required – a simple search using the website's built-in search engine is all that is needed.

                

Below this, eyeoforion posts that all you have to do is go to broadwcast.org and type the search string ‘2013’ – and you will see on the resulting search page the offending “leaked information”. 

It is later revealed that JP allegedly hid the explosive info in comment tags, so that the info did not appear on the actual readable portion of the site but could be easily published instantly simply by removing the tags. 

What JP did not realise is that the search engine he built into his site picks up and reveals the hidden code on the search results page to anyone using the right search terms.

Lord_Flashheart posts that a message is now appearing on the Bicycling Chains page of broadwcast.org: ‘This page has been hacked’.

The member posts another piece of evidence:

-----------------------

Australia
During 2013, Australia's '''UKTV''' celebrated the series' 50th anniversary by showing |DD||[[The Tenth Planet]]

47 KB (7,215 words) - 23:41, 21 March 2013

-----------------------

PMF member The Ginger Cat reports that the following text now appears on the Bicycling Chains page:

'This page has been deleted. The deletion and move log for the page are provided below for reference.

03:06, 23 July 2013 Jon Preddle (Talk | contribs) deleted "Bicycling Chains" ‎ (content was: "This page has been hacked to death. Help me, I'm drowning. NOOO!!! BANG You're dead. Poo. Boo. I can see you. Help,Cecil, help! '

Meanwhile on GB, SWH wades in with this response as reposted on PMF by Jason Mahoney:

"Maybe I can nip this ridiculousness in the bud for people who think there's suddenly a massive conspiracy... what Jon says above is the plain truth, there's no cover up, there's no withholding secret information, there's no returns from Hong Kong, and this isn't a hoax in practice or intent. Hell, last night I posted on the Mysterious Theatre 337 Facebook page that we'd decided to do a 6-parter for next year's Gallifrey show, and we're trying to decide between Enemy of the World or Web of Fear. Anyone buy that? I'll say right here that Jon's joke to amuse himself was a bit irresponsible - but I think much worse is that someone made a stupid blunder by blindly falling for this silliness and blasting it all over the internet as if it were true. It's not true."

On page 174, JP finally posts to state that someone called Adam McKenzie does not exist. Strangely, the info about Adam McKenzie had not yet been revealed publicly by the member.

However, a later internet search reveals that an Adam McKenzie does indeed exist; he is related to one of the players in an Australian show entitled 'Splendid Chaps' – a Doctor Who themed stage show being performed in Melbourne and advertised by SWH on GB. Adam McKenzie is according to the info once-viewable on broadwcast.org the returnee of the missing episodes of the 1968 Patrick Troughton serial The Invasion.

On page 175, JP posts again to state in answer to a question posed by PMF member Blitzer that to the best of his knowledge the number of missing eps remains at 106 with no impending finds.

On page 176, PMF member Martin Kinsella quotes a post by SWH on GB, which seems to refer to the PMF member who wrote the open letter:

"Oh, that's an easy one! He's got an axe to grind. He doesn't like Jon, doesn't like BroaDWcast, doesn't like me, and doesn't like Gallifrey Base. And I believe he doesn't keep those dislikes a secret at all. And it's my understanding that Jon put that stuff in there because he knew someone was digging around in source files on BroaDWcast looking for hints and clues and signs of hidden knowledge, and expected this person to find it and then just possibly look like a grand fool by believing it was true and thinking he'd discovered a great secret. Which is what happened. I suppose you could call it a practical joke. And like all practical jokes, some people find them funny, some people find them unfunny. Only irrational people might think it's a heinous and unforgivable crime against fandom. A more sensible reaction (from someone who doesn't like it) might be "Well, that was a stupid thing to do."

Well, maybe it was. I'm not endorsing what Jon did, and ultimately I don't think he should have done it, but I did find it amusing on a certain level. Alas, some people can't bear to find out they've been the victim of a harmless practical joke, and react badly rather than taking it with humor and grace, so... the victim rallies the troops... and suddenly, even though it was plainly a wind-up, admitted to be a wind-up almost immediately by the perpetrator, and unambiguously confirmed by me (I provide the web space and did the graphic design for BroaDWcast) to be nothing but a wind-up, suddenly we have people believing there's a cover up and it was really true information that Jon never thought anyone would see.

Come on, don't buy that ticket to the funny farm. Jon did expect someone would see it. And he wanted to see what would happen. And here's your result.

As I said before, yeah, a bit irresponsible. And Jon, I'm sorry if you're not happy with me putting this in plain language, but I don't think there's any good in letting this get any further out of hand. Some people might think Jon's reputation is (or will be) harmed by this. I doubt it very much, the man is a grade A+ researcher and fact checker, but hey, the whole thing is so insignificant it shouldn't matter to anyone anyway.

To sum up: it was an admitted joke. Didn't like it? Didn't find it amusing? Well, that's fine, nothing wrong with that. Now, time to move on."

