2026

2026

January

1 - Getting things off to a light start, on MEF member John Wall looks at the prospects for finds in 2026. Given FIF's success in recent years, John feels that 2026 could be "the best year in a very long time". The consensus in the thread is generally positive.

Downthread John doubles down with a prediction of The Myth Makers, episode 2 and The Smugglers, episode 3.

5 - On PMF, Scot Ferre says that there are "missing items" with Australian collectors.

7 - On PMF, discussion on the chances of films being with Australian collectors leads to Servorobot re-posting the two quotes from Paul Vanezis, regarding his dealings with the alleged "timewaster" from Australia who supposedly held Marco Polo, The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Daleks.

19 - In Hobart, Tasmania, a cache of BBC films is found offered for sale in a tip shop. The find was posted on the Missing Believed Wiped Facebook page. 

Several items are identified, all existing BBC material (non-Doctor Who), but many items were not able to be identified.

On PMF, Servorobot says the haul was acquired by the National Australian Archives.

23 - On GB, member The Evil Dalek speculates that the two missing Hartnell episodes in private collections may be from The Reign of Terror, The Crusade, The Celestial Toymaker or The Savages.  Evil Dalek also quotes an old post showing the reasoning behind this.

2025

2025

January

8 - the new year kicks off with a lengthy post on GB from Aron Challinger, stating that the delays with curating the Melbourne hoarder's collection is that the entire hoard has moved universities twice. It now sits with the University of Southern Queensland.

However in a subsequent post, Aron says that despite the hoarder possibly having taped "all of 60's Doctor Who", the tapes were most likely the ones that were thrown out before Aron was contacted.

10 - Aron makes 2 more fascinating posts giving further background as to what the Melbourne collector recorded - here and here.

February

25 - On X, FIF post an intriguing picture of a huge hoard of film cans, stating they were found in a collector's shed and there are more inside the house. They post that it will take them until at least Christmas to catalogue everything.

March

11 - On FB, FIF announce their new podcast. An extract featuring Tim Burrows speaking with John Franklin is here. FIF's Vimeo account is located here, with a second extract from the podcast available here, where John talks about dealing with private collectors.

Future episodes will feature Sue Malden, formerly of BBC Archives, and Paul Vanezis.

17 - FIF release their third Fab Podcast snippet, featuring Sue Malden, on their website. In this episode the team define "missing episode" and talk about FIF's returns to date.

Their Facebook post is here.

18 - Under this same FB post, FIF reply to a query about missing episodes, saying "there are several missing episodes of vintage television" to be announced soon, and that a number of "important announcements" will be made.

21 - FIF release part 4 of the Fab Podcast, featuring Sue Malden once again. Sue discusses the work of FIF in liaising with official archives such as the BBC and BFI.

The article also mentions the five collections that have formed the case studies:

• the Tim Beddows Collection
• the Terry Burnett Collection
• the Maurice Haynes Collection
• the David Moore Collection
• the Martyn Stevens Collection

27 - On X, FIF announce their upcoming presentation of missing episodes of vintage television, billed as "Recovered". The event is being held on 11 May 2025 at The Phoenix in Leicester. They will showcase some of the episodes of vintage television that FIF have recovered since they've been operating.

Another podcast excerpt accompanies the announcement on their site, in which Justin Smith of De Monfort University states that they have certain items in the pipeline which he can't announce until closer to the event date.

In the replies on the corresponding Facebook post, FIF also say they will be making "several important announcements" between now and the event and some of the recovered episodes come from two collections containing "thousands" of films.

29 - In a discussion about DMP and bond stores, on GB Jon Preddle replies to Servorobot about the APS bond store - an independent bond store belonging to Australian Program Services based in Chippendale, Sydney. APS imported and distributed US and UK television programs.

Servo later clarifies that APS did not hold any BBC programs.

April

6 - On X, FIF announce their team members Sue Malden, John Franklin and Prof Justin Smith will appear on the next episode of podcast The Humming Projector. The podcast's official site is here.

7 - On their FB, FIF confirm they will announce "recently recovered" missing episodes at the 11 May festival.

12 - On their FB, FIF announce they have recovered "hundreds" of 16mm film cans from a converted pig shed on a farm, which once belonged to a important person in the industry. They will announce the details at the Leicester event (see March 27.)

On Richard Latto's X, he mentions that FIF will also announce another find from the Terry Burnett collection.

14 - On FB, FIF announce that one of the episodes of vintage episodes to be announced on 11 May is an episode of Boyd Q.C. - the fourth episode of this series to be recovered by the group.

