Restoring Doctor Who

[@caseyb889]

Does anyone else get chills when the theme music starts up? Knowing its taken over 40 years to get these episodes back?

[@caydensands4175]

Gives me a feeling of satisfaction

[@SpaceSloth707]

caseyb889 didn't get chills, but it was awesome to see the episode play, knowing it was lost for a long time, and that that moment was the moment that the episode got watched for the first again before it got lost. I really hope the other lost episodes will be found too sometime. But sadly it is possible that some will never be found again for whatever reason.

[@JohnMorris-ge6hq]

@@SpaceSloth707 They was more than just those 11 episodes. They were many Patrick and Hartnel stories on 16mm film in that Nigerian television studio. But all the rest had deteriorated over the decades. Film is organic and they were just useless. If they had gotten to them 15 years ago we could be seeing: THE HIGHLANDERS THE MACCRA TERROR THE POWER OF THE DALKES and even more.

[@TravelNuggets1]

5 years on from this comment, seeing this video for the first time, YES. I felt it.

[@Patrickmayonaiseinstrument]

Yeah

[@MonkeyWatchTheTardis]

Love at 4:10 the little cheer of relief. The BBC need to make a documentary on this.

[@felixcuthbert2719]

I felt like a a nervous parent when watching the restoring.

[@angelsone-five7912]

What a thing to be the first person to see a missing episode after 40 years!

[@mattmarshall5656]

Incredible. I can't imagine how nervewracking the process must have been before they were finally transferred!

[@Tlotoxl]

Love the "YAY!" when it starts!

[@rotater84]

Amazing to watch the care and respect that is shown to these films that they so deserve.

[@edmundandlucy]

Watching these episodes being restored is so fascinating to me, the way they were handled with so much care and respect too, so happy that the restored episodes will now live forever for many generations to come, really hope the 97 other episodes can be found too though

[@Josh2219]

Would've made a great special feature on one of the DVDs. Seriously the only special features on the DVDs were bloody coming-soon trailers

[@Robert_Manners]

Josh221 Yes my thoughts too. What a shame that the full story of the recovery and the restoration work never got featured on the DVD release as well as surviving cast and crew content. More people involved with the serial's past away since too so there views and memories lost too now!

[@giles852002]

This is a special feature on the special edition DVD of Enemy of the World.

[@AnthonyP73]

You are clearly a talented man Paul. Some of these online flame wars have been brutal and regrettable. Full credit to you for the quality of your work.

[@ScottGrosProd]

I can't thank you enough for your work, sir! Hopefully there are more lost episodes to be found out there.

[@jonathanwaggoner2265]

Patrick Troughton's Doctor lives again... so great to see that the hopes of the 1980's of recovery of some episodes are being realized.

[@boy18inva]

Fascinating to see how they do some of this restoration. I'm a Doctor Who fan from way back, and have read about the restoration process. But it is great to actually see it being done.

[@ayeshazhukov]

An outstanding job in restoring some outstanding episodes. Well done.

[@borgduck]

I like your avatar, what the smeg is it?!

[@Fitzroyfallz]

It must feel amazing knowing you are the first people seeing this for almost 50 years.

[@Mr_Bunk]

"Yaaay!"

[@paulnyman6739]

Thank you for allowing us to see the work and patience to preserve vintage Doctor Who from the 60's era!

[@paulashe61]

Old gelatinous film can explode if and when they age to a sweaty mass.

[@martinsmith1538]

Immense pride and meticulous work goes into restoring these.

[@barttheanorak]

Nuff respect Paul to you and the team for all your hard labours. Hoping many more come in soon.

[@LukeNyul]

Blimey...how nerveracking that must have been knowing that they were the only copies of those episodes in existence...well done all of you that we can now enjoy these classics in the best possible quality :)

[@RetroActiveGM]

This is fantastic. I've got to hand it to you Paul - the work you lot do is incredible!!!

[@dvakman]

Thank you Paul for posting this fascinating video, and here's to many more TIEA returns to come...

