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November 5th, 2018 45 comments

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BFI The Wheel in Space Animated Mini-Episode

MISSING BELIEVED WIPED 25TH BIRTHDAY BONANZA FEATURING NEW DOCTOR WHO ANIMATED MINI-EPISODE ‘LOST’ MORECAMBE AND WISE, CITIZEN JAMES,

BASIL BRUSH, VINCE HILL, THE KINKS

The BFI celebrates Missing Believed Wiped (MBW)’s 25th birthday on 15 December at BFI Southbank with a treasure of television riches. Reflecting on the initiative’s successes from the last 25 years in tracking down and screening rediscovered ‘lost’ television classics. The 15 December event will present newly discovered material including top-quality music, comedy and variety titles as well as welcome repeats for much-requested items taking place across two sessions.

We’re thrilled to announce the premiere of the much anticipated Doctor Who animated mini-episode based on the now lost first part of the 1968 Doctor Who story, ‘The Wheel in Space’, starring Patrick Troughton. We are delighted to be joined by a number of special guests including the Indiana Jones of lost archival television Philip Morris, who will be presenting some of the rare television gems he’s recently unearthed, including missing episodes of Morecambe and Wise, Sid James’s sitcom Citizen James and children’s television favourite Basil Brush including the only surviving live performance of The Kinks performing their hit Days. Pop star and songwriter Vince Hill looks back over his distinguished 60+ year career in music plus we also feature a rare performances by Aretha Franklin on British television.

The BFI National Archive has grown to become one of the largest and most important collections of British television in the world. This special anniversary edition of Missing Believed Wiped offers a chance for reflection, looking back at some of the success stories and achievements from the last 25 years, which have deepened our understanding of British TV heritage.

Missing Believed Wiped has been spearheaded by Dick Fiddy, BFI Archive Television Programmer, commenting on this milestone he says, “Over the last 25 years our events have showcased some of the most important finds to have been located and returned to official archives. Tracking down these ‘lost’ treasures has been a joint effort between the BFI, many individuals and organisations. One of our most impressive discoveries in recent years consisted of 100 hours of very important missing single UK plays, including the 1965 version of Orwell’s 1984, and now held by the BFI National Archive. Such finds energise the quest and inspire us to continue the search to plug more gaps in the British television archives”

Session 1:

‘Music and More’ 15:15, NFT1, BFI Southbank

Celebrating his 60th year in showbiz, Vince Hill, the multi-million selling recording artist and star of BBC TV and radio, best known for his 1960s mega-hit ‘Edelweiss’, will introduce Vince Hill at The Talk of the Town (BBC 1969), the prime time BBC TV special filmed at the popular ‘Talk of the Town’ nightclub at London’s Hippodrome. Unseen for nearly 50 years since its original transmission, the 16mm film came from Vince’s personal collection. He made the discovery when searching through metal canisters in his lock up. This special affords a snapshot of Vince Hill’s live show of the time, when he was performing sell out shows up and down the UK, as well as starring in his own BBC Radio series, and appearing as a regular star at London’s Palladium. Vince had already made his name with several big UK chart hits and Vince Hill at The Talk of the Town features the only surviving performance of ‘Edelweiss’ on BBC TV. Vince Hill kindly donated the 16mm film to the BFI National Archive.

On rediscovering the film and presenting it at BFI Southbank Vince Hill said, “I’m thrilled that my 1969 BBC TV special at the legendary Talk of the Town is to be screened at the BFI’s Missing Believed Wiped, performing at such an iconic venue was a career highlight. I was surprised to rediscover the original film earlier this year in my lock up. I feel immensely proud that a new audience will have a chance to see the film after all this time and that the BFI have taken the film into their prestigious archive for safe keeping.”