21 - On their X, FIF post that they have been busy collecting films over the Easter holiday. The following day, FIF show pictures of 2 film cans they say were retrieved from the collections of two former BBC cameramen.

23 - On their FB post announcing the find of a missing episode of ITV drama Emergency Ward 10. FIF also mention that they have found a total of 50 episodes of the program, most of which are missing. While the earliest episodes recovered are from 1961-62, most are from 1964. This is right in the wheelhouse of missing Who. 

A link to a short podcast excerpt is here. 

25 - On FB, FIF announce the program for Recovered! on 11 May. No episodes of Who are listed.

30 - FIF post their updated list of BBC shows produced in the late 1950's and 1960's to be shown at Recovered! - no Who is among the listed titles.

May

1 - FIF announce that they have officially established a charitable trust, called "The Film is Fabulous Trust".

11 - At FIF's Recovery event, Sue Malden states she hopes FIF can be involved in returning missing Doctor Who, that there are "one or two" episodes known to be in private collections and and that they know "a few places where they might be".

12 - On the lack of any new announcements at Recovery, despite what FIF said previously online, on GB Scot Ferre speculates that "certain finds were postponed".

13 - On GB, JonGraeme says he spoke to both John Franklin and Sue Malden at the Recovery event and the comment "not ready to announce things at this time" came up more than once.

Meanwhile, the Radio Times publish quotes from Sue Malden that "we know fairly certainly that there are missing episodes in private collections", and that "when the time is right" FIF may be able to assist in returning these to the archives.

14 - On GB, Scot Ferre makes reference to a post in the "Spoiler section" of the forum (original link not found), where someone posted a supposed list of 10 missing episodes and where they are to be found in the UK:

The Daleks' Master Plan, episode 9 "Golden Death", The Daleks' Master Plan, episode 11 "The Abandoned Planet", and The Smugglers episode 3 - a collector in Pembrokeshire.

The Moonbase episode 1 and The Evil of the Daleks episode 3 - Kent

The Wheel in Space, episodes 4 & 5 - Sussex

The Space Pirates episodes 4 through 6 - a collector in Sussex.

Downthread, member The Evil Dalek says he has seen this list many times over the past two years and either someone is repeating a hoax or it is a genuine list. And member JayJohn reminds that this list has also appeared in the self-same thread back in December 2024 (see December 2024, 30).

25 - On The Sirens of Audio podcast, Aron Challinger is interviewed, with an update on the Melbourne hoarder collection (at 1:05:00). Aron confirms the collection does include material from the 1960s and "the BBC has been involved" in talks regarding this material. He also confirms that based on the earliest material, the collector could have recorded everything from The Faceless Ones onwards. 

However, Aron reiterates that 95% of the collection was thrown out two weeks before he was contacted. No missing Who appears to be on any of the tapes that were retained. "Only a couple of dozen" tapes went back to the BBC and none of them contained missing Who. Aron does remain hopeful that there may be other large collections out there, primarily film, that may contain missing material.

Aron also speaks to the film can labelled "The Macra Terror", as discussed on the 42 to Doomsday podcast.

Prof. Jason Bainbridge will announce in June/July what else is happening with the collection, from an Australian/pop cultural standpoint, and a YouTube channel may be on the way to discuss the contents of the collection in depth.

June

12 - On GB, after a brief recap of all things omnirumour, Scot Ferre posts that he still believes The Power of the Daleks exists but "it's not in the right hands yet". Steve Manfred adds downthread that he was told in 2013 of a Halloween party where Caroline Skinner was told by Morris that he held all of Power and The Tenth Planet: 4.

Meanwhile, on their FB, FIF post about the return of a copy of 1966 episode of the serial Vendetta: The Running Man. FIF explain the process of how private collectors can liaise with the BBC, have their films scanned to digital for storage in the BBC archive and returned to the collector.

July

17 - The Radio Times give a (random) interview with Peter Purves, the actor who played companion Steven Taylor in many 1960's missing episodes of Doctor Who. Purves says how angry he is that the BBC destroyed so many of his episodes. The article also quotes Sue Malden  from the RT interview in May this year (see May 13), where she says "we know think we know where a few of them might be".

27 - On GB, member David John Parker posts about a BlueSky post on the Fesshole account, where the poster says his grandad stole films from the BBC in the 70s. 

31 - On the Doctor Who ME FB Group, member Peter Elliott shares a picture of an article from the Daily Mirror. The article features Sue Malden stating the missing episodes could be in private hands.

