Doctor Who is missing almost 100 of 253 episodes from the show’s first six years, but an archive expert has shared an exciting update about the discovery of at least one of those long-lost instalments.
Appearing on the Doctor Who: The Missing Episodes podcast, film collector John Franklin spoke on behalf of Film is Fabulous, an organization run by film collectors and vintage television enthusiasts, sharing an update on a recent post made on the Film is Fabulous Facebook page about missing Doctor Who episodes.
The Facebook post read, “We are aware of several missing episodes of Doctor Who in private film collections in the UK. We are liaising with the individuals about cataloguing and preserving their entire collection, including the missing Doctor Who episodes, and ensuring that copies are returned to the BBC. We expect to make a detailed announcement shortly.”
Franklin shared more details, explaining how, since 2023, he and other members of the Film is Fabulous team “have been aware of a large collection of films, thousands of films, that have become vulnerable.” He confirmed, “That collection contains some very important material including a missing episode of Doctor Who.”
He added that the collection is “large” and could possibly contain “other episodes of Doctor Who,” but noted, “at this moment in time, we know of one.”
Doctor Who debuted back in 1963 on the BBC, and at the time, the network erased or reused tapes to save on space and storage costs. This led to the loss of many classic era episodes (97 in total) until archiving became a policy. However, some of those missing episodes still exist in private collections.
Franklin explained that the collector recently died and, while they’d previously received permission to catalogue the collection, there are now new legal obstacles to overcome.
“We are doing everything legally, with propriety, to make sure we secure that collection and can return that missing episode of Doctor Who and other items to the rights holder,” he stated, per the Radio Times.
Franklin added that once the legal situation is sorted, fans should expect some exciting news. “Give us the space to conclude the things that we’re doing,” he said. “You will be very, very happy with the announcements when they come, but we just need the space to be able to do that now.”
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