[@MoeyFranklinTehrXVI]

Thank you for sharing this, Paul. It's great to get a glimpse at what is clearly long and hard work. Keep it up!

[@Hil0]

I'm so glad I got to experience episodes being recovered :-)

[@MarkLawrence2]

Excellent video Paul. Great to see another glimpse of the work that you and Jonathan do. I hope that people realise that this is only the physical restoration work and as such only the initial stages of the enormous work flow. It would be great if you do more videos to show the digital stages ( scratch box, grading, DVNR, VidFIRE etc ).

[@IanGettings]

OMG - it looks terrifyingly complex and so primitive at the same time. Must have been wonderful and scary at the time.

[@MrHairyNeck]

Fascinating. Thanks. Wish the video was longer.

[@TomReid10]

Fascinating stuff thanks for sharing. I'd be so scared to have to handle the only copy of a previously lost film.

[@michaelrogers7161]

So fascinating to watch. Thanks for sharing, Paul.

[@lukessummerguitar]

4:27 That just took me back to that moment as a child, watching the start of a new Doctor Who episode. Sitting down to my favourite tea (crinkle cut chips, peas, and birds eye beef burgers ) Where have they landed? what will happen next??... what beastly monsters or creatures will he face this time??? Nostalgia, Sigh!

[@AlexanderAllison]

Thanks for uploading this Paul, really interesting to see how pt is done.

[@frasierfreak92]

My friend works for the BBC and I was lucky enough to see them processing a lost episode of Dad’s Army. I don’t think I’ve ever seen relief like there was when the print got through the scanner without falling apart or getting destroyed, and they knew they had a copy of it. It must be terrifying knowing that you’re handling possibly the only copy!

[@LondHo]

Thanks for uploading! A shame BBCW decided not to include this piece on the DVD release of Enemy...

[@lepterfirefall]

And here we are 6 years later still waiting for Phil to actually tell us if he found anymore dr who.

[@roger_mcl]

I literally cry watching this. It's so wonderful!

[@harrietamidala1691]

So the episodes were actually found in May 2013, huh? I always had a feeling the episodes were found long before the october announcement.

[@RetroActiveGM]

harrietamidala1691 Well of course they were, it's not as if they could do all that in the space of a month from discovery to digital release. Imagine if they announced it then we had to wait - that would have been worse!!

[@MuchWhittering]

+harrietamidala1691 They were found in late 2011, but it took that long for them to actually get hold of them and bring them home. The extra 4 months were transferring the episodes and restoring them.

[@Robert_Manners]

Robo4900 I know that's shocking and more tragic as it missed the chance to have the same care and attention given too it like these got.

[@ProfStuartHalliday]

Amazing. Got to love how the tele monitors have the old 4:3 safety zone markers. This was back in the days when domestic televisions would enlarge (over scan) the received picture so it took up the entire screen. Directors knew this happened and gave them a safety margin if an over hanging microphone accidentally got too close! You still see these in old videos today's. For us fans in the Eighties I'd re-adjust TVs to see this extra 20% of the programme. Fun times. :)

[@Robert_Manners]

Stuart Halliday You see a microphone in one shot in the Enemy of the world.

[@mythme01]

Do anything it takes to give us more of the Second Doctor. He set the standard in which all the others are measured IMO

[@daviddeddo4454]

Thanks for the video, Paul. Wonderful stuff.

[@arthurhillard4993]

Thanks Paul - that was fascinating!

[@therestorationofdrwho1865]

I love how unstable the audio is.

[@hilarioph]

I wish other Dr who episodes from the 60's. Will restored again if they found it

[@rassilontdavros3004]

MAY 31st 2013 Nine missing episodes are returned to the BBC Archive at Perivale, West London. JUNE 1st 2013 Ace blows up Perivale because of all the bad memories- or so she thinks, as it's actually all part of the Doctor's plan to hide the evidence that he once played a bit part as a Mexican dictator in a low-budget BBC series, because otherwise Fenric, Soldeed, and Zaroff will never let him live it down.

