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Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

15 Comments

  1. Mike Russell
    June 27, 2011 @ 9:00 am

    I had made a somewhat similar point in Gallifrey Base awhile back, that having missing episodes creates a mysterious, ancient, mythic grandeur that the show would not otherwise have. But that opinion tended to make Ian Levine bluster that I was bizarre, perverse, and absolutely not the kind of fan he was.

    Reply

  2. Elizabeth Sandifer
    June 27, 2011 @ 9:01 am

    It appears that getting Ian Levine to do that does not take a lot of work.

    Reply

  3. nimonus
    June 27, 2011 @ 9:36 am

    Interesting article. One question, though: What happened to the spinning-widget?

    Reply

  4. Elizabeth Sandifer
    June 27, 2011 @ 9:42 am

    Recent changes in Connecticut law has led to Amazon discontinuing the US affiliate service there. I'm working on finding an alternate solution that will restore it.

    Reply

  5. Aaron
    June 27, 2011 @ 12:32 pm

    Ian Levine's told me the same thing, so I guess I'm in good company!

    Reply

  6. landru
    July 11, 2011 @ 11:17 am

    Ian Levine … man, I hate the fandom hierarchy. Seriously, the hate that comes with this stuff is mind-bending. I won't go to conventions anymore and rarely post on Gallifrey Base. Just too obnoxious for words.

    I post here because this is full of intelligent minded people. In the words of William Shatner "It's just a TV Show!"

    Reply

  7. Elizabeth Sandifer
    July 11, 2011 @ 11:33 am

    I'm less interested in the hierarchy of fandom as a whole than I am in the specific bodies that have shaped fandom. DWAS interests me in this regard, as does Levine in the 80s, as does DWM. Past that, I agree, the vitriol is truly stunning.

    Reply

  8. landru
    July 12, 2011 @ 4:53 am

    I can see your point. Ian Levine is interesting historically for helping save shows from being burned and being the Levine Gond for JNT. I just don't agree that "professional fans" have more weight or authority because of their access. Oh, those endless interviews with Clayton Hickman, Gary Russel, Justin Richards, etc … towing the company line! They aren't bad people and some actually get into the main organization (Nicholas Briggs really earned his right to be a main player.) But, some do get a bit up their own ***.

    In my opinion, if you're interested in how these individuals and entities shaped fandom, then you have to see how they've carved it up and created the vitriol of which you speak. It was so much purer once upon a time …

    Again, IMHO.

    Reply

  9. Don Zachary
    July 15, 2011 @ 2:48 am

    Good piece. Interesting. Strange. Quickie: is the first ‘borderline surreal sources’ meant to be ‘borderline illegal sources’? And the bloody Moon landing gone too!

    Reply

  10. 7a1abfde-af0e-11e0-b72c-000bcdcb5194
    July 17, 2011 @ 10:19 am

    a) Given how many fans recorded the broadcasts (which is why we have all the audios and so many of the videos), evidently not everyone thought of tv shows as ephemeral one-time live performances.

    b) The Mormon church story is odd, but far odder is the rediscovery of a lost print of the 1928 film Passion of Joan of Arc 53 years later in the janitor's closet of an insane asylum in Norway. I am not making this up:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passion_of_Joan_of_Arc#Rediscovery

    c) Even without Doctor Who, Firefly could hardly claim the distinction of inventing space cowboys. Terra-man debuted in 1972, no?

    d) Given the loss of the British moon footage, it's a good thing the Doctor stuck that clip of the Silence into the American rather than the British version. Otherwise we'd have the Silence still with us today. Wait, I just forgot what I was typing about.

    Reply

  11. tantalus1970
    January 22, 2012 @ 11:47 am

    The thing which needs to be remembered about missing episodes is what the BBC actually kept (as 'important').

    The BBC's soap operas from the 50s/60s such as Compact and United are almost completely gone. However, they apparently kept all the Lord Mayor's Shows (this is a highly ceremonial procession through the City of London by the Lord Mayor, who is nothing to do with London's elected Mayor, which we only got around 2000, and is basically an Establishment bloke with a gold chain). Class system? In Britain? Never!

    Reply

  12. GarrettCRW
    March 3, 2012 @ 7:39 pm

    This story is further marred by the fact that Milo looks disturbingly like Krankor from Prince of Space. Yes, I'm saying that Mystery Science Theatre 3000 may have ruined my enjoyment of this story.

    Secondly, once I'm officially caught up with the show (I still have Series Six and the last Christmas Special to watch), I need to find a way to piss off Ian Levine. I'm sure I can do it.

    Reply

  13. Sheamus Warior
    February 22, 2015 @ 6:46 pm

    Quickly this site will indisputably be famous among all blogging people, because of its fastidious articles or reviews.Pirack

    Reply

  14. Jullie Roxen
    February 22, 2015 @ 9:50 pm

    In my opinion, the Ian Levine is interesting historically in order to save shows from being destroy. Nice post!Pirate Kings h@ck

    Reply

  15. darkspine10
    September 28, 2017 @ 1:49 pm

    Regarding Loose Cannon’s reconstruction: Is this an older version of the recon? I watched their recon of the Space Pirates recently, and instead of “text cards explaining what was happening”, the recon featured some limited CG work for the missing model sequences in Episodes 3-6.

    Does this change the hypothesis of the inability to re-experience the Space Pirates, even though it’s heavily visual? I mean, it’s not like the CG is perfect, it’s obviously quite cheap. But surely it means something that the LC team were able to reconstruct something for those missing sequences.

    Reply

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