On page 179 – The member finally posts a screen grab that shows what the simple ‘2013’ search revealed on broadwcast.org: that the missing episodes of The Invasion were returned to the BBC in 2013 by one Adam McKenzie 'who has possessed them since 1982', and that serial D ('Marco Polo') was discovered in Hong Kong and returned to the BBC in 2013.

Together with the previous posts in the "Preddle-Gate" saga, this means that the complete list of stories listed as being recovered on broadwcast.org prior to 23 July were:

Marco Polo

The Smugglers

The Tenth Planet

Power of the Daleks

The Highlanders

The Invasion

24 - "Preddle-Gate": on PMF, member ssorguk posts that mods on MEF are threatening to close the missing episodes rumours thread, and that they see ”nothing vaguely interesting or new” in the latest round of rumours.

On page 181, Jason Mahoney quotes PV posting on MEF:

"I've said several times that this thread is a bit pointless. However, if people want to continue posting, fair enough. But don't then complain when you get moderated. I have a fairly hands off approach. I'll lock a thread and rarely delete or edit posts. But over the past few months we've seen the very worst in people played out here, all because passions are running high about a rumour.

Yes, a rumour being spread by people who believe it's true and confirmed by people who are at best third parties. With no evidence or official confirmation we end up going round in circles and tempers get frayed. That's why we have moderators and when moderation is exercised people cry 'censorship'.

For goodness sake you lot, just grow up and show some common sense. If you have nothing positive to add to the proceedings, do not post.

Paul"

The member later characterises the above post as ‘meaningless’.

PMF member Charles Daniels states that he took JP to task on MEF about the ‘hacker’ allegations. CD states his post was deleted within moments.

On page 182, JP drops in again to post some rebuttals to Mr Ron, and claims that he planted the Adam McKenzie / Invasion return stuff – specifically to target Mr Ron. In other words – JP admits hoaxing regarding missing episodes.

Incredibly, this post is still there (as at November 2013). In case some day it gets deleted, here is the relevant section quoted in full:

Posted by Jon Preddle on PMF Wed Jul 24, 2013 7:36 am

"After a good night's sleep (I have a clear conscience, nothing to hide) and despite promising myself that I wouldn't I have decided to come back. I'll comment on this posting:

The member wrote: I did not approach JP on any issue regarding his site until 2 weeks ago - therefore even if he somehow took offence at my comments. I was not the intended target of this ruse.

I noticed he often did a disservice to fans and pilfered their info without credit by frequently using "silent" updates - I made no comment about this but made a mental note to check back. A pattern emerged of frequent "silent" updates whenever he was "challenged" - obviously he has a highly competitive streak and sees this site as a model of his worth. He's not particularly collaborative. It was then I realised by entering a month and year you could more clearly see some of the step changes - and I saw the "old" hidden info - I made no comment curious to see where he was going with this.

I'm not sure where you get this idea from. Everyone who has contributed to the site is thanked and acknowledged on the Main Page. Everyone. How is that not being collaborative? Nothing is "pilfered".

I also don't know what you mean by "silent updates". I give the pages a little tweek now and then, but there's no need for me to post every single one of these to the What's New page. (It's not the What's Been Tweeked page…)

And who are these people that have "challenged " me? Go on – name them. Who are they? Where are they? Do they even exist? No, they don't.

As for my "highly competitive streak". Where does that observation come from? No, not competitive, just a desire to present hard solid, fact for the readers of the sight to enjoy and be educated by.

“The member wrote: In an attempt to get a little more info online about Africa recovery efforts I did admittedly needle him a bit. This was to exploit the rivalry he has with Molesworth and see if we could not get better info than PVs vague updates - a clue to progress. I confess I played his arrogance and competitive nature to help us all on PMF get a better understanding of what is going on. That he responded with a myriad of legit info updates (silently) is telling. It's unlikely but not impossible he buried more "false info" as he suggests deliberately to "entrap" - but why?. I may not find it. Besides I was too busy, as were others here, reading all the new stuff that WAS published on the site.”

This is interesting… A few weeks back you offered to discuss something by way of PM. Which we did. You made some suggestions to how I could improve the TIE Ltd page, which I then did a few days later. Are these the "myriad of legit info updates" you refer to? (I also civilly asked what your real name was, but you point-blankly refused to do so.)

But what you then did was post to the forum some of the contents of those "private" messages (get a dictionary, look under "P") but fabricated some of the contents to suit your own bizarre agenda.

As for rivalry with Molesworth, far from it. Our views on the history of Missing Episodes may differ but there's no animosity between us.

Not once did you mention Paul in your PMs. From what you say, you were digging for information. The fact that you refer to my "arrogance" is charming! What of your own arrogance for attempting to bait me?

I've been accused of lying, but what you did to those PMs smacks of hypocrisy.

I'm quite happy to post those three PMs we had in full, unedited, for the others here to see for themselves how you twisted the contents of those private messages in your subsequent postings (and this one I am responding to). (I'm looking at them now – you actually come across a very civil, polite civil person in them (you even say "got to apologise" in one of them! It's a shame that that same "nice" person doesn't exist in the main forum.)

