Bicycling Chains

The Hartnell and Troughton Junkings

There are potentially dozens of different paths the film prints of the William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton stories could have taken as they were bicycled from country to country over the years.

This table summarises a series of possible distribution paths taken by groups of consecutive stories, taking into account some of the available "film traffic" information – with a smattering of educated guesswork!

We have tried to keep each "chain" as simple as possible without resorting to the complicated exchange of different countries supplying different stories to different recipients; generally, the same grouping of consecutive stories would have been bicycled from the same provider to the same recipient, as opposed to stories being split up and sent to different recipients.

• The groups have been placed in roughly the order by which the first country in each group was first sold and/or aired the series.
• Within some of these "chains" there may have been an intermediary, such as a distribution agency or even the BBC itself, which received the films from Country A and was responsible for sending them on to Country B.
• If a country was in the distribution network of Television International Enterprises Ltd, it is marked as such. (We have assumed that prints distributed by TIE were only ever bicycled to other countries within TIE's distribution circuit.)
• Final fates of the films in each chain are also noted but only when the actual definite fate is proven.

SEASONS ONE -- TWO

Suppressed Field Telerecordings

Countries in Bicycling Group	Group of Stories	Proven Final Fate	Notes
Australia	A---B---C---D---E---F---G M---N---P	Most of these episodes were junked
Australia --- New Zealand	H---J---K---L	H and J were both destroyed in 1971	K did not screen in New Zealand
Australia	Q---R---S	Most of these prints were returned to the BBC in 1975 R episode one was junked, but salvaged in Australia
New Zealand --- Denmark	A---B---C		Sent to Denmark in 1968 Did not screen in Denmark
Malta --- Cyprus --- Uganda --- Ghana	A---B---C		Uganda may have already received a set (from Zambia?), so sent them to Ghana
Malta --- Cyprus --- Hong Kong	D---E
Malta --- Cyprus	F---G---H	Some films destroyed during civil war Remaining films discovered in Cyprus, and returned to the BBC in 1984	H did not screen in Cyprus
Malta	J---K---L
Canada	A---B---C---D---E
Singapore --- Hong Kong	A---B---C F---G---H---J---K---L
Singapore --- New Zealand --- Iran	D	Episodes one and two only sent to Iran in 1967	Did not screen in Iran
Singapore --- New Zealand	M---N---P	P was junked in 1974. The film print of part one was salvaged, and returned to the BBC in 1999	N and P did not screen in New Zealand
Singapore	E Q---R---S
Aden --- Kenya	A---B---C---D---E---F---G---H---J---K---L		Distributed by TIE Ltd
Trinidad & Tobago --- Jamaica --- Barbados	A---B---C---D---E---F---G---H---J---K---L		Distributed by TIE Ltd Last use of the Suppressed Field Telerecordings of some of these serials?
Jamaica --- Barbados	M		Distributed by TIE Ltd Last use of the Suppressed Field Telerecordings of this serial?
Barbados --- Jamaica	N---P---Q---R---S		Distributed by TIE Ltd Last use of the Suppressed Field Telerecordings of these five stories?
Bermuda	A---B---C---D---E		Distributed by TIE Ltd? Last use of the Suppressed Field Telerecordings of these five stories?
Nigeria --- Rhodesia --- Zambia --- Uganda	A---B---C F---G----H---J---K---L
Nigeria --- Rhodesia --- Zambia --- Uganda --- Ghana	D---E		Cyprus sent its copies of D and E to Uganda after those serials had already been aired there, so presumably Uganda sent the unwanted "extra" prints to Ghana
Gibraltar	A---B---C---D---E---F---G---H--- J---K---L---M---N---P---Q---R---S		Distributed by TIE Ltd

Stored Field Telerecordings (Dubbed)

• In late 1966 / early 1967 the first of the "non-English" sales were made, so prints of serials without an English soundtrack were required for those markets. The BBC therefore created fresh sets of telerecordings of twelve season one and two serials with no dialogue track using the superior "Stored Field" method

