Doctor Who episode hunter Philip Morris, who successfully returned Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear to the BBC Archive last year, has stated that no further announcements are in the pipeline, but gave cause for optimism that new finds may be on the horizon.
Speaking in a Q&A session with a missing episodes group on Facebook, Mr Morris stated that while there are “no announcements in the pipeline at the moment” he could neither confirm nor deny having recovered more episodes of the show, describing the situation as “complex” and that the “wind is blowing the right way” with the situation.
Phil revealed during the session that he has travelled to locations as diverse as India, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone during his search, nearly being blown up at one point in Syria of all places!
There was new information on the Sierra Leone prints being sent back to London in 1974 (presumably to be junked) alongside the intriguing possibility of the survival of audition prints and “things which people thankfully thought to take home,” a possible reference to the ever continuing efforts to recover episodes from the hands of private collectors and souvenir hunters.
Morris has been also been particularly vocal on social media about “the truth” of what happened during the final days of the BBC junking and early days of recovery.
Having been engaged in a Twitter war with fellow episode hunter and Doctor Who super fan Ian Levine, Morris has seemingly suggested that Levine has not been entirely honest about his role in ending the BBC junkings, his efforts at recovering episode from Asia and the recovery of The Daleks, Morris denying that his rival saved the famed episodes. Speaking on Twitter Morris questioned Ian’s role in ending the BBC policy:
“I have absolutely full respect for Ian Levine and his work with Northern Soul and the like, however his personal attitude stinks… It’s not up to one uber-fan to sit upon high and dictate history in his own image as fact. Fans have been sold many misconceptions since 1978. The junkings at Villiers House were not stopped in 1978 by Ian Levine but continued till 1981 when the person in question was reprimanded… I work forensically on evidence and testimony, everything can be proven here without any doubt.”
Also saying on Facebook:
“Tell the truth, where are the Vietnam episodes? I suggest Ian has a large ego which he feels is more important than the truth.”
The Doctor Who Restoration Team have gone on record in the past to state that it appears film sequences were indeed junked as late as 1981 from episodes such as Power of the Daleks, The Moonbase and The Faceless Ones.
Ian Levine has angrily denied the suggestions that he was not as instrumental in the process as is commonly believed, referring in the past to Phil as “a hoarder” who has “brought darkness to Dr Who,” believing that Morris has already recovered a sizeable amount of missing Doctor Who that he is refusing to rerun to the BBC.
“Start returning your Doctor Who episodes, be a decent man, and we’ll all stop criticising you.”
It is generally acknowledged that while Sue Malden had been tasked to bring an end to the policy of junkings, she only knew about Villiers House because Ian Levine informed her of the facility in an effort to save The Daleks from junking.
Speaking earlier this year at Planet Mondas Forum, Mr levine stated:
“I spoke to [Sue Malden] last week. And she readily agreed that if I hadn’t found out, back in 1978 when she just started her new job, and gone to her in her office, and informed her of what was happening, then she would never even have known there were Doctor Who prints at Villiers House, not for several months, and not until it was way too late for her to save any of them. She claims she has never denied this, but people have left my name out of her interviews, even though she swears she mentioned me. Anyway, if I ever manage to find him, there is a witness who was there with me at the time. John Bridger, who worked for BBC Film Library Sales, and who accompanied me to Villiers House.”
This clash of titans looks set to rumble ever onward and both men have drawn both criticism and support in recent weeks for their very public spat, a spat that unfortunately at times seems like overshadowing the immense legacy and work both men have contributed to the history of Doctor Who.