August

4 - On GB, member vdbn mentions that on the latest episode of Radio Free Skaro, Stephen says that Paul Vanezis told him years ago that the Doctor Who episodes that he is aware of that are in private collections are "not that significant" (at around 21 mins). The podcasters go on to say which episodes they believe are the most likely to be found.

September

17 - On PMF, the following post appears which I've quoted in its entirety and without additional commentary:

well think of this. in this day and age most people DO NOTHING FOR NOTHING

so if the BBC gave them a percentage of sales for returning a lost episode ALOT MORE MISSING EPISODES ESPECIALLY DR WHO WOULD GET HANDED IN.

THIS IS THE MAIN REASON NOTHING IS BEING HANDED BACK IN.

THINK ABOUT IT. PHIL MORRIS WILL AGREE FOR A START.

ANYONE WHO DISAGREES IS A BBC EMPLOYEE

AND REMEMBER THIS IT WAS THE BBC WHO DESTROYED THEM ALL IN THE FIRST PLACE. YOU WILL GO TO YOUR GRAVES NOT SEEING MOST OF THESE EPISODES EVER AGAIN.

YOU MIGHT EVEN BE READING A MESSAGE FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS MISSING BBC MATERIAL

29 - FIF announce they will participate in The Blackpool Film Collectors Convention on 16 November 2025, together with Dicky Fiddy of the BFI's annual Missing Believed Wiped event. Dick "will introduce four episodes of recovered television, which were found in private film collections by Film is Fabulous! These four previously missing episodes will encompass comedy, drama, and light entertainment."

October

3 - On YT, The Doctor Who Missing Episodes Podcast draws attention to a positive piece of news shared on the FIF Facebook page. 

Not only do FIF announce that their application to become a registered charity has been approved (see May 1), but they state in a reply post (see below) that they are aware of "several" missing episodes of Doctor Who in private collections. They hope to make an announcement about this soon.

Interested persons can now make a donation to the charitable trust to assist in the finding, preservation, storage and returning of missing television and film.

The full text of the reply post is:

"As mentioned by Sue Malden at our RECOVERED event in May, we are aware of several missing episodes of Doctor Who (Sue stated one or two, but there are more than this) in private film collections in the U.K. 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."

See also the May 11 entry above.

Further, FIF say that:

"We’ll announce the recovery of items as soon as we’ve fulfilled all of the criteria we’ve agreed with the copyrights holders and the owners. This is why raising sufficient funds to acquire collections is so important right now."

So this would seem to indicate genuine movement on the missing episodes front. More detail is given in this regard:

"We are working diligently behind the scenes with several film collectors who own missing episodes of television, including Doctor Who. We hope to be in a position to catalogue their entire film collections soon, and to secure copies of the missing material for the copyright holders. Watch this space."

4 - The following day FIF drop a hint about a 60's comedy find, to be announced at the event in Blackpool in November.

Meanwhile on Zeta Minor, member theboosh posts that he is "hearing it could be as many as four episodes".

5 - The conversation continues underneath FIF's initial post, with more fascinating info about a find of a cache of silent film:

"We’re working frantically behind the scenes to preserve vulnerable film collections, several of which contain rare and missing items (not just episodes of television, but silent movies, lost British features from the 1930s and 40s, plus other gems). The conferment of charitable trust status will allow us to raise funds and do so much more.

"With regards to missing television, let’s be clear, Film is Fabulous! is not a treasure hunt. We’ve said this throughout. We are focussed on preserving collections. We only catalogue collections. If we were to treasure hunt, we’d be shunned by the film community in short time.

"Our comment about the early Avengers episodes was clear: we ‘hope’ to provide more information soon. It’s not certain that we’ll be granted access to the collection in question, or that we’ll be allowed to catalogue the films. However, we’ve strongly encouraged the owner, who is in very poor health, to contact the rights holder about one particular item.

"Film is Fabulous! will continue to post regular updates, and be as transparent as anyone involved in the preservation of film has ever been with their followers."

And this:

"We’ll continue to preserve vulnerable film collections held privately and, rest assured, we’ll update everyone with details of the rare and missing material we’ve recovered in recent months."

9 - Philip Morris appears on the Sense Sphere Podcast, to discuss missing episodes among other topics. A summary of key quotes follows:

5:40 Morris explains that he does not work with FIF but he is friends with them (particularly John Franklin) and is well aware of the work they do. 

12:30 Phil goes on to explain the work of TIEA is still ongoing (cataloguing overseas archives) and as with the work of FIF, it's this cataloguing work that can take a long time.

12:50 Phil also confirms that The Web of Fear was found in its entirety and further states the initial plan was to "release everything" but plans for the 50th anniversary changed that plan (15:50). (Ed:- So, where is "everything"?)

