On The Rediscovered Episodes

I tweeted earlier that I’m dizzy with excitement at the discovery of two episodes of Doctor Who previously thought M.I.A., and that tweet was no word of a lie.

That might seem odd. Why am I so thrilled that a couple of crumbly old black-and-white telly programmes from the Sixties have been found?

As I may have mentioned, I became a Doctor Who fan in 1975. As The Underwater Menace and Galaxy 4 would not be novelised until 1988 and 1985 respectively, I probably didn’t know of their existence until Doctor Who Weekly arrived in 1979. Or perhaps I first learned of them in Jean Marc L’Officier’s Programme Guide Volume One, published by Target in 1981.

And in those days, there was scant hope of ever seeing an old episode. No videos, never mind DVDs, existed. The Five Faces Of Doctor Who repeat season, also in 1981, was an once-in-a-lifetime event. But there was always a small corner of my 10, 11, 12-year-old mind that thought that maybe I’d grow up and get a job at the BBC (I didn’t. So far). Once ensconced therein, I’d wangle a special pass that allowed me entry into The Special Secret BBC Archive. It would look a bit like the UNIT one in the Brigadier’s Sarah Jane Adventures episode Enemy Of The Bane. Once inside, I would wallow in The Ice Warriors, and old editions of Top Of The Pops.

The impossible dream.

And it became even more impossible (if such a thing is possible) when in the Doctor Who Weekly Winter Special 1981 Sue Malden dropped the bombshell that many episodes were missing even from The Special Secret BBC Archive. They were forever lost, wiped by the Beeb for reasons that... Oh, I'm not going there.

But times change. I well remember the astonishment I felt viewing The Abominable Snowmen Episode 2 when it came out on video. You may blither on about the lack of incidental music slowing it down, or you may be trying to spot Harold Pinter, or analysing the performance of Victor Pemberton’s boyfriend, but I was just embracing the magic. I was watching something I’d always dreamed of watching, but never thought I would. A bit like me now, watching the Eleventh Doctor and remembering how I felt when Richard E. Grant was the Ninth.

But of course, Doctor Who fans being Doctor Who fans, some are complaining that it wasn’t the whole of Evil Of The Daleks that was discovered. Or even the final part of The Tenth Planet (can we stop calling it that? Surely it’s The Ninth Planet now?!).

Doctor Who fans: we are astonishingly lucky to discover a single missing episode, never mind two. It doesn’t matter what it is – even an episode of The Celestial Toymaker would be cause for celebration. (I’d like The Hall Of Dolls. I’m a bit obsessed with Hartnell episode titles that would make good names for Lesbian nightclubs).

And actually, I’m rather pleased at the two we’ve just been gifted.

I realise I may be in a minority when I say that I love the existing Episode 3 of The Underwater Menace. But, come on, it’s classic stuff! The Fish People ballet may be a bit silly, but look at the ambition. Imagine shoving that into a prime-time telly programme now. And the Troughton Doctor in one of his early bonkers disguises! And it was directed by Julia Smith, who later co-invented EastEnders. The Julia of “Julia’s Theme” FFS!

And now we get to see the terror of Polly’s operation, so horrible it was justifiably censored by AUSTRALIANS!

Plus Galaxy 4! We’ve never had an episode of that before! Of course, I would have preferred the Four Hundred Dawns episode (Lesbian nightclubs). But, hello, Rills! Hello a new opportunity for Feminist analysis of Doctor Who! And think of all the fun to be had by fans knifing other fans for saying Airlock when it’s clearly Air Lock.

So, hurrah! It really is an early Christmas present, and in a year that saw the passing of two of Who’s most beloved actors, how splendid it is to be going out on a high... So, heartfelt thank yous to Terry Burnett. You are now officially the third most important Terry in Doctor Who.

(Terry's the one in the middle, and the photograph is by @JasonArnopp)