From Newsgroup: rec.arts.drwho.moderated
From Address: jphalt@aol.com
Subject: Re: The Moonbase: my review

MISSING EPISODE NOTES

The Moonbase is really only a semi-missing story. Episodes 1 and 3 are
lost, but 2 and 4 exist in their entirety. The existing episodes are
presented in generally excellent quality on the Lost in Time dvd set,
which also includes the soundtracks to the two missing episodes.

With so much of the story existing, it's a rare and welcome
opportunity to truly enjoy an early Troughton story - a key story in
his Doctor's development, at that. For those who only want to view
what exists, it's not hard to watch just the existing episodes and
fill in the blanks. For completists, the two missing episodes can be
enjoyed in the following ways:


1. Lost in Time audio tracks: As noted above, the Lost in Time dvd set
filled in the gaps of this 50% complete story by including the audio
tracks of the missing episodes. Presented without narration over a
single still frame, this isn't the ideal way to experience the
episodes. Episode 1 has quite a bit of visual elements, particularly
early on, which would likely make it very confusing to follow with
neither visuals nor narration. Still, those who perservere will find
all the exposition they need delivered by Hobson after the first ten
minutes, while the more dialogue-driven Episode 3 should present no
challenge at all. I would still consider this the least of the three
main ways to enjoy the missing episodes.

2. The BBC Audio: The benefit of the restored soundtrack, with the
more visual moments very effectively brought to life by Frazer Hines'
narration. Though the narration doesn't fully convey certain visual
moments (notably the glimpses of the Cybermen's shadows in Episode 1),
it is very easy to follow at all times, creating a clear visual
picture in the listener's mind that (at least for me) does not jar
when shifting to the existing episodes. This was the first way I
experienced the missing episodes, back before the Lost in Time set had
been released and before Loose Cannon had reconstructed the story, and
I still think it's a pretty good way to enjoy those episodes.

3. The Loose Cannon Reconstruction: Given that this is a more visual
story than the previous Troughton serials, I would lean toward using
the Loose Cannon reconstruction for the two missing episodes. It's a
particularly strong effort, with some clever editing and brief bits of
basic CGI bringing the "space plague" to life in Episode 1, while the
choice to take time to edit the Cybermen's mouthplates into opening
and closing when they speak in Episode 3 makes the reconstruction of
that episode vastly more dynamic than the average recon. There's the
usual tradeoff with regard to audio quality, which while clear simply
isn't as clean as the official BBC audio. But given that this is
actually a visual story, the way the reconstruction effectively
conveys the visual element more than compensates.


Whichever of these three you choose, the well-paced nature of the
story should, together with the fact that half the story exists, keep
the narrative alive.

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