Post by Brian Wilson on Jan 23, 2007 0:33:30 GMT

In the past there have been clips of Dr Who discovered on 8mm cine film. Some of these clips can be seen on the Lost in Time boxset. I think this is another area worth investigating.
I collect old 8mm cine film myself as I find the old footage quite fascinating. A dual format (std/spr) projector can be purchased reasonably cheaply and there is always a lot of old footage for sale on ebay or elsewhere. In the past few years I have picked up 2 400ft reels at my local market in Belfast at the staggering price of £1 each.
One of the reels was particularly interesting with footage in London around 1964/5 - including old red double-decker London buses and images of the front of a West End cinema premiering The Sound of Music. Another reel I purchased features a short clip of a BBC comedy show from the 70s.
My dad bought a cine camera in 1962 and filmed up until about 1983. Total of about 30 film reels - I transferred these reels to DVD a few years ago; my parents wedding, Christenings, birthdays, "first holy communions", holidays etc.. etc... One of the reels does feature a 15 second black and white movie clip filmed off the tv.
I was thinking about the possibility of footage existing on 8mm and decided to contact the companies and private individuals who transfer 8mm to digital/DVD/vhs for a living. I sent out some messages and so far have received four responses. 3 of these reponses are from major companies who make their livelihood in this line of work;
This reply is particularly encouraging:
"I do remember seeing a Dr Who clip a few years back. But I should point out that any footage I copy is in strict confidence with the client who owns the footage and I would not be able to provide any clips or information."
This reply came from one of the leading cine to dvd companies in the UK:
"Yes we have seen peoples cine where they have recorded of the TV, not very well I might add. The most popular being the moon landing. Probaly 1 in 30 customers has a few seconds of something from a TV. I'll keep an eye open"
This reply came from a company that advertises on ebay:
"I have copied films in the past with some tv images, though typically these are very short and generally feature a tv set within a general scene, so the actual tv image is tiny. Almost without exception the footage is of a news programme. Obviously successfully recording footage (and audio) off a tv in the 60s was well beyond the capabilities of most amateurs."
Another interesting reply. This company provided a fantastic link to their online archive with streamed cine/tv footage from the 70s. More links below if you want to watch the footage.
"We actually see a lot of filmed television clips here. Being in the States we most commonly see the telecast of the moon landing as well as episodes of Star Trek. I have yet to spot any Dr. Who, but there is a chance it exists. You may be interested in searching our Home Movie Archive.
www.homemoviedepot.com/home_movie_depot_archive.php
You may be surprised at what can be found in there. I did a quick search for "television" and found a few examples of people filming their televisions. Good luck on your search!"
Another interesting reply. This company provided a fantastic link to their online archive with streamed cine/tv footage from the 70s. More links below if you want to watch the footage.
"We actually see a lot of filmed television clips here. Being in the States we most commonly see the telecast of the moon landing as well as episodes of Star Trek. I have yet to spot any Dr. Who, but there is a chance it exists. You may be interested in searching our Home Movie Archive.
www.homemoviedepot.com/home_movie_depot_archive.php
You may be surprised at what can be found in there. I did a quick search for "television" and found a few examples of people filming their televisions. Good luck on your search!"
I searched their archive and found the following 8mm cine clips all filmed off a tv screen. You can watch the clips online;
Old television clip - a Beach Boys concert, followed by some Star Trek and then a short tv commercial:
www.homemoviedepot.com/archive/view/wecoyle/246294.html
Kid on tv show:
www.homemoviedepot.com/archive/view/ctham128/227379.html
Kirby Scott TV show:
www.homemoviedepot.com/archive/view/lewthedrummer/305303.html
Brief clip of Elvis:
www.homemoviedepot.com/archive/view/peeweern1/234870.html
War of the Worlds. + other stuff;
www.homemoviedepot.com/archive/view/dotmpp/227450.html
This one features a clip of a tv broadcast on the 1960 Democrat Convention- clip is in the middle of the movie;
www.homemoviedepot.com/archive/view/roginsk/257725.html
Another example of tv/cine filming:
www.homemoviedepot.com/archive/view/dvmemoriesvideo/250955.html
It is quite possible there are clips of missing Dr Who on 8mm cine film - a lot of people used cine cameras in the 60's. Realistically though, the odds of finding any of these clips are not exactly high. Nevertheless, its always worth a try. Who knows? We could get lucky.