Alongside this we are thrilled to announce the premiere of a brand new 10 minute animated Doctor Who mini-episode based on the now lost first part of the 1968 Doctor Who story, ‘The Wheel in Space’, starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor and Frazer Hines as Jamie. This newly announced mini-episode, produced by Charles Norton and directed by AnneMarie Walsh who will introduce the BFI Southbank screening, will be included on a future BBC DVD release next year.

Back by popular demand, the infamous Stars and Garters segment that proved such a huge hit at our 2016 event. We also sneak in a very special – once missing – clip from It’s Lulu (BBC 1970), having previously screened the full episode at MBW in 2007, it is included here as a tribute to The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin singing ‘Spirit in the Dark’.

Session 2:

‘Philip Morris Presents’ 17:45, NFT1, BFI Southbank

Helping the BFI celebrate the Missing Believed Wiped’s special anniversary we’re delighted that the legendary CEO of Television International Enterprises Archives (TIEA), Philip Morris, is able to join us at BFI Southbank to introduce a specially selection of rediscovered classics drawn exclusively from the TIEA Archive holdings. An archive television archaeologist who has traveled the world to track down missing episodes, Philip’s never say die attitude has helped him over the years recover a wealth of ‘lost’ British Television, many found in small television stations in far flung places and return them to television archives in the UK. TIEA also assists television stations around the world to preserve their archives and digitise their back catalogue for future generations.

Among the clips and shows featured in this session are appearances from MBW favourites, Morecambe and Wise. In 2011 Morris discovered a badly deteriorated early missing episode from the first BBC series of The Morecambe and Wise show (1968) in Nigeria. Sadly unplayable, the BBC and researchers at Queen Mary University of London were able to recover some images through cutting edge lasers and X-Ray microtomography. There was existing evidence that two other shows from the first series had been sent to Sierra Leone as audition prints from London, however research found that all Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) holdings had been destroyed during the civil war in the 1980s and they were long thought lost. The ‘lost’ episode from the first BBC series of The Morecambe and Wise Show (Series 1, Episode 5, BBC TX 30/09/1968) which MBW are screening was recovered by Philip Morris, who found the two episodes in a derelict cinema in Sierra Leone.

The programme also features Basil Brush in the earliest surviving episode from the first series of The Basil Brush Show (Series 1, Episode 3, BBC TX28/06/ 1968). Located in Nigeria a few years ago, the last five minutes, featuring a barnstorming performance from The Kinks, was missing until recently. Now restored and complete, this episode contains the only surviving live performance of ‘Days’, as The Kinks Top of The Pops performance had been wiped by the BBC. Missing Believed Wiped are also excited to screen a rare episode, ‘The Day Out’, from the third and final series of Citizen James (Series 3, Episode 6, BBC TX 05/10/1962). Sid James’s hilarious BBC sitcom ran from 1960-1962, following the exploits of Sid’s scheming charmer, guest starring Liz Fraser, the late Carry On actor who recently died in September, as the object of Sid’s wandering eye. This ‘lost’ episode was recovered from Monaco Television, in an old store room during a clear out of their premises.

On the news of this recent discovery of Citizen James, Reina James, Sid James’s daughter said, “It’s wonderful that Missing Believed Wiped is giving audiences a chance to see Sid as Citizen James again in this ‘lost’ episode. And Liz Frazer too – they’re fantastic together. It’s a real treasure”

Tickets for both Missing Believed Wiped sessions on 15 December go on sale to BFI members on 6 November and the general public from 13 November, with joint ticket option available for both sessions.


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45 comments

  • Anonymous

    December 15th, 2018 - 6:33pm

    Did anyone go to the BFI screening today? If so how was it? And have they announced that they will be releasing an animation of Wheel? Or is it just a one off for the BFI?

    Reply
    • Gordon

      December 15th, 2018 - 9:45pm

      Wasn’t there but I hear the animation is a 10 minute cut down version of ep 1. The animators said they did this because they had most of the models animated from working on power and macra and the episode itself has a very stand alone feel. When asked about what dvd it’s going on the answer from 1 of the animators was the macra dvd however the director of the animationsaid no. It hasn’t been decided yet

  • Frankie Kenny

    November 11th, 2018 - 11:03pm

    What I think of this is great If they make an animated wheel in space!