16:30 Phil claims the source of the omni-rumour was Ian Levine and that "he has the evidence" (Ed:- this seems to be based purely on Levine's tweets at the time. The omni-rumour has several other known provenances prior to this.)

20:47 Phil says he does have contact with private collectors but it's in confidence, and even if they have something of interest you can't coerce them, you have to wait until they're ready to deal.

21:45 The interviewer asks Morris whether he might see any of the missing Hartnell stories (Marco Polo, The Savages, etc) before he dies. Phil replied yes, he may see "parts of them", for instance some of the historicals. However he won't specify further than that but he does question the wiped status of The Massacre. Later (53:40) he says it would also be nice if The Smugglers, The Tenth Planet:4, The Moonbase and The Evil of the Daleks turned up.

23:25 Morris mentions he knows the owner of the skip company that served Villiers House, and that when films were returned and rights expired, this person would "help himself to titles" found in the skips. He says he knows this from "first hand testimony", so some might have gone to landfill but others didn't. Morris says "anything could be out there".

24:30 Phil appears to reiterate the claims of FIF that "we know for a fact" there are some private collectors who hold episodes of Doctor Who (Ed:- he doesn't specify whether these are missing episodes).

34:25 Phil confirms that Web:3 does still exist, and at 51:40 he says he has "a fair idea" where it is. Phil explains that he'd had to leave the relay station at Jos, with his assistant remaining on site. The films were transferred to the NTA station, however the assistant claims the Jos station manager took 2 episodes away prior, one of which was Web:3 and the other was an episode of The Troubleshooters. 

Phil also reiterates his previous claim that when asked the station manager replied  "I don't know anything about missing Doctor Who" and Phil believes this means the manager was bribed to steal the two films. (Ed:- and why not more?)

40:45 Phil mentions as an aside that TIEA has brought at a lot of film back from Saudi Arabia and that he has been very busy this year with travelling abroad and continuing TIEA's work.

46:30 Phil says that "when the time is right" FIF will announce their finds, and that "they have been through clearances". Fans need to be patient but they won't be disappointed, "it will be fantastic". He also states he does have more missing BBC material, but won't specify what it is.

56:13 Phil confirms that he did excavate some film prints from a desert landfill and that despite this the prints were "fine".

1:06:10 Phil says he will write a book one day if there is enough interest, if he has time and that he has also already been in talks with a publisher.

He goes on to say that the search is still not over, he is not finished checking relay stations across the world - including storage hubs and even radio stations which were also used to store films.

1:04:55 In Phil's opinion there is still hope for complete stories to turn up.

1:17:02 Phil thinks it's entirely possible that Marco Poio and The Reign of Terror could be completed by finds of the episodes.

1:20:35 Phil elaborates on the "bicycle system", saying that whether a program was bicycled on depending on sales negotiations. While this were under way, the films sat at their last location, then if a sale was eventually made the films were transported to the next location. Third party providers were involved in this process, and Phil confirms he has already checked those and cleared out what they had ("mundane" stuff, mostly feature films).

1:22:40 In most cases Africa and the Middle East were the final destinations for prints.

1:31:50 Phil confirms that private collectors in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia have been contacted.

1:34:10 Phil has the tracking records from all the relay stations he's checked and knows what went where.

1:36:00 When asked why Marco Polo was part of the rumours about Enemy and Web, Phil once again says this is due to the omni-rumour and Ian Levine. He also says he doesn't want to start another omni-rumour and prefers playing things close to the chest. However Phil confirms he DOES have more missing BBC material - however TIEA is still cataloguing "some" of this.

1:39:00 Phil says he has never had any money from the BBC and that all his work has been undertaken using his own money.

And meanwhile on X, FIF post that the collection of "a former industry professional", comprising over 1,000 films is being collected, to be catalogued and preserved.

11 - On X, FIF post that they have recorded an interview with them by Tim Burrows of The Doctor Who Missing Episodes Podcast, to be published "this weekend".

Meanwhile on GB, erstwhile Doctor Who Magazine editor Tom Spilsbury drops a bombshell - that in 2013, post the reveal of Web and Enemy and after DWM conducted an interview with Morris, a member of the Restoration Team told Tom that Phil wasn't even in Jos when the Web/Enemy/Troubleshooters films were found; it was actually his assistant. Further, the RT felt they had to "go along" with Phil's account in order to ensure he returned more episodes, which in a separate post he says there was definitely a feeling at the time he had.

Tom follows up with this post, that the RT felt they were "walking on eggshells" around Morris, and that he was so unpredictable that it seemed possible he might never give anything back, "ever".

