Philip Gary Morris (born February 1968)[1] is an English former oil rig worker and media recovery specialist. He is best known for being held hostage in 2006 by Nigerian kidnappers, and for founding Television International Enterprises Archive (TIEA).
Philip Morris | |
|---|---|
| Born | Philip Gary Morris February 1968 (age 56) |
| Occupation | Media recovery specialist |
| Organization | Television International Enterprises Archive |
| Website | http://www.tiea.co.uk/ |
Hostage
editPrior to being taken hostage, Philip Morris worked on rigs for twenty years all over the world including Africa and the Americas.[2] While working on the rig Bulford Dolphin in 2006 as a crane operator, Morris was taken hostage along with eight others (six British, one American, one Canadian).[2][3] He was held hostage for four days in the jungle village of Bilabre, Nigeria. The Nigerian government negotiated the hostages release and paid a $200,000 ransom.[2] Instead of returning to his job seven weeks after being released, he sought counseling for posttraumatic stress disorder.[2][4] Morris was later charged by police with "assault and criminal damage" after an incident with his former girlfriend at her home.[4][5] The charges were dropped six months later.[4] He would not return to Nigeria and received a settlement from his employer due to being taken hostage.[4]
Television International Enterprises Archive (TIEA)
editMorris founded the Television International Enterprises Archives, a company that searches for lost television.[6] His biggest recovery has been nine missing Doctor Who episodes found in Nigeria, from the serials The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear, featuring the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton.[6][7][8] TIEA and Morris were working on Project Genesis, cataloguing materials with the Nigerian Television Authority, when the episodes were discovered in a Jos television relay station.[9][10][11][12] The episodes were in good condition considering the environmental conditions and civil unrest, and lost for decades prior to their recovery.[11][12][13] Morris's work requires bodyguards, due to the danger involved; he tries to work anonymously, but was in a troubled region during the announcement of the recovered Doctor Who episodes, causing security issues.[6][8] He has also successfully recovered content from The Basil Brush Show and The Sky at Night.[6][9] In 2018, Morris recovered two lost episodes of The Morecambe & Wise Show from an abandoned theater in Freetown, Sierra Leone.[14][15]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Philip Gary MORRIS". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. UK Companies House. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Why I must return to living hell on oil rig". Liverpool Echo. 19 July 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ^ "Oil rig hostage home from Nigeria". BBC. 7 June 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Kidnap victim Philip Morr". Champion (Sefton & West Lancashire). 15 February 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
- ^ "Rig hostage on assault charge". Liverpool Echo. 17 August 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ^ a b c d Sweet, Matthew (4 December 2013). "Searching for television's missing gems: Doctor Who, Woody Allen, Ridley Scott and Dennis Potter". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ Southall, J.R. (28 February 2014). "Doctor Who - Update on the Missing Episodes". Starburst Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ a b Jefferies, Mark (22 July 2014). "Doctor Who missing episodes: Recovery expert hints more lost episodes set to be returned". Mirror. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ^ a b Mulkern, Patrick (26 February 2014). "Doctor Who episode hunter Philip Morris on the search for lost tapes: "Expect the unexpected"". RadioTimes. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ^ "The Enemy of the World & The Web of Fear - Found!!". Doctor Who Magazine. 11 October 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ^ a b "Lost episodes found after a century". eNews Channel Africa. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ^ a b "Doctor Who: Lost episodes Enemy Of The World and Web of Fear discovered". The Independent. 11 October 2013. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ^ Jefferies, Mark (11 October 2013). "Doctor Who 'lost episodes' found with The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear available on iTunes". Mirror. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ^ Loughrey, Clarisse (26 November 2018). "Two lost episodes of Morecambe and Wise found in an abandoned cinema". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- ^ "Wigan man is bridging the UK TV history gap". Wigan Today. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