Countries in Bicycling Group	Group of Stories	Proven Final Fate	Notes
Tunisia	A---B---C---E---F---G---J		Prints from negatives dubbed into Arabic in Lebanon
Morocco	A---B---C---E---F---G---J---K---L	Possibly returned to the BBC before 1976 (to account for the set of Arabic prints held by the BBC at that time) Arabic print of F part four (with Morocco TV label) junked, but was salvaged by collector	Prints from negatives dubbed into Arabic in Lebanon
Saudi Arabia --- Jordan	A---B---C---E---F---G---J---K---L		Prints from negatives dubbed into Arabic in Lebanon
Libya --- Algeria	A---B---C---E---F---G---J---K---L		Prints from negatives dubbed into Arabic in Lebanon
Venezuela --- Chile	A---B---C---E---F---G---J---K---L---N---Q---R		Prints from negatives dubbed into Spanish in Mexico R didn't screen in Venezuela
Mexico	A---B---C---E---F---G---J---K---L---N---Q---R	The films were still held by the Televisa SA TV station in Mexico in 1984; presumably they are still there now!	Prints from negatives dubbed into Spanish in Mexico
Iran	A---B---C---E---F---G---J---K---L---N---Q---R		Dubbed into Farsi D had also been sent by New Zealand in 1967 as Audition copy

Stored Field Telerecordings (English)

• At the same time that the new "non-English" telerecordings were being made, the BBC took the opportunity to replace all of their old "Suppressed Field" telerecordings in English of the season one and two serials with newly struck "Stored Field" telerecordings. The following chains of countries would have been the likely recipients of those new superior prints

Countries in Bicycling Group	Group of Stories	Proven Final Fate	Notes
Thailand	A---B---C---D---E---F---G---H---J---K---L		Although Music/Effects Tracks would have been sent to enable dubbing into Thai, prints with the English soundtrack intact would also have been sent to enable simulcast in both languages
Nigeria --- Zambia	M---N---P---R
Nigeria --- Zambia --- New Zealand	Q
Nigeria --- Zambia --- New Zealand --- Nigeria	S	New Zealand sent films to Nigeria in 1973 Films discovered in Nigeria, and returned to the BBC in 1984
Mauritius --- Sierra Leone --- Ethiopia	A---B---C---D---E---F---G---H J---K---L---M---N---P---Q---R		Distributed by TIE Ltd K did not screen in Sierra Leone R did not screen in Mauritius
Mauritius --- Sierra Leone	S		Distributed by TIE Ltd

SEASONS THREE -- FOUR -- FIVE -- SIX

• All the serials from these four seasons were telerecorded using the superior "Stored Field" method

Countries in Bicycling Group	Group of Stories	Proven Final Fate	Notes
Australia	T---T/A---U---V---W---X---Y---Z---AA---BB--- CC---DD---EE---FF---GG---HH---JJ---KK---LL--- MM---NN---OO---PP---QQ---RR---SS--- TT---UU---VV---WW---XX---YY---ZZ	Most of the films were returned to the BBC in 1975 or 1976; those that weren't returned were junked in 1976 Y episode four was retained in error by the ABC, and returned to the BBC in 1984 BB episode two and KK episode one were salvaged after junking in Australia Episode three of T and episode two of GG were junked shortly after their return from Australia, but salvaged in early 1980s, and subsequently returned to the BBC in 2011 TT was forwarded by the BBC to the British Film Institute	T/A and V did not screen
Barbados	T---U---W---X---Y---Z---AA---BB---CC		[1] see note below
Zambia --- Sierra Leone	T---U---W---X---Y---AA---BB---CC	The film store containing all prints was apparently destroyed circa 1999 during civil war	[1] see note below
Zambia --- Sierra Leone --- Singapore	Z		[1] see note below
New Zealand --- Singapore	T---U---W---X---Y---AA---CC---DD---EE	Sent to Singapore in 1972
New Zealand --- Singapore --- Nigeria	BB	Sent to Singapore in 1972 Sent to Nigeria in 1973 Discovered in Nigeria, and returned to the BBC in 1984
New Zealand	FF---GG---HH---JJ---KK---LL MM---NN---OO---PP---QQ---RR---SS	KK returned to the BBC in 1970 Others destroyed or junked by the end of 1974	KK, OO and RR did not screen
Uganda --- Zambia	FF---GG---HH---JJ---KK
Singapore	FF---GG---HH---JJ---KK---LL---MM	[2] see note below	It's possible that Singapore's prints of MM were sent to Hong Kong
Singapore --- Gibraltar	NN---OO---PP---QQ---RR---SS---UU---VV	[2] see note below
Singapore --- Gibraltar --- Nigeria	TT---WW	[2] see note below
Singapore --- Gibraltar --- Zambia	XX---YY---ZZ	[2] see note below
Hong Kong	FF---GG---HH---JJ---KK---LL---MM RR---TT---UU---VV---WW---XX---YY---ZZ	MM discovered in Hong Kong, and returned to the BBC in 1992	It's possible Hong Kong got a second set of prints of MM (from Singapore?)
Hong Kong --- Zambia	OO
Hong Kong --- Zambia --- Nigeria	NN---PP---QQ	PP and QQ (but not ep 3) discovered in Nigeria, and returned to the BBC in 2013
Hong Kong --- Nigeria	SS