12 - On GB the plot thickens, with Tom Spilsbury replying to a poster saying the assistant's name was Humphrey. Tim B responds that he recalls the gentleman in question may have been a representative of Zambia TV. Scot Ferre concurs that this name rings a bell.

Given this new information, member Frax Owen speculates what if Morris himself was the superfan who rang the station manager to withhold Web:3?

Meanwhile on PMF, Servorobot confirms that 'Humphrey' worked for Zambia TV.

13 - The DWMEP publishes their interview with FIF, featuring Sue Malden, Prof Justin Smith of De Montfort University and John Franklin.

They recap their own backgrounds as well as the reason FIF came into being: to preserve the at-risk collections particularly of elderly men who were sick or who passed during COVID, and why achieving charitable status has been so crucial to obtaining access to collections and preserving the films.

They explain they are often dealing with ill or distressed collectors, and also their families who are grieving their loss. So the circumstances are very sensitive and require human understanding and compassion. FIF also plan to start obtaining oral histories from collectors, to tell the stories of the collectors and their collections.

Among the finds so far, FIF say they found a nitrate film of the earliest known appearance of Oliver Hardy in a silent film - in much better condition than the copy held by the US Library of Congress.

FIF say they are also concerned with liaising with broadcast services to ensure that found vintage film and television can be seen by audiences. Their first priority however is to consult with rights holders about restoration and scanning of films.

The ability of FIF to raise funds will assist them in handling the logistics and costs of operating to obtain and preserve at-risk material.

At present FIF are poised to return an episode of the "Late Night Horror" series plus 4 episodes of Simon Dee's "Dee Time", which they are in the process of returning to the BBC once restored. Two early Avengers episodes are with a collector and FIF are encouraging them to return to copyright holders.

As regards the potential Doctor Who finds, John says that both a "former industry professional" and other collectors are involved; there are "several" collections with "several" missing episodes. FIF are actively working to preserve and catalogue these collections in their entirety.

John specifies that the recent FB comment related to one collection in particular, comprising 1000s of films with one known missing episode of Doctor Who - and there may be more. Once FIF achieved their charitable status they were due to go in and obtain the collection - on 10 October, the day of recording the podcast (Ed:- and coincidentally, the 12th anniversary of Web/Enemy); however the collector sadly passed in the interim, preventing FIF gaining access. 

The collector's estate has now gone to administration (as both executors of the will had also passed), however FIF's solicitor believes they have an excellent chance to regain access.

Most reprehensibly - apparently some Doctor Who fans have resorted to demanding access to De Montfort University, even to the point of making physical threats against FIF personnel. (Ed:- THIS IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. To those indulging in this sort of disgusting behaviour - sort your bloody selves out quick smart).

FIF say that we will be "very, very happy" with the announcements of finds when they come. This is just the beginning and there is far more to be done.

And meanwhile, on PMF, member nig4life references a FIF Facebook reply (Ed:- I can't find the original FB post) in which they state:

"As regards the legal situation with the deceased collectors estate, following a post stating that 'I hope your lawyer is right about the good chance of been able to access the collection', FiF have stated 'The application will be made to the court next week. We’re very confident that the court appointed executors will allow us to proceed."

15 - The Radio Times picks up the story of a potential return of missing episodes.

16 - On FB, FIF give more details of benefits to supporters, including live festivals at which missing episodes will be screened. For those not in the UK, FIF are looking into livestreaming licences.

In addition there will be email updates, podcasts and online discussions.

17 - On their X, FIF post that more episodes of lost BBC television will be deposited in the archive "soon".

18 - On PMF, Servorobot posts that at the Sirens of Audio event featuring Carole Ann Ford this weekend, Professor Jason Bainbridge will give an update on the collection of the late Melbourne-based collector.

19 - On their FB, in a post about recovered episodes of independent television, FIF disclose in a reply to a query from Stefan Lipinski about Doctor Who, that they are "removing three more collections next week". There are 1000s of films being retrieved which will take the FIF team a couple of months to catalogue.

On PMF, member Professor_who gives the update from Prof Bainbridge, that it could take up to five years to catalogue the collection of the Melbourne "hoarder".

And on YouTube, the Sense Sphere again features Philip Morris, talking about FIF and how fans will not be disappointed.

27 - On MEF, Jon Preddle confirms that the alleged screening of The Macra Terror at a school in New Zealand could have in fact occurred

November

1 - On FB, FIF post a link to a new podcast, Fantasy Film Cans Part One, hosted by Toby Hadoke - where Doctor Who fans are asked to choose which 17 episodes they would want back.

