WHO KNOWS?

Is The Dalek Master Plan still lost?

An Internet rumour has reignited the ‘missing episodes’ quest, somewhat of a Holy Grail for Whovians.

Bleeding Cool’s Rich Johnston reported the rumours last week and was, according to an update this week, completely unprepared for the reaction. He writes: ‘And all hell broke loose. Some were confirming the stories, some were denying it. But what was clear was that I’d broken the dam on a huge pent up amount of hope, fear and despair that had remained on message boards, in pub meetups, some behind private member forums and firewalls since late last year.’

Undeterred though by hell on the loose, he adds this week that of the one hundred and six missing episodes, the rumoured ones comprise ninety. The Dalek Master Plan, Mission to the Unknown, two episodes of The Invasion, The Ice Warriors and The Wheel in Space are the only ones that aren’t included in the apparent discovery. But it doesn’t stop there, oh no, Rich Johnston adds that Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Caroline Skinner and Russell T Davies are all involved in trying to ensure the return of the Lost Ark, sorry, the missing episodes to the BBC.

Weighing in, Ian Levine, whose intervention saved many episodes from extinction, claimed on Twitter to have actually seen ‘three tons’ of evidence; it’s rumoured that missing Dad’s Army, Morecombe and Wise and The Sky at Night episodes are also among the discovery. Levine has since declared on Twitter that he refuses to discuss the matter.
 
Add to this the increasing number of people involved who believe that this is an elaborate hoax against the BBC and all we need is a grassy knoll and Lord Lucan to turn the whole thing into a decent conspiracy theory. Surely the CIA have to be involved somewhere along the line. Oh, what a tangled Time Web we weave. Anyway the last word – for the moment – belongs to the BBC’s Head of Communications, Philip Fleming, who responded to Bleeding Cool, saying, ‘There are always rumours and speculation about Doctor Who missing episodes being discovered, however we cannot confirm any new finds.’

Anyway, I’d like to contribute my own rumours so here goes: among the missing episodes are believed to be the two-part special where the Doctor teams up with Magnum PI to track down, and try to reason with, the Hulk, and the controversial episode written and directed by John Osborne, that sees the Doctor struggling against the stigma of being unmarried and pregnant in a small Northern factory town during the 1960s