Return of the Daleks' Masterplan!!

      Just this past week the world has learned that two more missing episodes of Doctor Who have been found, thanks to the invaluable work of Film is Fabulous! Even more exciting, it was the first and third episodes of the Daleks' Masterplan! This is amazing because that story was not sold overseas, therefore there are not as many copies to start with. These episodes, alongside the other found episodes (2, 5, and 10) give us the first quarter of the story as well as the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney in Doctor Who. This also gives us a better look at the alien Delegates and almost all of Adrienne Hill's screen time as Katarina. Previously we only had the clip of her death that was used on Blue Peter. Kevin Stoney makes his debut as the malevolent Mavic Chen, will return later with Patrick Troughton's Doctor as Tobias Vaughn. 

     I have read the novelizations from Target, a two part extravaganza written by John Peel. Later I acquired the audio from BBC Radio, which was amazing but also fueled my curiosity. What did the delegates look like and what was the action like? The audio was sourced from off air recordings of dedicated fans who would set up audio recorders to capture there favorite program!

     The big question here is, if the episodes were not distributed to other countries then where did these come from? It renews my hope that more of these may be out there, if I but dare to dream! I would like to reiterate the this is made possible by Film is Fabulous, who have done the heavy lifting here so that fans the world over can enjoy and appreciate not just Doctor Who, but many items thought lost. If you are able to, please donate to this charity to help ensure that treasures such as these are not lost to time.

     

    One final thought, for awhile this was the only place to see those clips and episodes that had been found. Hopefully they become part of future season Blu Ray releases. I will endeavor to not get my hopes up, though this recent activity has me excited. I watched the second episode (Day of Armageddon) and am rereading the Target novelization. 

What do you folks think, is this exciting news or not you thing? Let me know in the comments, please?

My introduction to Doctor Who

 My introduction to Doctor Who, was through PBS. I remember coming home from school and going into the basement, sitting next to the comfy chair where our cat (who had recently had kittens) was resting. I would wait for Mister Rogers to finish so I could watch this strange show that I had somehow found. It was individual episodes, so if I missed a day I missed whatever happened, but the show was intriguing. I saw the first episode of Robot, which starts with Pertwee regenerating into Tom Baker. This made me realize I was missing something but I once the story started, I would forget about it. The PBS station had Tom's first four seasons, which they would repeat so I would catch different episodes at different times, filling in stories for me. Eventually they shifted from individual episodes on weekday afternoons to omnibus stories on Saturday nights. The appeal was that it was unlike anything I had seen, and this quirky man was cryptic and funny, and so entertaining. Eventually I became friends with another fan of the show. We would run around the playground at school having adventures, and I began to learn there was more to the show than what I had seen during those afternoon viewings. Cue the Target novelizations! While scanning the bookstore shelves I came across Carnival of Monsters, with Pertwee's face on the cover. I figured it was some character in the story, not the Doctor. Eventually the description of the Doctor (White hair?) gave me a clue, plus his travelling companion was someone I had not seen before. Cue Jean Marc Lofficier's Doctor Who Program Guide (volume 2 what's what and who's who), which only covered up the end of Tom Baker's era despite having Peter Davison's face on the cover with the rest of the Doctor's. This gave some perspective on the history, to limited extent, of the show. It was not until later, when I made friends with a few other fans of the show while in middle school and high school. Later, when I was able to drive myself around, I had access to comic book stores that sold Doctor Who Magazine, DWB, and other related books. I am not sure exactly when I learned about missing episodes, but I do remember watching the early Hartnell stories and wondering why some stories had been skipped. I'll be back in a week, maybe I'll keep going with this, any feedback is appreciated.

It's been so long!

     Anyone still paying attention to blogs? When I was last posting, I was cleaning in a University library down in Florida. Then I moved onto podcasting when the app Anchor showed up and made it easy. A bunch of OSR casters were rolling along, making amazing DIY content! 

    Then, things at my job went sideways, no more posting blog or podcast stuff. Now Anchor is absorbed into Spotify, and I think most of those folks have moved on. Here I am, moved up North and wanting a creative outlet. I have been making some diy terrain for ttrpg's and hoping to make some new content. Also getting back into illustrating and painting. 

    If there is anyone still around or curious, let me know.

Thank you!

Craboleth?

Quick sketch of possible friends you may meet in the marsh.

Beach Head

Here is a little something I talked about in episode 90 of my podcast Random Encounters in the Library.

Drawlloween 2019 day 1

Day one is Vampire! Stay tuned for more!

Preview of next Saturday's episode

Unfortunately I'm not able to pick up the Doctor Who magazines from my local comics shop. Thankfully I work at a bookstore, when they do finally show up in the states I get a bit of a discount.

Finally, the issue with the new (to must of us anyways) pictures it's out. Saturday I'll guys about this, along with their Target books special. How you all can make it!