    That would mean we would have the wheel in space realeased!

    Also I would like, Them to make a web of fear Spcial edition!

    So this what I think/hope will be realsed next year!

    -The wheel in space
    -Web of fear Special edition
    -Animal (Animated)

    Reply
  • Gordon

    November 9th, 2018 - 11:00pm

    “Will be included on a future BBC DVD release next year”.

    Can’t really see another animated project being this year anyway. It’s getting far too late for an anouncment and the turn around between announcement and dvd release before Christmas. Not enough time.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 10th, 2018 - 12:33am

      I agree Gordon, I’d be pleasantly surprised if something came out this year, but I can’t see it happening. The last two were both November so it’s highly unlikely we’ll get one this year. Still, as long as one gets done soon, I’ll be happy

  • Anonymous

    November 6th, 2018 - 4:04pm

    Right, can someone please tell me how much these animations cost to make

    Reply
    • Gordon

      November 6th, 2018 - 5:46pm

      Varies. Depends on how many episodes characters sets costumes and how easy the baddies are to animate. Prices vary from company to company. 30-50 grand an ep at the very least as a very rough estimate

    • Anonymous

      November 6th, 2018 - 6:10pm

      And considering that the dvd’s don’t sell in vast numbers, 120 to 200 thousand for a 4 part story is a lot. Add the cost of documentary extras (production and interviewee costs), restoration of any existing episodes, the cost of producing, marketing and distributing and it adds up to a fairly larger figure than just the animation costs

    • Anonymous

      November 7th, 2018 - 2:16pm

      If you think logically about it, it has to cost a lot more to release say, the macra terror than say, tomb of the cybermen. Tomb exists in full, so costs would be restoration, royalties, the cost of making extras, producing the DVD, marketing and distribution. For macra the only one you don’t have is the restoration costs but you do have the cost of animation. And animation costs must be considerably higher than restoration simply due to the far higher number of people involved in the work. Much as i would love to get multiple animated releases a year, it is unlikely to happen. Shada was great last year, but as a friend of mine said, why that one when there are so many to be done? The obvious answer is a bit dark, tom, bless ‘im, is rather getting on now. Better to do shada while tom is still with us than wait and regret it.

    • Anonymous

      November 7th, 2018 - 7:58pm

      Looked, I loved Shada. I think it’s a really good episode and I am glad they made it before tom goes. We love you though Tom. So I am happy it exists. It was honesty the best dvd in a long time. I bought the dvd and the steel book because I just loved it. But Everytime I see a new animation release I ask. Why not make The crusade and get it over and done with. Seriously, it’s got two missing episodes, less work, actually restoring episode 1 would take a bit to do but still. I would love to see it released

    • Anonymous

      November 7th, 2018 - 8:22pm

      Oh I loved shada as well, just really nice to finally have a full version. I’d love the crusade as well but as i think it was Gordon pointed out it does feature actors blacking up which may be a problem. Personally I think you need to look in context with 60’s attitudes, whilst we now think it dubious at best, it was a common practice in both tv and film for many decades. Really they should do an explanatory documentary to go with it.

    • Anonymous

      November 7th, 2018 - 10:09pm

      Easy. I prefer when anaimations are attracturate to the original. But with the reign of terror. They weren’t going for that. What they should do is just animate the episode the way it was intended or at best make a telesnap version with movement.

