Difference between revisions of "Invasion of the Dinosaurs"
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| − | *Although [[The Time Warrior]] was the last full story to be | + | *Although [[The Time Warrior]] was the last full story to be tele-recorded onto 16mm black and white film, at least the first and second episodes of WWW were also transferred to film. |
| − | * However, by '''August 1974''', only six months after the serial had aired in the UK, it | + | * However, by '''August 1974''', only six months after the serial had aired in the UK, it was not being offered to foreign broadcasters. |
| − | + | '''WHY?''' That is the 1974 dollar question... | |
| − | + | '''CONSPIRACY THEORY''': Where does one even begin? To make some sense of what happened with this serial, let's bullet-point the key events: | |
*'''12 January to 16 February 1974''': [[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]] airs on BBC TV. | *'''12 January to 16 February 1974''': [[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]] airs on BBC TV. | ||
*'''15 January to 17 February 1974''': [[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]] airs on BBC Cymru (Wales)TV. It is understood that the original BBC transmission tapes were used. | *'''15 January to 17 February 1974''': [[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]] airs on BBC Cymru (Wales)TV. It is understood that the original BBC transmission tapes were used. | ||
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*'''30 July 1974''': The censors in [[Australia]] view and assess [[The Time Warrior]] (on b/w film). | *'''30 July 1974''': The censors in [[Australia]] view and assess [[The Time Warrior]] (on b/w film). | ||
*'''1974''': A BBC sales 'brochure' includes [[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]] as being available. | *'''1974''': A BBC sales 'brochure' includes [[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]] as being available. | ||
| − | *'''August 1974''': BBC Enterprises confirms it has no interest in serial '''WWW'''. | + | *'''August 1974''': BBC Enterprises confirms it has no interest in selling serial '''WWW''' overseas. |
*'''26 September 1974''': The censors in [[Australia]] view and assess [[Death to the Daleks]] (on PAL video). | *'''26 September 1974''': The censors in [[Australia]] view and assess [[Death to the Daleks]] (on PAL video). | ||
*'''10 October 1974''' : The censors in [[Australia]] view and assess [[The Monster of Peladon]] (on PAL video). | *'''10 October 1974''' : The censors in [[Australia]] view and assess [[The Monster of Peladon]] (on PAL video). | ||
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*'''28 February 1977''': A memo is drawn up recording foreign sales of '''Doctor Who''' (See [[BBC Records]]). [[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]] is blank. | *'''28 February 1977''': A memo is drawn up recording foreign sales of '''Doctor Who''' (See [[BBC Records]]). [[Invasion of the Dinosaurs]] is blank. | ||
*'''1978''': When the newly-formed Film and Video Archive is established, PAL video-tapes of episodes two to six are found to be held after all. | *'''1978''': When the newly-formed Film and Video Archive is established, PAL video-tapes of episodes two to six are found to be held after all. | ||
| − | *'''1983''': One of the 1974 tele-recordings of episode one is recovered. It is of poor not broadcast quality. | + | *'''1983''': One of the 1974 tele-recordings of episode one is recovered early in 1983. It is of poor not-broadcast quality. |
| − | Right. That's the chain of (known) events. But what does it all mean? Given that the rest of season 11 was supplied to [[Australia]] less than six month after UK transmission, but that by that time '''WWW''' was not available indicates that '''WHATEVER IT WAS THAT HAPPENED''' happened sometime between 10 July 1974 (when the serial aired in Wales) and August 1974 (when Enterprises declared no further interest). | + | Right. That's the chain of (known) events. But what does it all mean? Given that the rest of season 11 was supplied to [[Australia]] less than six month after UK transmission, but that by that time '''WWW''' was not available, indicates that '''WHATEVER IT WAS THAT HAPPENED''' happened sometime between 10 July 1974 (when the serial aired in Wales) and August 1974 (when Enterprises declared no further interest). |
| − | *The two 1974 tele-recordings were apparently of very poor quality. Maybe the reason why it was done '''twice''' was because the first did not pass the quality test. But did something happen to the original video tape of part one during this conversion process? Did the tape get mangled beyond repair after / during a '''third''' attempt to make a 16mm film copy? | + | *The two 1974 tele-recordings were apparently of very poor quality. Maybe the reason why it was done '''twice''' was because the first did not pass the quality test. But did something happen to the original video tape of part one during this conversion process? Did the tape get mangled beyond repair after / during a '''third''' attempt to make a usable 16mm film copy? |
| + | *It has been suggested that the two low-grade film copies were made for other reasons: one was for training purposes. Did the tape get damaged during the test session before an official tele-recording intended for foreign sales was made? | ||
| + | *The BBC could have made tele-recordings of the remaining episodes and sold the serial in black and white only, but since very view countries were still buying black and white material at that time might not have justified the cost. | ||
| + | *Producer Barry Letts has gone on record saying he was far from satisfied with the special visual effects; did he perhaps pull some clout and have the story withdrawn to prevent further embarrassment? | ||
| + | *And what happened to the rest of tapes between 1974 and 1978? It is thought that they were returned from BBC Wales years after the events. But why could they not also return episode one? Were the tele-recordings made in Wales? Did '''THEY''' lose/damage episode one? | ||
| − | + | Yes, it is all very confusing. And we may never find out the answer to this one. | |
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Revision as of 00:08, 23 January 2011
| Story Code: WWW / Season 11 | UK Airdate: 12 Jan to 16 Feb 1974 | Doctor: Jon Pertwee |
| First airings by location | UK Repeats / Foreign Cable and Satellite | Previous Story / Next Story |
.
