Tuesday 25 June 2013

Mandatory lost episodes wish list

And my grand run of being behind the times continues. In brief: sometime in the last week or so a random African television station (sources conflict on it being Ugandan or Nigerian) sent the BBC three tonnes of old film canisters sold to them by the BBC in the 1960s. Rumours abound that this haul contains many, many missing episodes of Doctor Who. One source estimates as high as 90 of the 106 missing episodes.

I am trying desperately not to believe this wildly exaggerated bit of wishful thinking but hoping against hope that two or three missing episodes come to light. Two or three film canisters out of three tonnes doesn't seem too unrealistic to me. On these occasions it is customary for fans to list the things they'd like to see if there are lost episodes hidden in there:

Are Susan and Ping-Cho as shippable as they seem in the Loose Cannon reconstruction? Seriously, every shot of them the reconstruction team managed to find have them hugging, standing close or (and this is the kicker) snuggling together in bed. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a Ship that sails itself.

More extant Sara Kingdom could only be a good thing.

Victoria kisses Jamie when she leaves in Fury From The Deep, you can hear it on the audio, but is it on the cheek? Lips? Forehead? (Okay, that last one is impossible given the size of Deborah Watling).

Is the rest of The Savages as subtly directed as that final clip when Steven looks back longingly before disappearing into the Elders' city?

Troughton. Lots of Troughton, please. Troughton is amazing but his performance is so physical and so little of it survives.

Any extra episodes with the Ben-Polly-Jamie companion dream team please. Yes, I know the dynamic never really worked but I have an irrational love for that team.

The dance number in The Celestial Toymaker.

And finally, if there's one story I'd like back in its entirety Tomb Of The Cybermen styles, I'd plug for The Myth Makers. Its genuinely funny, full of cracking performances, one of those rare late-Hartnell stories where he seems energised by the script and has a fantastic switch of tone in its final, apocalyptic episode.

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