The podcast was initially posted on Toby's X account and is hosted on his Podbean account.

8 - The Sense Sphere podcast refers to an interview in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine - Mark Stuckey, a spokesperson for FIF, says that Doctor Who fans can look forward to an exciting missing episode announcement in "weeks, not months". However, forum denizens point out that this interview could have been conducted prior to the events of October, and so there may still be delays.

10 - On Roobarbs, member Alan says that the "upper estimate" for finds of Doctor Who by FIF is 13, but he is not pinning his hopes on this. Member anonymo concurs that "about a dozen" episodes existing in private collections is "realistic".

11 - On GB, Richard Bignell reiterates Paul Vanezis' account, that an engineer saw film cans labelled Doctor Who on a shelf at the state broadcaster in Tehran, Iran. As the first two episodes of Marco Polo are known to have been sent there from New Zealand, Paul still believes there is a slim chance they could still be there.

13 - On MEF, Tim Burrows says his reading of the situation (re an MR find announcement by FIF) is that "nothing is imminent".

18 - On GB, Scot Ferre alludes to the ongoing war in Ethiopia and that films may be stuck there, as it was a key point on the "bicycling" route.

20 - On PMF, member Filthy Potter claims that Phil Morris has been known to have dealings with private collectors in the UK - and has even completed with Kaleidoscope for purchase of film prints "when they come up".

24 - On FB, FIF post an update regarding their charitable status. Under comments by Stephen James Walker and James Charles Onion, they state that probate courts pay no heed to arbitrary dates relating to Doctor Who. Also the commencement of their supporter program has been delayed until next year, due to the length of time it will take a tax module form to be processed by HMRC.

Meanwhile on Toby Hadoke's podcast, he states that he has "no inside information" on missing episodes - but even if he did, he wouldn't share it in code on his podcast (4:00). The number 17 was chosen "at random". Also, he believes that "if anything does happen", it won't be as quickly as some fans seem to think.

In relation to The Tenth Planet, episode 4 (currently missing), Toby says that the team working on the DVD release back in 2013 were working under the assumption that the episode would be returned (1:29:44). This is why there is no commentary for the animated episode 4. He attributes this assumption to "rumours".

25 - On GB, Richard Bignell opens up in a rare candid moment - he says he was informed of the "possible return" of Enemy and Web in around February 2013, in order to start planning a DVD release. Nothing had been finalised with Morris at that time, however.

Richard further states he has no proof and "no idea" whether Morris has anything more. Richard "hopes" he has more, but in a fascinating statement he says: "it always feels like there's yet another reason why he doesn't want to reveal his hand, one way or the other."

28 - On FB, under their announcement of the finds of five missing episodes of ITV series Emergency Ward 10 (plus one of superior quality to an existing), FIF reply to a comment saying that the amount of vintage television being found in film collections has come as a surprise to the team.

In a separate comment reply, FIF say they are taking on 2 more collections prior to their end of year break, which they will catalogue diligently.

December

17 - On FB, FIF announce three more film collections belonging to former industry professionals will be catalogued in the new year.

When asked about the collection containing the missing episode of Doctor Who, John Franklin replies that FIF will make "a separate announcement...early next year".

29 - On MEF, member samturvey ponders the possibility of missing episodes being held by the Royal Familtly. He references a Sunday Times article from 2022, in which its stated that Queen Elizabeth II watched classic Who during the 2021 lockdown, having also watched it when the Prince was "young". (Ed: I can't locate the Sunday Times article online, but a search reveals other outlets with the same information, eg South China Sea Post.)

* * *

An eventful year (at least rumour- and missing episode discussion-wise) that saw hopes for returns running high, ends on something of a damp squib, but with new hope for 2026. 

FIF have said they will make an announcement re the Doctor Who episode from the collection that for now remains in administration, but also with the promise of other collections being catalogued, and "several" missing episodes still out there.

Here's hoping for a new year that bears fruit, here's to 2026!

2024

January

9 - The year starts off in an unusual place - Reddit. 

On GB, member IceWarrior posts that a Reddit user is claiming to be in possession of three missing episodes, allegedly: 

The Celestial Toymaker, episode 1
The Tenth Planet, episode 4
The Space Pirates, episode 6. 

Other members immediately identify this as a hoax (given that the Reddit user's name is "EffectiveFishing6526").

10 - After claiming down-thread that The Space Pirates is a televisual recording and the other two episodes are film prints, EffectiveFishing6526's post is deleted by an admin. The user had apparently posted in other subreddits as well, and these posts were also deleted.

