Despite being recovered after almost half a century languishing in the list of incomplete or missing Doctor Who stories, The Web of Fear remains an enigma.
If you didn’t already buy it on iTunes when its recovery was released in October, or view it on Virgin Media’s on-demand service, you might well be looking forward to having it in hard, physical form when it is released on DVD next month… if it weren’t for the fact that unlike The Enemy of the World, The Web of Fear remains incomplete!
There are, of course, rumours about episode three, that the copy found was not of good enough quality to be released yet; counter-rumours suggest a copy has been found elsewhere, but either too late to add to the previous announcement or in the possession of someone who the BBC remain in negotiations with.
Unfortunately the result is a seemingly rushed reconstruction using low-quality audio and some questionable photo choices. One has to wonder why the BBC went ahead with the The Web of Fear in this state, or why more attention wasn’t made to the reconstruction in the intervening weeks.
So, we decided to throw it open for your vote here, on a topic we’ll be discussing on this week’s podKast. Your votes and comments on this topic are important, to tell us what you think!
[polldaddy poll=7747012]
We’ll be reviewing the release for you soon, and if you haven’t ordered it already, The Web of Fear is out on February 24th and available for £13.75 at Amazon
(With thanks to FrancoPabloDiablo)
I was under the impression that they were animating episode three and that’s why it was delayed. I’m confused about why there’s been a delay if episode three is going to be similar to the iTunes version. At least “The End of the World” DVD was released soon after its iTunes date, despite offering little new.
I have it on Itunes and for now, that’s more than good enough. If we get an edition with VAM, I’d be straight on it but without, I don’t see it’s worth the Earth pounds alas.
Where is “Yes I bought this on itunes, will but it and will buy it again if episode 3 emerges. Why are these polls written by morons who cannot see all the options,
“morons”
Really?
I’d like to thank you, Christian, for contributing so much of your time and effort towards providing this free website with so many interesting and informative news articles, polls, PodKasts, interviews, reviews and other features.
And I’d like to commend you on your restraint, tolerance, and resilience when dealing with people such as paolosammut, who lack the social intelligence and moral fortitude to present their opinions without resorting to insults.
Keep up the good work!
Bless you, Rupert, and thanks 🙂
You can’t cover all the bases… I’m not buying it but was told it was a late Xmas present, so I considered that that it’s a purchase (if not directly by me) and therefore a yes. Simple enough. Though if I had known I was potentially receiving it as a gift I might have advised my folks to hold fire or purchase something else that I need for my collection until I heard what the full story was with Episode 3. Ah well I’m sure I will enjoy it and again later if it does emerge. Well done for avoiding responding to the “morons” with anything stronger than really… I would have struggled!
Well, why not cover all permutations? Is there an option for people who have bought on iTunes and will buy on DVD but not buy on Virgin Media. The first thing with any poll is that an option should cover all possibilities and be clear even if there is a final “catch” all such as other.
I do apologise for being inflammatory with my “moron” comment however these things are so important to get right since it reflects so badly otherwise and just makes using these things more troublesome. There are so many sites now which churn out cheap content rather than producing quality output (which a lot of Kasterborous output really is)
Thanks Paulo.
You could have just requested the desired option. Perhaps in future I’ll format the polls so that readers can add their own answers.
maybe an “in which format have you/will you buy the story?” icon
I would need an “I am buying it but becoming increasingly annoyed at the lack of extras or episode three” option
I held off buying it on iTunes because I would rather wait for the DVD than buy it twice – if the missing episode meant the DVD was re-released I would probably buy that too
Bought on iTunes, ordered from BBC Shop and will buy if the other episode is ever found in a good enough quality 😉 but never even will touch Virgin Media
A lot of people have watched this on Virgin as part of their package and would not touch iTunes or any other Apple product.
Bought it on itunes, will buy the dvd, and again if a SE becomes necessary – anything I can do to support these releases, I will, happily and without hesitation.
I have my rule about only buying something once. I saw the episodes from a friend off iTunes. I’ll wait and see how the missing episode omni-rumor shakes out. If another episode fall out, then I’ll be glad I waited.
But if not, I can still get the DVD.
I am a bit mystified as to why, as they delayed the release, they didn’t invest in animating the single missing ep. They’ve gone to the trouble of animating “Underwater Menace” after all, and that’s rubbish! It’s the same with a couple of other partially missing stories – “The Crusades” for example, which would have made more sense to animate. Some odd choices are made by the BBC.
So won’t be buying an incomplete story in any format – when I began buying the videos, then the DVDs, that was always my rule – they have to be complete, even if that meant missing classics because they had one episode lost.
I watched the story on iTunes as a friend had purchased, and am buying the DVD myself. I think it’s important we show the BBC how much we want these recovered episodes and sales are really the only way.
Hell Yes. I am buying it. its on pre order the day it went up well before Xmas (day of the announment that it was going on Itunes I think.
I understand that Enemy of the World being released as an anniversary sort of thing and with December being such a moomin of a month with things getting lost in the xmas rush. waiting for Feb was a fantastic idea. giving us all time to watch Enemy of the World twice +
Was sadly unable to participate in this poll as there in no option for people that have watched it on Virgin (but not iTunes) and will still purchase the DVD.
I’m just happy to live in a world where (most of) ‘Web of Fear’ exists. For the record, I will be buying this on DVD, having not watched it in any other electronic format (unless one counts the original television broadcast, decades ago!).
I already bought it on iTunes and won’t be buying the DVD unless they give it the usual classic release treatment ie commentary, making of documentary, featurettes, animated missing episode, etc.
Nope because I’m an American and it’s not being released here. I’d buy it on iTunes if it were DRM free but since that will never happen, I’ll probably never get to see this story.
Actually, after checking on Amazon, it seems to have a US release date of April 22. But I couldn’t find anything for The Enemy of the World. Why are they being so cockeyed about these stories?
You missed out “No, waiting for an edition with special features (animated episode and commentaries), before buying.” I would definitely have voted for that!
thankfully there are probably more than enough of us who will buy it buy the special edition and the very very special edition and all the other versions to make it viable for a commercial arm of the BBC to justify continuing to look for find and beautifully restore episodes of the show. All those who have rules like I will only buy it once or I will wait for the special colorized 3D edition with recreated footage of the episode they might have made, will as a result of the majorities willingness to support a good cause, eventually get the version they want.
If you want to see the mess they can make of things when there is very little commercial consideration, check out some of the attempts at remastering the Avengers. Doctor Who is both lucky and as a huge and enthusiastic fan base.
Checked Amazon yesterday, The Enemy of the World will be released in North America on May 20. Not sure why they’re releasing the stories in reverse order, but at least now we have a definitive date for it.