- Although The Time Warrior was the last full story to be tele-recorded onto 16mm black and white film, at least the first and second episodes of WWW were also transferred to film.
- However, by August 1974, only six months after the serial had aired in the UK, it was not being offered to foreign broadcasters.
WHY? That is the 1974 dollar question...
CONSPIRACY THEORY: Where does one even begin? To make some sense of what happened with this serial, let's bullet-point the key events:
- 12 January to 16 February 1974: Invasion of the Dinosaurs airs on BBC TV.
- 15 January to 17 February 1974: Invasion of the Dinosaurs airs on BBC Cymru (Wales)TV. It is understood that the original BBC transmission tapes were used.
- 28 June 1974 and 10 July 1974: Tele-recordings are made of episode one (and possibly also episode two).
- 30 July 1974: The censors in Australia view and assess The Time Warrior (on b/w film).
- 1974: A BBC sales 'brochure' includes Invasion of the Dinosaurs as being available.
- August 1974: BBC Enterprises confirms it has no interest in selling serial WWW overseas.
- 26 September 1974: The censors in Australia view and assess Death to the Daleks (on PAL video).
- 10 October 1974 : The censors in Australia view and assess The Monster of Peladon (on PAL video).
- 1975: A BBC sales 'brochure' includes Invasion of the Dinosaurs as being available.
- 24 November 1976: Pre-production on Whose Doctor Who. BBC Enterprises does not hold any tapes for Serial WWW.
- 28 February 1977: A memo is drawn up recording foreign sales of Doctor Who (See BBC Records). Invasion of the Dinosaurs is blank.
- 1978: When the newly-formed Film and Video Archive is established, PAL video-tapes of episodes two to six are found to be held after all.
- 1983: One of the 1974 tele-recordings of episode one is recovered early in 1983. It is of poor not-broadcast quality.
Right. That's the chain of (known) events. But what does it all mean? Given that the rest of season 11 was supplied to Australia less than six month after UK transmission, but that by that time WWW was not available, indicates that WHATEVER IT WAS THAT HAPPENED happened sometime between 10 July 1974 (when the serial aired in Wales) and August 1974 (when Enterprises declared no further interest).
- The two 1974 tele-recordings were apparently of very poor quality. Maybe the reason why it was done twice was because the first did not pass the quality test. But did something happen to the original video tape of part one during this conversion process? Did the tape get mangled beyond repair after / during a third attempt to make a usable 16mm film copy?
- It has been suggested that the two low-grade film copies were made for other reasons: one was for training purposes. Did the tape get damaged during the test session before an official tele-recording intended for foreign sales was made?
- The BBC could have made tele-recordings of the remaining episodes and sold the serial in black and white only, but since very view countries were still buying black and white material at that time might not have justified the cost.
- Producer Barry Letts has gone on record saying he was far from satisfied with the special visual effects; did he perhaps pull some clout and have the story withdrawn to prevent further embarrassment?
- And what happened to the rest of tapes between 1974 and 1978? It is thought that they were returned from BBC Wales years after the events. But why could they not also return episode one? Were the tele-recordings made in Wales? Did THEY lose/damage episode one?
Yes, it is all very confusing. And we may never find out the answer to this one.
Issue
- The story was finally released for foreign sale in early 1985, when it was included in a package of all 24 Jon Pertwee stories.
- However, the black and white part one was not included; the story was offered as a five-parter only. The opening titles captions were also adjusted, so PART TWO was now "PART ONE", PART THREE became "PART TWO", and so on. Part Two was also edited slightly to remove all references to scenes from part one (such as the attack by the pterodactyl).
- The serial was sold to:
| United States | from Mar 85 | NTSC |
| Australia | Nov 84 | PAL |
| New Zealand | Sep 86 | PAL |
| Canada | 1990s? | NTSC |
- All six parts - the black and white first instalment included - were released in later years. New Zealand aired all six episodes in a Jan 2001 repeat season.
