Waiting for the other shoe to drop is not my strong suit. It’s been slightly over a month since the announcement of Lost Episodes found, officially. And we rejoiced, we celebrated, we wept tears of excitement and gathered around our iTunes and watched television that has not been seen on this Earth for 4o-something years.
And now the rumor mill turns once more, with the idea that this was only the tip of the iceberg. (Something I have said from day one). Either another handful of episodes have been located, or upwards of 90 episodes have been located.
Or not.
It’s all speculation at this point, but allow me to play a game of “what if?”
What if they have struck gold? What if episodes have been recovered? What if our children will never know of a day when there were only six or eight or twelve complete Troughton stories? Obviously, we all have our fingers crossed and are hoping and praying for the best news to come from these incessant rumors. And yet, I am afraid. It’s irrational, and silly, and stupid, but the fear is as real as my excitement. What if they do make this announcement that 90 episodes have been recovered?
Then what?
I mean, from a purely selfish standpoint, it’s like the kid who got everything he ever wanted for Christmas one year, then got a pair of socks the next. How could we EVER live up to another announcement after that one? 90 episodes? Fandom exploded when 4 parts of “Tomb Of The Cybermen” were discovered in Hong Kong. It happened again with one ep each of “Galaxy 4” and “The Underwater Menace” in 2011. And as we are all aware, 9 episodes of “The Web Of Fear” and “Enemy Of The World” discoveries have lead to a euphoric high that we’re still riding. What would 90 do? Seriously, this is almost one of those keep the existence of these secret for the good of all humanity because we’re not ready yet kind of decisions.
Or worse yet, what if these lost episodes all come out and they suck? I mean, would we really be celebrating the discovery of “Fear Her”?
I’d love to have the suspense kept, as they dole out an episode or two every six months or so, saying “yep, we just now discovered “The Smugglers” in a closet in Kerplackechstan, enjoy.” but as Glenn pointed out, that would destroy the BBC’s already tenuous credibility with the fans. So, more than likely the announcement will be made all at once.
If there’s any to announce.
Do the list and really think about it for a minute… Marco Polo, The Crusade, The Myth Makers, The Celestial Toymaker, The Highlanders, The Evil Of The Daleks, The Abominable Snowman, The Wheel In Space… There’s some heavy hitters in that group, the stuff of legend and folk lore. Episodes that I have NEVER seen, only heard whispered about in the corners of fandom as we lament their nonexistence…
My other concern, and again, it’s stupid–what if finding these episodes tarnishes Doctor Who somehow? I mean, we are a unique group among sic-fi fans anyway. Star Trek can always point to their cancelation and say “but we got renewed twice”. Firefly fans can complain “we got canned after a dozen episodes, but at least we got a movie out of it”. But Who fans are the proverbial bad luck fans. Who else can cry “Oh yeah? Over 90 of our episodes were junked and don’t exist anymore, take that!” In a weird way, that unites us as fans, it gives us a common tragic backstory.
One that may be about to be re-written.
Or maybe not.
Either way, I feel like I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop since June. So many things to be thankful for, so much Who in this 50th anniversary year… and yet…
One thing’s for sure. We live in interesting times.
Or maybe not.
