Somebody famously once said “there will always be 110 missing Doctor Who episodes.” Thankfully, the number is now down to 97. But what are the chances of further discoveries?
When it comes to the question of missing Doctor Who episodes, it’s a bit like asking ‘how long is a piece of string?’ There could be nothing left to find, and equally there could be everything left to find. There’s no reason why all 97 missing Doctor Who episodes shouldn’t return to the archive someday, as crazy as it might sound.
Yes, there are some problematic examples. For instance, one of the serials that is least likely to return is the 12 part ‘Daleks’ Master Plan‘ from 1965-66. This is because it was never sold abroad; some ‘audition’ copies were made for Australia, but they ultimately passed on the story and returned it to the BBC. So this leaves us with the original videotapes (which have almost certainly been wiped or burned) and the sole set of Australian copies, which were swiftly scheduled for dumping.
That being said, we actually have three of these previously missing Doctor Who episodes in the archives – episodes two, five and ten of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan,’ against all the odds. Of all the Doctor Who stories, this is the one that should have been almost impossible to recover.
Certainly, the adventure’s seventh episode is one of the holy grails of missing Doctor Who episodes, as this one (as far as we know) was never even copied. To the best of our knowledge, there was only ever one version – the videotape original, which was wiped shortly after transmission.
The reason for this is a bit strange. Because of the scheduling, the seventh episode of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ fell on Christmas Day, and because of this the writers veered away from the main plot to give a mini Doctor Who Christmas special titled ‘The Feast of Steven.’ The Daleks didn’t feature at all, and in fact the episode had little to do with the main story.
Moreover, the episode was famous for (controversially) breaking the fourth wall when the Doctor turned to address the camera and wish all the viewers a merry Christmas. As such, it wasn’t felt to have much commercial appeal to overseas broadcasters.
So does this mean ‘The Feast of Steven’ will never be returned to the archive? It’s unlikely, but then it’s also unlikely that we’d have episodes two, five and ten. So you never know.
And then there are missing Doctor Who episodes like ‘Marco Polo‘ from 1964. In theory, this one should be the easiest to locate. After all, the serial was sold to a staggering 19 countries, meaning that many copies were made, although in reality this amounted to ‘only’ nine, as they were shared (or ‘bicycled’) between broadcasters.
And of these nine, Australia and Nigeria almost certainly destroyed their copies. Meanwhile Sierra Leone and Mauritius returned their prints to the BBC in the 70s, and the fate of the films sent to Canada, Iran, Kenya, Thailand and Ethiopia is currently unknown.
But despite these impressive odds, these missing Doctor Who episodes continue to allude us. It may well be that every surviving copy was incinerated, but at the same it’s worth noting that ‘Marco Polo’ is hailed as something of a long-last classic by fans, and indeed many regard it as one of the First Doctor’s finest adventures. And so, if you were a private collector who was keen on keeping your grubby protuberances on some high-value material, these would certainly be the film cans to hang on to.
And there is a precedent for this. Sad as it may sound, it is highly likely that a number of missing Doctor Who episodes are sitting in private collections with owners who are reluctant to pass on their material. And there could be many reasons for this. Indeed, some might be afraid of losing their films, or of possible legal ramifications. After all, these films technically remain the property of the BBC, and the episodes’ original broadcasters received legal demands to wipe or return the material shortly after transmission.
And then there are film collectors who simply do not realise the value of the missing Doctor Who episodes they possess. This was certainly true for episode three of ‘Galaxy Four‘ and episode two of ‘The Underwater Menace,’ which remained in the hands of collector Terry Burnett for many years as he had no idea that he (potentially) held the only surviving copies in the world, until he returned them in 2011.
Other cases of missing Doctor Who episodes are a bit trickier to untangle. Episode three of ‘The Web of Fear,‘ for example, was reportedly discovered by archivist Philip Morris at a TV station in Jos, along with the remainder of the serial and the entirety of ‘The Enemy of the World.’ He photographed the film can, but when we went to retrieve it the next day, it had mysteriously disappeared. He now believes that the film is in the hands of a private collector.
So basically, when it comes to locating missing Doctor Who episodes, nothing is off the table. The problem is, wild rumours circulate all the time, and it can be difficult to separate reality from rumour. This is particularly problematic whenever an anniversary approaches (such as Doctor Who‘s 60th) as this is an opportune time for recoveries to be announced. But, at the same time, it also provides a good opportunity for time-wasters to start spreading false claims.
What do you think? Will there always be 97 missing Doctor Who episodes? And if not, which one(s) do you think are the most likely to be returned? Let us know in the comments below.
the chances and time to locate missing episodes is diminishing by the day , I’d love to be proved wrong but sadly can’t see or believe any more classic episodes will be found