2024

January 2024

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 2024

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 2024

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 2024

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 2024

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 2024

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 2024

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 2024

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 2024

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.

And on their YouTube, FIF post a 10-minute video featuring Paul, examining a spool of film found in a private collection and discussing the issues that film can encounter.

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 2024

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 2024

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 2024

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 - January to October

2023

January 2023

2 - The Mirror reports that The Smugglers and The Underwater Menace will have their missing episodes animated for BluRay and DVD release.

13 - On Caprona, member iank relates a rumour doing the rounds that the animation for The Smugglers DVD release was cancelled because the episodes had been found.

17 - On the Hive Redux Forum, iank re-states the rumour about The Smugglers. 

February 2023

9 - On PMF, member Ace Leslie reports that the Radio Times has an article of the recovery of the sole missing episode of The Navy Lark. This classic BBC radio show starred former third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, in a comedic role.

20 - Responding to a query from a fan about whether The Smugglers/The Underwater Menace animations are still on track, David Bickerstaff tweeted that he was told back in 2007 by Derek Ware that The Smugglers was shown at a Bad Wolf convention in Australia to fans in attendance!

28 - On PMF, member EvilDalek93 reports that Chris Perry of Kaleidoscope has announced a special Doctor Who event for their 35th anniversary at the Midlands Arts Centre on 29 July 2023. Intriguingly, Chris says that he can't post any details until the BBC "clears the material"!

Even more intriguingly, on GB member djbawbag posts a shot from the Facebook thread, where when queried Chris replies that they "have to get all the permissions sorted first", and that he cannot comment further because it relates to a "sensitive subject".

To round off the day, on Twitter David Brunt makes this circuitous statement:

"To the people expecting this Kaleidoscope screening is every missing episode. Stop deluding yourself. 

Go into it with the expectation it's NOT going to be a missing episode.

Just expect the least and if it's more then you won't have yourself to blame in being disappointed."

March 2023

1 - On Roobarbs, Greg Bakun posts that he is helping Chris with the Kaleidoscope event and that he regrets that anything was posted about it at all! Greg asserts that the event does not relate to missing episodes of Doctor Who and that Chris Perry is not up to speed with what's missing from the archives.

2 - On GB, Knux reports that Chris Perry has said that the Who material to be shown will not be anything that's already been seen on DVD or on YouTube.

13 - On MEF, Richard Bignell confirms that all the classic seasons will be released in the blu-ray Collection series. It begs the question how will the seasons most under-represented in the archives - seasons 3 and 4 - will be presented in the sets.

18 - On Twitter, DWAS announce a special event celebrating half-missing serial, The Crusade, on 21 May 2023.

April 2023

2 - The Something Who Podcast publishes its omnirumour edition (part 1). Featured guest Tim Burrows says he was told back in the day that "episodes had been found all over the place", and to distract from what was going on with Philip Morris in Africa information was being put about that archive buildings (such as in Sierra Leone) had been destroyed - despite there being no evidence of these destructions being found.

4 - The second part of Something Who the omnirumour edition drops, and Tim clarifies that the alleged The Power of the Daleks screening was in fact, he believes, a screening of Enemy, Web or both. 

Tim drops another bombshell - that after Giles and himself went to the reveal of Peter Capaldi in late 2013, at the pub afterward with certain people "of great reputation", they alluded to the existence of "a letter" promising to hand over Marco Polo. It's not clear who might have written such a letter.

Tim also explains why he came to be labelled a "naysayer" on the forums - in mid-2013 he spoke to someone who had spoken to "a Doctor Who producer" who said that 88 missing episodes had been found. But in February or March 2014, he  had exchanges with someone in the "catch-all" Restoration Team that persuaded him that "nothing more had been handed over".

Tim offers his theory on Web 3 - it wasn't "stolen to order", nor withheld by Phil, but rather the stories returned in 2013 were sent back "piecemeal", a couple of episodes at a time, and thus Tim believes it was simply lost in the post.

Finally, Tim says he was told by an "authority" that The Crusade would be on the season 2 blu-ray set complete, which did not eventuate.

8 - The 42 to Doomsday podcast speaks to university Professor Jason Bainbridge who is curating the deceased estate being sorted by Aron Challinger.

Meanwhile, Philip Morris appears on YouTube channel Gobby Guy to discuss 10 years of the return of Enemy and Web and missing episodes in general. Morris states that he had expected The Abominable Snowmen to be in Jos with the other two serials, but this did not eventuate.

11 - Fantom Films announce that Philip Morris, Paul Vanezis and Sue Malden will attend their Utopia 2023 event on 4 June.

12 - Fantom announce that Peter Purves will also attend Utopia.

May 2023

8 - Midland Arts Centre update their website with the details of the Kaleidoscope 60th Anniversay of Doctor Who event. Unfortunately, no missing episode material will be featured.

31 - On Twitter, Stephen Cranford states that the collector who returned Galaxy 4: Airlock and The Underwater Menace episode 2, Terry Burnett, has passed away. Cranford also states that Terry's collection was never properly catalogued but he is now sorting through it from the safety of an archive.

June 2023

1 - On MEF, Mark Vanderlinde-Abernathy reports on Twitter announcements from Richard Latto and Stephen Cranford - the film collection of deceased collector Terry Burnett is now being curated. Latto and a friend are sorting through it, and while there is a lack of vinegar smell which is a good sign, the sorting process could take many months.

2 - According to Matthew Purchase on Twitter, at the Utopia Event Philip Morris has said that the "missing episode number of 97 will go down very soon". This was apparently said in front of Paul Vanezis, who said nothing to contradict or debunk the statement.