[@sameoldsameold9723]

so sad they destroyed so many unique stories... great job I admire you

[@borgduck]

Worthy of The Doctor himself! Love it at about 3:40.

[@MushroomHaterProductions]

And it's getting a Special Edition DVD release later this month! 😁

[@TomTom-dq2id]

Hope they find all of the current missing ones.

[@zooeyhall]

I wish this clip had more details on the actual restoration process. Almost half of this clip is taken up simply showing a guy threading film through a projector.

[@KajiRider1997]

02:37, is it just me or did the tape say listen? No more Zelda for me. o_O

[@MondySpartan]

"Listen..." - The Twelfth Doctor

[@KajiRider1997]

UranusRemixer *chases navi with pestiside*

[@MondySpartan]

Seriously though, don't play Zelda at all and I swear I hear "listen" aswell. Creepy right?

[@authorofone]

Nah. It went: ee eu

[@rassilontdavros3004]

Oh hell

[@Super_Mario128]

Just a question:can Enemy of the World now be offered as a complete serial for broadcasters to buy and transmit? or would there have to be rights issues to be solved first?

[@MoniqueFromPlymouth]

I would think eventually, yes. If you were a broadcast TV station and bought all the complete Second Doctor stories, then Enemy should be included. For now, I believe since it was recently found, stations can only buy it and promote it as a "special lost adventure." Thats what happened here in the U.S. when Tomb of the Cybermen was first found in 1992, but I believe it was eventually packaged with the rest of the complete Troughton stories..

[@maxkennedy7430]

Okay, so here’s what I want to know: If someone were to find a Missing Episode. Where do they go to give it to the BBC to restore it?

[@Misterquill]

Just contact me privately. You can take it directly to the BBC Archive in person.

[@Misterquill]

@LudVan 77 Well, I don't give anything. I don't work for the BBC. I think that most people understand the reasons why things weren't kept. I agree with some, but not all of those reasons. I would rather focus on repairing the damage than dwelling on the reasons why. Sadly I don't have a time machine to travel back and change things. The BBC's focus now is on making new programmes and preserving what they have and also preserving any programmes that are returned. It's that preservation that interests me.

[@LesterLeapsIn1]

@@Misterquill Paul, what's the best way to contact you regarding some (non-Dr Who) off-air audio recordings from the 1960s I have?

[@caesiumhklenn5845]

Between 1:12 and 1:37, what type of solution is used to wipe on the film? How did the film are stuck together again? At 2:56, it says 'film friendly liquid solution, what is it called and the chemical formula?

[@Misterquill]

The cleaning solution I use during the film prep is Pec-12. It's a cleaning solution for acetate films, although I always test the film first. For these films I cleaned the edges on the film on a hand rewinder. This removed a fine layer of grit that had settled on the film edges.

[@johnclay7644]

informative on the restoration side.

[@rightside]

Returned to Perivale, quite poetic.

[@lemonbirdo1353]

Where do they get the sound from? does the film strip have a separate part where sound is recorded. (I know nothing about this stuff)

[@troyjohnsonjr.]

Cinematographic films have the soundtrack right next to the frame, its called optical sound although sometimes it can also be magnetic.

[@zastorlexa9800]

Great video. Thanks for uploading.

[@Anderscja123]

Thanks for sharing. Much appreciated

[@unicornsdoesexist]

WOW! nice job and thanks for sharing. I always wondered how the hell people restore that kind of stuff that's all dusty and broken.. apparently nothing is completely lost.

[@harrietamidala1691]

The Archive is located in Perivale. Isn't that Ace's home town?

[@caydensands4175]

Yep. My favourite Companion

[@enshen2190]

I dont know if you feel it,but everytime i see this video with headphones,It feels like asmr

[@andreacook7431]

Perivale is a real place? I thought they made it up for Ace's backstory.