General Summary

WILLIAM HARTNELL STORIES

Keeping the bicycling routes as simple as possible, if we assume that country X generally always supplied country Y with its prints, then:

• Australia – always had its own prints, and returned all but a few to the BBC in 1975
• Zambia and Sierra Leone likely shared prints; of note, Nigeria acquired The War Machines from Singapore in 1973, which suggests perhaps the other African countries Zambia and Sierra Leone no longer still had their prints by then
• The New Zealand censors classified these episodes between May and July 1968, which was before or during the broadcasts in Barbados and Zambia, so New Zealand's prints cannot have been sourced from either of those countries
• It's a matter of recorded fact that New Zealand sent its prints to Singapore in 1972; since New Zealand did not have The Gunfighters, Singapore's prints of that must have been supplied from elsewhere (from Sierra Leone perhaps?)

PATRICK TROUGHTON STORIES

Keeping the bicycling routes as simple as possible, if we assume that country X generally always supplied country Y with its prints, even after an interim period of several years, then:

• Australia – always had its own prints, and returned all but a few to the BBC in 1975
• Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand probably always got their own sets of prints, if only for the fact that the censorship and/or airdates across all three countries either overlap or are far too close once one factors in the time required to transport in, prepare, screen, and transport out prints in time to meet the next country's schedule
• Gibraltar may have got all its prints from the same source – Singapore, over a two year period
• Zambia may have got all its prints from the same source – Hong Kong, with an interim period of three years
• Nigeria may have got all its prints from the same source – Zambia

Notes

• [1] - There is a window of only three to four months between the airdates in Barbados and Zambia, but Zambia could well have received its prints before Barbados, but scheduled the serials to screen much later; therefore we have not factored in that Barbados may have sent its prints to Zambia, although it could have done!
• [2] – It's possible that some of the stray Patrick Troughton episodes kept by the BBC and those recovered from UK film collectors were all from the same source: Singapore or Gibraltar.
  • A possible scenario on that note is this:
    • After Singapore had finished with all the Troughtons (The Highlanders to The War Games), the films were sent back to the BBC. The BBC then sent the films for The Mind Robber to The War Games to Gibraltar, and started disposing of the prints held for The Highlanders to The Tomb of the Cybermen (although some of the films were "rescued" from that fate, such as The Faceless Ones part three and The Evil of the Daleks episode two). Some of the films allocated for junking, such as The Underwater Menace part three and The Moonbase parts two and four, were - for whatever reason - retained.
    • With no readily available prints of the early season four Troughtons, the next sale to Gibraltar was for The Abominable Snowmen to The Dominators only. Once Gibraltar was done with all the stories, they were returned to the BBC as per routine. (Five of the seven season six stories were subsequently sent to Nigeria or Zambia.) Most of the remaining prints were junked (although some of the films were "rescued" from that fate, such as The Abominable Snowmen episode two and The Wheel in Space part three), while a small selection (such as The Enemy of the World part three, The Web of Fear part one, and six episodes from The Invasion) were – for whatever reason - retained.
    • All these retained odds and sods were the episodes that the Lively Arts researchers viewed in 1976 and which were later "found" to be held at the BBC in 1978...

• For an alternative take on what happened to the prints, refer to THE DESTRUCTION OF TIME site