    • Gordon

      November 7th, 2018 - 11:17pm

      Crusade also has the problem that it probably would cost more to do than power. Sure there are only 2 eps but there are a lot more sets to do a lot more characters (nearly double of power) and a lot of costume changes. Blackface is only 1 of the problems. Plus what can’t be forgotten is the last historical story animated reign of terror was a disappointment sales wise. Can see them being apprehensive doing any historical

    • Anonymous

      November 7th, 2018 - 11:43pm

      Trouble there is that quite a few stories have no telesnaps, so very little to base animation on

    • Anonymous

      November 7th, 2018 - 11:47pm

      Sorry, didn’t finish the reply! No telesnaps, no full episodes or even clips means that animation would have to be interpretative, which is fine. I’d rather they animated say, the massacre and did it they way they think it might have been than didn’t do it at all.

  • Anonymous

    November 6th, 2018 - 4:01pm

    Well, I had my hopes up that it was the WHOLE STORY (The 4 Parts)
    then I read it’s only part 1 (ok?)
    now I read its 10 minutes. 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    well, that’s just pointless.
    I know its done independently and stuff but still, The BBC should start funding more missing episode animations with the amount of money doctor who makes a year for them.

    Reply
    • Gordon

      November 6th, 2018 - 5:39pm

      They are working on macra terror just now according to those in the know. Just because they haven’t commissioned a full animation of the missing wheel episodes as of yesterday doesn’t mean that they won’t be commissioning animation for wheel in few months time when macra terror is done

    • rgb

      November 8th, 2018 - 11:14am

      a thecnique that night be the next step would be to get look alike actors and cgi the original cast faces onto the actors and use the original soundtrack.

      like they did no rouge one

    • Gordon

      November 8th, 2018 - 12:09pm

      Those rouge 1 scenes of Tarkin and leia cost millions of dollars to do. Plus it was only a few scenes. Doing say Marco Polo would end up costing 100s of millions of dollars. Obviously that isn’t going to happen

  • Anonymous

    November 6th, 2018 - 3:24pm

    What about march 2019 for macra? Does seem unlikely it will be this year. Gordon, what was the reconstruction like on the bitbox wheel? Was it like power of the daleks, narrated soundtrack with chosen telesnaps to illustrate the action, or web of fear, unnarrated soundtrack with chosen telesnaps to illustrate the action, or underwater menace, unnarrated soundtrack with consecutive unrelated telesnaps?

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 6th, 2018 - 3:27pm

      Forgot to say, I don’t think people realise how expensive it is to “just animate” four whole episodes. It costs a lot and if they have done macra then that would mean doing 8 full episodes including wheel. Much as I’d love them to do so, I think it’s unlikely.

    • Gordon

      November 6th, 2018 - 5:32pm

      I suppose February/March time would be a good time but all depends on when they finish. I’ve not seen the Brit box recon as I don’t have access to it but I hear it’s on par with the web 3 recon

    • Steven taylor

      November 6th, 2018 - 5:59pm

      The web of fear telesnaps were very good and I didn’t get bored at all unlike that god awful telesnap recon they did for the underwater menace I mean what were they thinking

    • Anonymous

      November 6th, 2018 - 6:13pm

      I know Steve, I’ve got the narrated CD so I play that and just pause the DVD until the CD catches up as with the narration it’s slightly longer. Why they didn’t just put the narrated soundtrack on baffles me.

  • Sean Bassett

    November 6th, 2018 - 10:52am

    I’m afraid I’ll be boycotting whatever DVD release this ends up being on. Totally pointless – either animate Wheel In Space properly, or not at all.

    Reply
    • Gordon

      November 6th, 2018 - 12:20pm

      Except it isn’t the bbc that commissioned it. It’s the bfi.

    • Sean Bassett

      November 6th, 2018 - 12:37pm

      @Gordon Then they should have said ‘Only if you commission for the four missing episodes to be animated in full,’.

    • The Outcast

      November 6th, 2018 - 12:41pm

      You do release it’ll probably be on the animated Macra Terror DVD release whenever that’s released right?