[@williamframe2317]

Looks like you need a very steady hand

[@Randy39761]

Perfect job. Being paid to watch doctor who. Where do I sign up?

[@cristiandiazbasualto]

This video just appeared on my suggestion page here on KZbin only today, October 24th, 2020, just so you know guys

[@dennisjansson6239]

I hope they will find more episodes, like ALL 7 episodes of Marco Polo & ALL the 9 other episodes of The Daleks Masterplan. But mostly i hope that ALL 97 episodes will be found, saved & restored.

[@MuchWhittering]

That's not happening. Feast of Steven was never copied, and we know the master tape was erased. It's gone forever.

[@thereplication2567]

This is so Nerve Wracking! Knowing that with one mess up, could forever ruin the episode!

[@ArtyDarth]

The only question is: How many of the missing episodes are still out there?

[@harryarmis9393]

97

[@ArtyDarth]

That's the number of the episodes known to be lost. But my question was how many of those episodes actually survived the archive purge. No one can tell. And those episodes that survived are probably still somewhere. In the worst case, some of the episodes are in the possession of private collectors who keep them in their basement, instead of returning them to the BBC, where these episodes belong.

[@Yetaxa]

I imagine it's somewhere between 0 and 97 And no, not even web of fear 3 is a guarantee We know it existed in that archive when Phil found it, but it could still have been destroyed since then Horrible thought, but it's technically a possibility

[@ArtyDarth]

@@Yetaxa As far as I know, episode 3 was recovered, but it got lost before it could be returned. Whatever happened to that episode afterwards remains a mystery. Anyway, I'm happy for every episode that got recovered, and I'm pretty optimistic that some more have survived. This may not be Doctor Who related, but I once read that a lost 35mm print of the Italian film "Giallo a Venezia" was found in the attic of a dental clinic in Portugal (the print contained the lost uncut version of the film). My point is, if a film can be found in such a place, it could be possible that some Doctor Who episodes are located in similar places. Who knows, maybe someone has episode 4 of The Tenth Planet in a garden shed, hidden under loads of tools.

[@BentheDalek]

I have just realised, you woul know about missing episodes months before we do! I would love to have a job like yours. Are you allowed to say if you are doing any work on / have done any work on any recently recovered Doctor Who episodes since then? Most probably not allowed to say! haha

[@nztv8589]

hi. Do you transfer the film below peak white clip, to avoid highlight crushing, and push it later? Or do you transfer it with levels set to normal?

[@Misterquill]

NZ TV Techo The film is transferred flat, like log so we have room to play with. However, it is a capture of a video recording so we don't have much room to play with.

[@griersson]

I wonder how films like that are re-spliced if there's a break or a dodgy DIY join - like the one early in the video - so nothing is lost in the transfer (cement, heat or splicing tape?)

[@Super_Mario128]

The restoration work and commissioning of the extras has been done years in advance for most of the classic Who titles, When Enemy and Web of Fear returned all of a sudden work had to be done a lot quicker on them. So that's the reason why these were "Bare-Bones" releases.

[@Robert_Manners]

waterfieldV Yes however the extras on these two stories could have been exceptional had they been found 10 years earlier!

[@Super_Mario128]

@@Robert_Manners I could imagine the late Barry Letts being very ecstatic that Enemy of the World had found.

[@Robert_Manners]

@@Super_Mario128 I always thought it to be a much stronger story than people gave it credit for, especially based on the reviews from only seeing episode 3. I actually prefer it more to watch than Web of fear and never actually bought the dvd of Web after watching via apple store. Yet I have special edition dvd of this story.

[@dannycheesums]

Hey Paul thanks for all your work over the years. What’s all this in the Daily Mirror about missing episodes being found?

[@MuchWhittering]

Even if something has been found (which I doubt) he's obviously not gonna talk about it before the announcement.

[@ianbarnes3546]

Thanks for that...very interesting

[@QIsForK12]

It's in wide screen? WIDE SCREEN? Why aren't they re released in that format?

