November
1 - The BBC announces that the entire back catalogue of extant Doctor Who episodes are available for free on iPlayer. Fans note that some episodes appear to be missing (eg. The Abominable Snowmen, episode 1). (Note: iPlayer is not available outside of the UK.)
2 - The BBC announces it will make available a cut-down and colourised version of The Daleks as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations.
3 - On MEF, member John Green shares an announcement from Film is Fabulous - that among other things they will be announcing finds of "lost children's programmes from the 1960s". Could this include missing Who?
Meanwhile it's announced that the newly-colourised version of The Daleks will be shown on BBC4 on the anniversary date at 7:30pm
13 - On MEF, Paul Vanezis announces that that a second instalment of 1970s Basil Brush has been returned, thanks to the Film is Fabulous initiative.
On GB, Tim Burrows claims it was an "ex-BBC guy" who returned the print.
Meanwhile, in an article published by TV Tonight, Mark Stuckey calls for an "amnesty" for film collectors to be immune from legal action should they attempt to return missing BBC material.
14 - After some discussion on GB as to whether the 60th anniversary in 10 days will hold any surprises, Scot Ferre posts that he has "heard" something that hints about a possible return but it has been passed down a chain so he won't say anything further.
20 - On GB, Richard Bignell posts a fascinating screengrab of the memo that first tipped off him and the other missing episode hunters as regards the involvement of T.I.E. in the overseas sales of Doctor Who.
21 - After surprisingly few rumblings leading up to the 60th anniversary, on GB member Zippy posts that Ian Levine has revealed that Jeremy Bentham told him there will be a "missing episode announcement" this Thursday. (Ian has apparently deleted all Tweets and posts regarding this, so there is no direct link.)
However on his Facebook group, Ian says he "doesn't believe it for a minute".
22 - Further to this, member Scot Ferre says it could be "multiple episodes of a story".
The heat continues on GB, with member chris1973 saying a Facebook friend of his told him it could be "multiple" episodes of a story to he revealed.
Meanwhile, Phil McGill casually drops into the conversation that tomorrow we will all be watching The Tenth Planet episode 4!
23 - The midnight mark passes with no announcement made - but as posters on GB point out, no-one of note has been in to debunk the rumour, which is normally standard procedure in these cases.
Member chris1973 cheekily suggests that if he were making an announcement, he might time it to the original episode's broadcast time of 5:15pm!
But unfortunately, the 60th passes without any news on missing episodes.
24 - On GB, Douglas Wulf enigmatically posts that "perhaps we won't have so long to wait". Doug posts something similar on PMF.
The Independent publishes an article about missing episodes featuring quotes from Paul Vanezis, stating that finding missing episodes of television is a by-product of helping to catalogue people's film collections.
26 - On GB, Andora mentions that in 'Secrets and Scandals', a Channel 5 documentary where missing episodes were mentioned, actor Mark Strickson (Turlough) apparently conducted his own search in Sierra Leone while recording a wildlife documentary!
Meanwhile on PMF, Doug Wulf keeps up the enigmatic posting - when replying to another member as to his thinking, Doug responds:
"You have a very, very easy way of finding out, but I'll leave that to you.
You'll understand shortly."
Could this be a reference to one of the end of year specials, entitled "The Giggle", in which the (Celestial) Toymaker is set to return?
28 - 29 - Doug makes a series of optimistic posts on PMF, in particular this post, explaining why he feels optimistic for the future of missing episodes.
December
2 - On PMF, Scot Ferre says if he was a "betting man" he would bet on a return announcement this month, tying into the return of the Toymaker. Doug Wulf agrees with him.
On GB, dr caligari points out that during the Hartnell montage at the end of the colourised showing of The Daleks, at one point there appears to be a shot of William Hartnell dressed as the Abbot of Amboise from the completely missing story The Massacre. Other posters claim it is a doctored (no pun intended) shot of Hartnell from an existing episode of The Crusade.
3 - On PMF, Scot says that it is only a "guess" on his part that the return of the Toymaker is impetus for a recovery.
Missing Believed Wiped is held at BFI Southbank. The only mention of Doctor Who is that David Stead, who formerly returned an episode of The Wheel in Space, returned an episode of comedy series "Them".
4 - On PMF, Scot Ferre says he read on a website there was "more returned material" which will be shown at special extra MBW event next year. However, Miss Cathcart says that Dick Fiddy alluded to the Film is Fabulous finds being screened at a later date.
8 - On the official Doctor Who Twitter, it's announced that The Celestial Toymaker will be released "soon" with its missing episodes animated.
12 - On PMF, member iamyourservant posts a reply received from Philip Morris on the DWMEFB Group:
"Hi Tony no not at present.Unfortunately there are no guarantees.The task is not an easy one which is why nobody else despite all talk and rumours has moved the dial forward since my last returned dr who recovery."
13 - On Twitter, Ian Levine shares a screengrab of a Facebook post by Philip Morris, in which Morris says episode 3 of The Web of Fear is in the hands of "a vocal fan". In a rebuttal post, Levine says Morris is "full of shit".
16 - And rounding out the year with a visit back to Digital Spy Forums (DSF) - member Sambda quotes a reply from Philip Morris on Facebook, when asked for an update on finds of missing Who:
"Hi Tony no not at present.Unfortunately there are no guarantees.The task is not an easy one which is why nobody else despite all talk and rumours has moved the dial forward since my last returned dr who recovery."
Final message for 2023
OK readers, well that was the year that was. The 60th has come and gone, no further returns have happened but hope springs eternal. Many questions - at least in my mind - remain to be answered.
Has Philip Morris' involvement in missing episodes changed the game forever? Will we see any more returns this side of the 70th? Will Film is Fabulous come up trumps and bring us some pleasant surprises in 2024?
Time alone will tell, but in the meantime I want to wish my readers a happy and enjoyable Christmas season and a blessed and prosperous 2024.