    • Gordon

      November 6th, 2018 - 1:15pm

      Except the budget of the missing believed wiped event would never have even stretched to 1 episode. They would never get a return on it. They would lose a fortune on it. The aim of this 10 minute mini episode is to get people talking about the missing believed wiped event, drum up interest with those that may have never heard of the event and sell tickets. The fact that it’s coming out on a dvd is probably secondary to those that commissioned the thing. You don’t go around demanding 1 way or nothing. That’s not how business works. I do think we aren’t being told everything though. There is a good chance that nothing has been commissioned for a full version of wheel as they haven’t started it yet.

  • Tim M

    November 6th, 2018 - 6:14am

    Not very clear what this ‘Wheel in Space’ animation at the BFI actually is. Sounds more like a teaser of segments of episode 1. Which would make some sense if the animators are at the early stages of production. ‘The Macra Terror’ has likely already been completed or very near completion and is rumoured for DVD release. Naturally ‘Wheel’ is the next production. Looks like Phil Morris had no luck finding any 16mm films of ‘Wheel’ out there.

    Reply
  • Gordon

    November 6th, 2018 - 1:00am

    The 1 thing that bugs me about the photo is that jamie has the wrong outfit. I might be wrong but it Looks like it comes from the macra terror. Mind you there was no tardis scenes in macra so I could be wrong

    Reply
    • The Outcast

      November 6th, 2018 - 5:50am

      It’s probably because they’ve just animated Macra Terror, and that’s going to be this year’s animation. It would certainly fit with the DVD and the rumour that Macra Terror and Wheel would be animated (well, I mean, Wheel’s not fully being animated, but it is being partially animated)

    • Gordon

      November 6th, 2018 - 6:41am

      I will be gobsmacked if it’s out this year. It’s getting far too late for a macra reveal plus the turn around from anouncent to dvd release just doesn’t give it enough time. My guess is that it’s still being worked on. Charles norton has stated the only commission for wheel is the 10 minute mini episode. Nothing else. He could be lying I suppose. He lied after about not working on power but he seems adamant that he’s not been commissioned to do any more than the 10 minute mini episode. I suppose it’s possible that he is telling the truth and simply he hasn’t been commissioned to animate the whole thing yet.

  • Anonymous

    November 6th, 2018 - 12:23am

    From what I’ve read it’s a 10-minute condensed version of episode 1, there aren’t plans to complete the story and the DVD release is presumably alongside the Britbox photo reconstruction.

    Reply
  • Gareth Pugh

    November 5th, 2018 - 10:01pm

    The DVD is rumoured to be a photo reconstruction, specifically the one done for Britbox in the USA so, rather like the Underwater Menace release. I suspect the reference to this 10 minute mini-episode appearing on a BBC DVD next year might mean it will appear as an extra/ bonus feature on that same DVD.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 5th, 2018 - 10:07pm

      Isn’t it wiser to complete the animation before releasing the story on DVD?

  • Doctor Mysterio

    November 5th, 2018 - 9:14pm

    Have they only animated half an episode, or are they only airing a clip?

    Reply
    • booboo

      November 5th, 2018 - 9:19pm

      seems to be some sort of “clip” for inclusions on a later release, could be anything including a reconstructed DVD

    • Anonymous

      November 9th, 2018 - 7:39pm

      I’m betting that they’re probably might do something like Shada and the Power of the Daleks (animate/reconstruct a lost classic story and release it just before Christmas) and slap it on there.

  • Anonymous

    November 5th, 2018 - 8:44pm

    Don’t understand?

    Reply
  • MJS

    November 5th, 2018 - 7:31pm

    “have they done

    Reply
  • MJS

    November 5th, 2018 - 7:31pm

    Hmmmm is this a sample or have they don’t the whole.lot? And when does it come.out.to buy? 🙂

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      November 9th, 2018 - 7:38pm

      In answer to your questions:

      1. It’s a 10-minute clip “based on” Episode 1

      2. I have no idea, apparently it’ll be on a future DVD (which gives us hope that they’ll do another classic DVD release, hopefully in time for Christmas (like Shada and The Power of the Daleks previously))

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