[@aidanlunn7441]

They're not in wide screen, it's their set-up stretching the 4:3 image to wide screen. The source files on their machine, like the films, will be in 4:3. Why would you want it like that in the video anyway? It would make Jamie McCrimmon look as fat as the Doctor, and the Doctor morbidly obese!

[@stevedickson5853]

@@aidanlunn7441..yes but the tardis will also be fatter lol

[@srothbardt]

Brilliant! Genius.

[@Krisow98]

So the last recoviring doctor who episodes were found in 2013 with 9 Episodes, but have there been any more recovered episodes of Doctor Who since then? :)

[@caydensands4175]

+Michael Diehl It was Episodes 5 and 10 of The Dalek's Master Plan found in a Church

[@franzrogar]

2:56 If you, like me, had problems reading the text, here's a better (clean, lean, optime) wording: "The reels are lowered into a friendly solution which carries away any dirt from the film."

[@SwiftTrick1]

Am I imagining things or is that intro music slightly different to the usual one? I actually kind of like that one more.

[@peterelliott3015]

great to see how the enemy of the world and web of fear were restored

[@AndrewBentler]

This looks like it's in 16x9 was it shot that way and cropped? Or am i just seeing things?

[@Misterquill]

We decided, due to the tramline scratches and other damage, to transfer the films in HD, so we could remove the scratches in finer detail, without affecting the surrounding image as much. By utilising the entire HD area (1920 x 1080), we use more pixels and therefore capture the fine damage in greater detail. The image is stretched horizontally yes, but so is the damage. One that has been done, cleaned up, the final version is put back to the correct ratio.

[@AndrewBentler]

sweet, like reverse anamorphic

[@digipeeper]

Too Bad episode 3 of The Web of Fear is stolen once more through inside dealings.

[@Robert_Manners]

Death'sDungeon For how long if they aren't able to restore and maintain the print for, a shame if so!

[@JohnMorris-ge6hq]

A damn shame.

[@YoungButRetro]

Now its back!

[@philward2538]

Videotape was wiped and reused the back up film copy is what survives

[@haroldfarthington7492]

where can i watch this episode?

[@chicagofrank2010]

I have heard that most of the 2nd Doctor episodes were lost.

[@MuchWhittering]

+chicagofrank2010 53 of his 119 episodes. So slightly under half are missing.

[@UnchainedEruption]

Robo9400 But you can still figure out the story because they have the audio recording and some pictures

[@UnchainedEruption]

Robo9400 Yeah I know, but at least we can see it. And some of them have been entirely reconstructed using animation.

[@Robert_Manners]

Clara oswald Do you keep them with your web of fear episode 3

[@daveboybrookes]

Absoutely fascinating. Just out of interest, just how many man-hours are worked in the cleaning, copying and restoration of a single episode?

[@altyfc2010]

Fascinating

[@giles852002]

May 31st 2013, announced to the public October/November 2013. Shows the BBC Keep it secret until they know the films are salvageable. I think some missing episodes in the past were probably found that were too damaged to work so they had to be binned secretly, that’s just a theory.

[@hothemeep1219]

Which one

[@MuchWhittering]

No. They were kept secret so they could be restored and prepared for release.

[@giles852002]

@@hothemeep1219 it’s just a theory

[@MuchWhittering]

​@@giles852002One with no evidence whatsoever.

[@giles852002]

@@MuchWhittering it was just a theory, I wasn’t presenting anything as fact.

[@scrmepal]

It was great to get these episodes back and restored, though its highly annoying that someone decided to half inch? episode 3 of the Web of Fear........i mean whats the point of hogging one episode to yourself which is meaningless and worthless on its own. Give it back to the BBC, please!

[@JamifyYT]

IKR. “Mess up and its gone!”

[@JamifyYT]

Ello me from the past! This comment had no likes or anything 🤣 see you again in a few years time

[@JamifyYT]

Ello me’s from the past! I came back!