19 - Regarding the Reddit user, Paul Vanezis drops in to the GB thread to confirm that despite other Redditors encouraging EffectiveFishing6526, Paul has not been contacted in relation to the episodes in question.

February

4 - On GB, Jon Preddle debunks the theory that "The Feast of Steven" (The Dalek's Master Plan:7) may have been telerecorded for overseas sales.

9 - On GB, Hewy asserts that the list Paul Vanezis gave to Russell T Davies and his team was not simply a list of what might possibly be found - and thus the origin of the omnirumour, making the entire phenomenon a spurious one - but a confirmation of what HAD been found - "all recovered and safe".

17 - When asked whether he believes the story of Morris' global search will one day be told, Richard Bignell says he has "no idea", and that he hasn't spoken to Phil in eight years.

March

23 - On PMF, member Bowtiesarecool posts a Twitter link from Film is Fabulous, stating that an announcement of new finds of film and TV will be made soon.

April

20 - On the Missing Believed Wiped Facebook page, Film Is Fabulous post they are assisting with the curation of a large collection of vintage film and television belonging to the late Tim Beddows, founder and former Managing Director of Network Distribution.

25 - Film is Fabulous announce finds of film prints missing from the archive:

Dad’s Army: The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage (Broadcast: 8th March 1969)

The Likely Lads: Entente Cordiale (Broadcast: 16th December 1964)

The Likely Lads: A Star is Born * (Broadcast: 23rd June 1965)

The Likely Lads: Far Away Places * (Broadcast: 14th July 1965)

Steptoe and Son: My Old Man’s a Tory (Broadcast: 8th November 1965)

The two latter episodes of The Likely Lads already existed but only as a digital copy.

28 - On PMF, Mark Humphries shares a report of an alleged quote from Steve Roberts at the Capitol Convention:

Steve Roberts bowed out of the Restoration Team after the DVDs ended - he couldn’t face doing the Blu-Rays. He said point blank there are other episodes out there, they’re just playing the long game and treating the owners nicely in the hope they’ll let them be used.

May

6 - On GB, member typeforty shares information from a post by Ian Levine on the Doctor Who Missing Episodes Unofficial Facebook Group: that although Ian will proceed with animating many missing stories, The Wheel in Space is not being done "for a very special reason".

8 - On the MBW Facebook page, Film is Fabulous reports that over 400 of the 620 films of the Beddows Collection have been catalogued. Several missing items have come to light and will be announced shortly.

10 - 42 to Doomsday release their podcast dealing with the "hoarder tapes", being curated by Aron Challinger and Prof Jason Bainbridge.

June

3 - On GB, Tim B reports that Film is Fabulous are in the process of curating and cataloguing the collection belonging to the late Terry Burnett (he of the Galaxy Four and Underwater Menace returns; see Origins of the Omnirumour).

4 - FIF later post about this on the MBW Facebook page.

12 - On GB, Simon Burt claims that back in 2014, he heard from "someone at the BBC in London" that Phil Morris' behaviour on social media may have led to further deals for missing episodes being "suspended".

Further, Tim B says he believes that the episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan found in the UK were from the Australian audition prints.

17 - On GB, Scot Ferre confirms that he and others remain operating on the assumption that "episodes were acquired but not released".

22 - Film is Fabulous post a summary of their returns to date.

July

26 - On the MBW Facebook page, FIF announce that a large film collection from a deceased estate (namely the late David Moore) is being curated, with a large amount of known missing material already identified.

In a further update, FIF reveal that:

• The majority of films are 16mm, with a small number of 35mm as well as 8mm and 9.5mm Pathe films
• There is a great many episodes of television, predominantly from the 1950s and 1960s, including items from Rediffusion and, of primary interest to Whovians, the BBC
• Details of the items will be announced once scans of the films have been returned to the copyright holders.

August

15 - FIF post an update on the David Moore film collection, stating that not every 35mm film will be salvageable and sadly this includes "a small number" of episodes of missing television. Permission needs to be sought from the copyright holders before they disclose the names of the episodes.

Their cataloguing of the collection will re-commence on 2 September.

September

14 - When asked on Facebook for an update on the missing episodes, FIF state that they have been extremely busy but an announcement will be forthcoming soon.

15 - On Ian Levine's Facebook Group (ILFG), a member shares an update from FIF: that this Monday and Wednesday, the team will announce which missing episodes they have recovered from deceased estate collections.

20 - On GB, Paul Vanezis gives his summation of the state of both the films and their cans, from the  David Moore collection.