“The member wrote: The one thing we can be sure of is I was not the target. That's a retrospective action on their part to claim so.”

The Invasion / Adam McKenzie stuff, okay I admit yes was planted there for you, simply because I was sick of the insinuations you made about supposed "silent updates" and the fact that you made public what was supposedly private correspondence but lied about said correspondence. This was a fake "silent update" to see how far you would go to find something that wasn't there, and how you'd react – and you did so in the manner predicted. But what I didn't expect was the vitriol and anger that erupted across the various forums about fans being lied to, and the meaning behind what was (I thought) humorous 'code'. Really? I mean really??? Do none of you have nothing better to do with your time?

But what does puzzle me is that no one at all has commented on the fact that the words "Gotcha The member" are there at the bottom of the "Adam McKenzie" revelation (he doesn't exist by the way; I made up the name). It's still there if you want to look. It's been there since yesterday morning.

As for my having signed a NDA. Sorry, I haven't signed anything. I'm in the dark as much as everyone else is over whole Africa90/44/six billion rumour.

You also demanded an apology – I gave it, but you seem to still want more blood. You choose not to believe me, well, fine – but looking over typical nasty, accusatory postings from The Wooksta, Tony Ingram, sdmilne, Antrax, inak, eye of orion, (seven people versus the dozens who sent emails and PMs of support when this affair erupted) I think that rather than showing your immaturity and being nasty towards me, Steve, and Paul (I can now fully understand the torment he has had to endure from 'fans') and others you should perhaps take a long hard look at yourselves and ask why you need to be so nasty towards those you have been. Continually calling people a c*nt, tw*t, pompous dick belongs in the playground.

There. I've said my piece. I've tried to be civil and honest in this posting, but no doubt you'll spend the rest of the day ripping me and it to shreds. If that's how you want to spend your time, fine. Have fun. I'm off to the library to do some more research for BroaDWcast – lots of Botswana newspapers there for me to study…"

It seems to beggar belief that as one of the main researchers named by Paul Vanezis as contributing to the Africa/global search, JP can act as if he knows nothing about the effort that has now been underway for around eight years.

29 – BC posts another article, reaffirming explicitly that the missing episodes rumour has originated not from fans, but from the Doctor Who production team. And that ‘it has been production team members talking to radio engineers’ that has caused the leak. But this time Rich Johnston offers a number in advance of the original 90.

The article states that as a result of the recent return of missing episodes there are now only 12 episodes still missing. These are:

Mission to the Unknown

The Daleks’ Master Plan - 9 episodes (1,3,4,6,7,8,9,11,12)

The Ice Warriors - 1 episode

The Wheel in Space - 1 episode

If true, this would mean a total of 94 episodes have been recovered in the bulk haul (although the article mentions the number 93, just to muddy the waters further).

This would also mean that serials from the Patrick Troughton era would go from being the most under-represented in the archives, to the best represented in terms of the serials with some episodes still missing. And it would mean that such eagerly anticipated stories as The Crusade, The Tenth Planet (in its entirety), Power of the Daleks, The Macra Terror, Evil of the Daleks, The Abominable Snowmen, Enemy of the World, The Web of Fear, and of course, Marco Polo, are all back in the archives.

The article further states that we can expect:

·        "a BBC4 screening of The Web of Fear during the week of the 50^th anniversary; and

·         an early DVD release for The Enemy of the World."

All throughout June & July: – OS and Eddie in particular continue in the forum to affirm their original position; that a well-placed source at the BBC has told them that they have seen footage of missing episodes of Doctor Who. They still cannot however disclose who this source is, which episodes were seen nor how many have been returned.

30 - In the "Lost 60's Episodes Find?" thread on PMF, member The Wooksta! quotes a post by PV made on GB to the effect that The Web of Fear has definitely not been found.

30 - On their Twitter feed, OS tweet that they won't go as high as 94 episodes recovered, but they still believe the number to be at least 17.

30 - The website Slice of Sci-Fi comments on a recent BC report, and adds the snippet that there are rumours that the Restoration Team have had their contract extended through to 2016 - despite the new DVD releases winding down this year (2013).

31 - On PMF, the 'Lost 60's Episodes find?' thread stands at well over 250 pages.

31 - On his Twitter account, Rich Johnston of BC states "the only foundation [of the missing eps rumours] has ever been Dr Who production people gossiping about it."

31 - An exchange on the OS Twitter account:

fractipro: "Hello! Are the mising eps home yet?"

OS: "Hello. Some are."

fractipro: "Where are the others holidaying? Are they sunny, cold or in a cupboard? :-)"

OS: "Our tame spoiler hound has them. More soon."

31 - Scot Ferre reiterates on GB that he believes that the serial The Web of Fear does indeed now exist in its entirety. He also states that he has several sources that have seen the evidence.

31 - GB forum owner Steven W Hill makes a post implying that he believes that the Web of Fear rumour (in its current 2013 form) as reported by BC came from inner circles at the BBC. The words he uses are: "from further upstream".