Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site spock.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!yale!spock!ckuppe From: ckuppe@spock.UUCP (Charles A. Kupperman '87 ) Newsgroups: net.tv.drwho Subject: Adulterated episodes Message-ID: <243@spock.UUCP> Date: Sun, 5-May-85 10:35:44 EDT Article-I.D.: spock.243 Posted: Sun May 5 10:35:44 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 7-May-85 07:32:55 EDT References: ckuppe@spock.uucp (Charles Kupperman @ Choate Rosemary Hall, Organization: Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, CT. Lines: 61 Wallingford, Connecticut.) Not since Time-Life got a hold of the first four seasons of Baker in 1978 have I seen such horrible adulteration. I refer to Lionheart's already executed scheme to mutilate and/or annhialate two specific Pertwee episodes. Many parts of the country are simultaneously seeing a new Pertwee package, necessarily including some Black-and-white adventures. All the previously shown B/W adventures had had some episodes existing in colour, but Lionheart had a complete B/W print of the story, so they showed that. Fine. But Planet of the Daleks and Invasion of the Dinosaurs do not exist in complete colour or complete B/W. Episodes 3 and 1 respectively are only B/W and several of the other episodes are only colour. Therefore, Lionheart couldn't show a complete B/W adventure without spending some money changing colour episodes to B/W. But Lionheart is a cheapskate organisation. Rather than spend the money, they had the option of either showing a part colour/part B/W adventure, or somehow editing out the one B/W episode in each adventure. Somehow, they accomplished this impossible and dastardly mission. Planet of the Daleks and Invasion of the Dinosaurs are now both 5 parters!! How this was done, I don't know yet. It could have been done Howard DaSilva style, with a narrator telling the confused audience briefly what happened in the episode. This would have been tough- to explain in a few seconds a whole episode of character and plot development. It could have been done by some clever editing, changing the episode lengths to nearly a 1/2 hour and somehow editing episode 3 into episodes 2 and 4 using out-takes or something. Who knows? The point is, it's too late to stop it now. From a Dr. Who fannish, an ethical, and a broadcasting point of view Lionheart have perpetrated a terrible misdeed. Added to this is their tragic REMOVAL of Planet of Fire and Caves of Androzani from the Davison package. Those of you who have seen these adventures, treasure the memory. If you have a videotape, hold on to it with both hands. As I believe I posted once before, these adventures are gone- Until the time when, in a couple of years, we finally get the Colin Baker adventures. At that time, Caves of Androzani will have been edited- to make the regeneration less ambiguous in some way. To end a dismal note on a lighter one... 1986 is just around the corner, as a friend of mine said. In order to preserve the true course of history, I'm counting on eight of you true Dr. Who fans out there to dress up in spray-painted ski masks with a flashlight taped on top, or some other approximation of a Tenth Planet cyberman, and go out to Antarctica and attack some unsuspecting research base! If we want Dr. Who regarded as a truthful record of life in the universe, while the UNIT stories did not affect the whole globe, it is necessary to safeguard the true course of history. Also, for those of you struggling to keep Dr. Who on the air, it would be a premier publicity stunt! Charles Kupperman, "Dr. Who is required. Bring him here." "Chap with wings- eight rounds rapid," was from the Daemons, part 5. The ONLY Pertwee five-parter, until Lionheart got their hands on them all.