21 - On their Facebook page, FIF announce a fundraiser campaign for the restoration of recovered missing episodes of television.

23 - FIF post an update of the progress of the late Terry Burnett's collection.

24 - FIF make an intriguing reply to a post from an enquiry about missing Who (and see September 28).

26 - FIF reach their fundraiser target to restore a missing episode.

28 - On GB, member NrpBazuCd points out a post from FIF's Facebook (see September 24) - in reply to an enquiry about missing Who, FIF says "Let's see what happens in the next few weeks."

30 - On their Facebook, FIF post a lengthy clarification of their purpose and methods in recovering missing episodes, and working with film collectors to preserve precious material. In a comment underneath the post, FIF also clarify that none of the recently discovered missing episodes are Doctor Who.

October

3 - FIF announce a find of a missing episode of 1963 BBC war drama, Moonstrike. Only 3 of its 27 episodes were thought to survive.

4 - FIF make another announcement of a recovered missing 1960s BBC episode - The Third Man: The Man Who Wouldn't Talk. In addition, a 16mm, better quality version of The Third Man: The Man With Two Left Hands, has also been recovered.

7 - On GB, member acb2009 posts a link to another fascinating find - unbroadcast alternative footage of an episode of Thunderbirds, found in a garden shed in Berkshire. The films belonged to a former editor on the program, now deceased. The films were found by his family.

Meanwhile FIF announce the restoration of another missing TV episode - Saber of London: Four Against Three. Also, in the comments below, they state they are liaising with the estates of MORE THAN TWENTY collectors!

11 - On X, FIF announce their fifth case study of their pilot programme - this one will not involve a collector but a former production team member of "several" classic television series.

14 - FIF announce the finding of a missing episode of Play School. This brings the total finds to 15, plus 9 of better quality.

18 - On X, FIF announce that this week they have catalogued a trove of "BBC negatives, prints and magnetic soundtracks" from a private collection. No other details are forthcoming.

23 - On the Type 40 YouTube channel, an interview with Ian Levine is posted in which Ian re-tells the story of how he rescued film prints of Doctor Who, and for the first time (to my knowledge) clarifies his role in the recovery of The Tomb of the Cybermen.

28 - FIF announce two recovered ATV episodes, featuring Sylvester McCoy: 

Work: Journey to Work (1978)

Work: Unemployment (1979)

November

5 - FIF announce that they are in contact with seven former industry professionals via an article sent to members of the BBC Pensioners' Association. Further, FIF confirm that two collections, being added to their pilot programme, contain missing, rare and unique BBC films and negatives.

22 - After a long period of no new rumours on PMF, Mr Borusa says he has heard a rumour pertaining to The Smugglers, but he "doesn't believe it". Other posters speculate it may just be regarding animation.

December

21 - FIF announce the creation of the Film is Fabulous Trust, with the aim to be approved by the Charity Commission by first quarter 2025. The purpose of the Trust will be to ensure the work of FIF is maintained and film archives preserved for posterity.

Meanwhile, additional funding has been secured by De Montfort University to continue to curate and catalogue the film collections of several late ex-industry personnel.

26 - In a now deleted tweet, a screenshot of which was shared on PMF, Philip Morris states that he has material that he will never return to the BBC to be "desecrated".

30 - On GB, member TimeLoopy shares a post from a private FB group, regarding the alleged locations of 9 (actually 10) missing episodes of Doctor Who:

"The Space Pirates 4, 5 & 6 (Collector in Suffolk). The Wheel In Space 4 & 5 (West Sussex). The Evil Of The Daleks 3 & The Moonbase 1 (Kent). Golden Death, The Abandoned Planet & The Smugglers 3 (Pembrokeshire)."

"I was told that those episodes were in private collector's hands in those areas back in 2020 when I was talking in groups over lockdown. I can't say if it's true but I was also told of a little underground network of private collectors of advanced years who delight in knowing they have films & tv shows nobody else has. It's disgusting to think people are so selfish. I was told that one collector had a relative who worked for the BBC in the early 70's & used to take away film cans weekly. Sitcoms, talkshows & more light entertainment but the guy I spoke to said that this particular had two of the only existing prints from The Gnomes Of Dulwich & almost 20 episodes of Z Cars."

As another year draws to a close, no recovered Who to celebrate BUT Film is Fabulous has gone gangbusters in returning missing telly to the archives! 17 found plus an additional 9 of better quality is nothing to be sneezed at!

The Omniblogger would like to congratulate FIF on their incredible efforts! Fans of archive TV appreciate you!

2023 - November and December

 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."

The member points out the phrasing used by Morris is potentially telling: "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.