[@GnCFilms]

Which two wankers voted this down? This is fascinating.

[@QueenSephy2002]

This is so cool

[@The_Blue_Otaku]

How long did it take to get 5 episodes digitized ???

[@Misterquill]

About two and a half hours ..

[@The_Blue_Otaku]

@@Misterquill Wow really ? I was expecting a day to clean up the roll of film and two or three to get it all completely digitized to at least a mp4 file

[@Misterquill]

@@The_Blue_Otaku It's all in the preparation. Some films only took 15 minutes to prep for the transfer session, longest was over an hour. Thos entails hand winding the films through, pinching the edges of the film with a film pad, a non abrasive polishing cloth soaked in an archival film cleaner. At this stage, we're not touching the surface of the film, just getting the grit and dust off the film edges so it doesn't settle on the surface of the film as it's wound through. The added benefit is that I can feel any damage or joints as the film goes through my fingers, stop and make a new repair to the print. Once done, I add a new length of white spacer on the end and mark up the film, then rewind the film and add new white spacer on the front. After that, the film goes into the ultrasonic cleaner which takes around 12 minutes. After that the film is ready for transfer. We made uncompressed high definition files of 'The Web of Fear' and 'The Enemy of the World'. Today I would make 2K DPX files.

[@miniroll32]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the vast majority of D.W episodes recorded on video tape? I've never seen one on 35mm before.

[@Misterquill]

+Henry Jones Jnr. Some episodes were in fact recorded to 35mm film. However, these episodes were originally on videotape but film recordings were made from those tapes onto 16mm film.

[@vitajazz]

+Paul Vanezis A very few episodes were directly telerecorded, either because no Quad was available, or because the program was planned to be edited, which was easier to do on film than tape. I forget which one, but one episode of Dr. Who was found on early home home video, which would have been the only Troughton or Hartnell episode to be on direct video; however the episode was already available on kinescope, and in fact the kinescope was the master for the episode, it was never recorded to tape. Ironic.

[@Petertronic]

The episodes were recorded to film for sending out to countries that could not handle video-tape at the time

[@justrandomvids10]

Originally master tapes were 35mm but telerecorded onto cheaper 16mm film for sale overseas, however bbc often held both 35mm master tapes and 16mm tapes that have been returned or rejected

[@justrandomvids10]

+Robo9400 fair enough I understand it better now thanks! but I still don't understand why some who episodes exist in 35mm format and 16mm

[@ThePiaramag]

Upload more videos!

[@AndrewChapman]

Ah, so that's how it's done.

[@raluca75brasov]

Possibly the voice of delihlah from 101ds must know this exist?

[@ariaserenaseebold272]

How is it 16:9??

[@Misterquill]

Benjamin Seebold Read the early comments...

[@SenileOtaku]

Now if only we could restore the *CURRENT* Dr. Who (to decent acting and story writing).

[@linusfotograf]

16mm?

[@Misterquill]

It is.

[@linusfotograf]

Paul Vanezis Filmed in 16 or is it a copy from 35?

[@Witheredgoogie]

@@linusfotograf It was originally made on videotape, but due to the BBC keeping to the clapped-out 405 line standard that virtually nobody else used, it could not be exported like that. Which in a way was lucky as the tapes were reused for Gardener's World or something. Had it been made on film in the first place (like Star Trek) it would have never stopped making money for the BBC.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

@@Witheredgoogie Film probably made sense before proper conversions like from PAL to NTSC was achieved.

[@Misterquill]

@@Witheredgoogie These films are actually 625 film recordings.

[@rogerturner1881]

Vintage Dr Who still need restoring eg grainy film and dirt, then again clean and sharpen esp William Hartnell's.Can't software these days do miracles? Surely possibly AI could be used

[@MuchWhittering]

Have a look at some of the recent Blu-Rays. The Season 2 and Celestial Toymaker releases are probably the best you're gonna get, barring a huge increase in technology.

[@LukeIdontKnow]

Nice