RUMOUR: One missing DOCTOR WHO episode has been located

The saga of Doctor Who's missing episodes has seen unexpected developments this week, with the Film is Fabulous charity confirming it is pursuing multiple leads. They believe the recovery of one episode in the near future is possible, and "several more" are known to exist in private collections (previous rumours have suggested that may only be two).

As previously noted, Doctor Who has a frustrating problem for people wanting to sit down and watch the entire franchise from start to finish: you can't. Ninety-seven episodes from the show's first six seasons, spanning the first two Doctors (William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton), are missing. These are episodes that were junked by the BBC to free up space in their archives, in the mistaken belief nobody would be interested in watching them after their initial release. The practice halted in 1978, and in 1983 the show started being released on VHS video. The series has subsequently been released on DVD and Blu-Ray, as well as on streaming, with the missing episodes variously filed in with animation, audio tracks (the audio for all episodes has survived) and telesnaps.

Almost immediately upon halting the destruction of episodes, the BBC launched a campaign to recover the missing episodes. In some cases, episodes had been taken home by employees, or found their way into collectors' hands. In many cases, the BBC was able to recover episodes from foreign sales, with numerous episodes located in African film archives, in some cases decades later. Since 1978, fifty-five missing episodes have been recovered in this way, with the last find being in 2013 when the recovery of nine episodes from a Nigerian TV station was confirmed. Two episodes had just been recovered in 2011, sparking hopes of momentum building for more episodes to be recovered, but in the twelve years since 2013, there have been no further episodes found, the longest "barren stretch" since the search began.

However, whilst no further episodes have been returned to the BBC, several initiatives have reportedly located the existence of missing episodes in private hands, with one Troughton and one Hartnell episode currently missing believed to have been identified. Why they have not been returned is unclear, with some of the collectors believed to have been wary of possible legal action (despite the BBC having never pursued legal action against anyone who has returned a missing episode). More likely are concerns over publicity: almost everyone who has returned a missing episode has been eventually identified by fans, leading to concerns over harassment.

One collector has passed away recently, and Film is Fabulous is pursuing ways of acquiring the collection, which is believed to include one missing Doctor Who episode. Whether this is one of the previously-reported two episodes is unknown. Negotiations and legal avenues are infamously long-winded processes which may take many months to several years to resolve. So whilst the potential recovery of an episode is good news, it will not be released tomorrow, and may not see the light for several more years. Of course, ninety-six episodes would still be missing after that, so whilst the recovery of one episode is a great thing (especially if it completes a serial, or makes completing a serial in another way more viable), it will not be a huge game-changer.

Still, after such a long, barren period, even the chance of finding 1-3 episodes is a good thing.

The episodes still missing are as follows:

Season 1

• Marco Polo - all 7 episodes
• The Reign of Terror - episodes 4 and 5

Season 2

• The Crusade -  episodes 2 and 4

Season 3

• Galaxy Four - episodes 1, 2 and 4
• Mission to the Unknown - 1 episode (the entire serial)
• The Myth Makers - all 4 episodes
• The Daleks' Master Plan - episodes 1, 3-4, 6-9, 11-12
• The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve - all 4 episodes
• The Celestial Toymaker - episodes 1, 2 and 3
• The Savages - all 4 episodes

Season 4

• The Smugglers - all 4 episodes
• The Tenth Planet - episode 4
• The Power of the Daleks - all 6 episodes
• The Highlanders - all 4 episodes
• The Underwater Menace - episodes 1 and 4
• The Moonbase - episodes 1 and 3
• The Macra Terror - all 4 episodes
• The Faceless Ones - episodes 2, 4-6
• The Evil of the Daleks - episodes 1, 3-7

Season 5

• The Abominable Snowmen - episodes 1, 3-6
• The Ice Warriors - episodes 2 and 3
• The Web of Fear - episode 3
• Fury from the Deep - all 6 episodes
• The Wheel in Space - episodes 1-2, 4-5

Season 6

• The Invasion - episodes 1 and 4
• The Space Pirates - episodes 1, 3-6

Particularly notable about any returns is the impact on the release of Doctor Who on Blu-Ray. So far, only Season 2 has been released from the early years, with The Crusade completed through animation. The more episodes that are recovered, the more likely it is those seasons will be bumped up the release order.