Meanwhile, Morris also reportedly stated he knows of six episodes in private collections, with Paul Vanezis clarifying on Twitter that he knows of up to three.

3 - At the Utopia 2023 Event, Richard Unwin on Twitter confirms the "promise" made by Morris that the number of missing episodes will go down.

5 - On MEF, deleted member jakeymanipod reports that Peter Purves has said at Utopia Convention that The Celestial Toymaker is the next story to be animated, but he can't say anything more about it.

6 - On PMF, members Knux and Scot Ferre report that the GB ME thread has been locked, and posts made by Ian Levine angry at Philip Morris have been deleted.

It is the first time in some years that the GB thread has been locked and purged.

7 - On MEF, member Ray Badrick clarifies that Morris did not say "very soon", but that the number of missing episodes "would come down".

9 - The Mirror weighs in on the comments made by Morris at Utopia. The six episodes with collectors comprise four in the UK and two overseas.

10 - On Digital Spy Forum (DSF), member Marcus Scarman speculates that recent mentions of episodes with collectors and rumours of The Smugglers being animated could be a hint that two episodes of this serial have been found and will be on the release later this year.

19 - On PMF, member NoSoul says they can see currently missing episodes listed on the Apple iTunes website - namely, two episodes of The Myth Makers, 2 from The Smugglers, one from The Highlanders and two from The Space Pirates. 

20 - Again on PMF, member Windbag says they can see three episodes of The Space Pirates on the iTunes site.

July 2023

11 - On MEF, in a discussion thread about Blue Peter's borrowing of episode 4 of The Daleks' Master Plan, Richard Bignell states that the Film Library were expecting the episode back hence it wasn't "snipped and binned", as a poster upthread stated, and further that as far as BP were concerned they sent it back - but the print just didn't make it to where it was supposed to go.

Richard further speculates that it could have ended up back at Villiers House.

17 - The DWMEP drops their episode on The War Machines. Jon Preddle provides fascinating insight into the distribution of Doctor Who episodes around Africa, with particular reference to the records around royalty fees. Jon also gives some intriguing speculation as to which episodes might have ended up where.

18 - On GB, Ian Levine makes an intriguing post (and not in the ME thread) - that "something special" may be coming from "Doctor Who home video" that will be a "surprise". He clarifies that he has not said it will be missing episodes, but it could be a combination of "restored episodes and animated episodes". 

22 - On GB, member Scot Ferre responds to an enquiry about the deceased estate of Terry Burnett, saying that a missing episode of Hugh and I was found. However member JayJohn posts that this episode was already known about but not announced.

August 2023

2 - With the re-opening of the GB thread, Scot Ferre posts a link to an article featuring Chris Perry, CEO of Kaleidoscope. Perry claims that "dozens" of missing episodes of Doctor Who exist in private collections but their owners won't part with them.

4 - In a response to The Space Pirate on GB, Richard Bignell alludes to Doctor Who fans out there who may be holding back "unique items" from the rest of us. This response was in the context of a conversation about private collectors not returning episodes missing from the archives.

9 - On PMF, Scot Ferre posts a link to a fascinating non-Who forum post where it's revealed the the original 35mm film can of Strawberry Fields Forever has been found among a Dutch collection of 300,000 cans.

11 - The BBC release a teaser for the animation of The Underwater Menace on DVD.

September 2023

16 - The DWMEP posts a fascinating interview with two film collectors and Paul Vanezis. The interviews shine a light on the world of private collectors and Paul states that the Burnett prints originated from another collector who has since passed away.

Of interest to those of us interested in missing episodes, the two collectors - John Clancy and John Franklin - are launching an initiative to connect collectors with television archives in an effort to preserve television on film. Further, the Johns are holding a film collecting event called Film is Fabulous in October 2023 in Leicester. Could these initiatives lead to recoveries of missing episodes?

25 - On Roobarbs, member doctorindistress says there is a rumour going round that The Space Pirates has been found. The member gives no further provenance for this assertion.

27 - YouTube channel The Time Scales does a 3.5 hour interview with Ian Levine (see October 3).

October 2023

1  On MEF, member tburchell raises the Space Pirates rumour, but again, with no provenance.

3 - On Roobarbs, discussing the recent online interview with Ian Levine, member Scooty lists the episodes that Ian states he believes currently exist with private collectors:

Galaxy Four, episode 4

The Myth Makers, episodes 2 & 4

The Smugglers, episodes 2 & 4

The Highlanders, episode 2

The Space Pirates, episodes 4, 5 & 6

This is weirdly coincident with the earlier claim on Roobarbs that the latter serial has been "found".

7 - On GB, Richard Bignell concedes that BBC Enterprises may have had its own set of positive prints of The Daleks' Master Plan, in addition to the set of audition prints sent to Australia. The Enterprises set, he surmises, may well be the source of the three extant episodes held by the BBC at present.

10 - This date marks the tenth anniversary of the reveal of the finds of The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear. The date passes without incident.

On GB, in addressing the possibility of Australia having more than one set of film prints for Doctor Who serials, Paul Vanezis states that rather than there having been multiple sets of films there may have been "taped copies" of the episodes. Which raises the question - do these taped copies still exist, and who might be in possession of them?

20 - On MEF, Paul Vanezis announces three finds from Film is Fabulous, including the very first episode of 1960's series The Troubleshooters. Paul says he hopes to announce more finds soon.

26 - The BBC publishes an article on its website about the Film is Fabulous finds.

They state that one of the recovered episodes was found in the episode of a deceased collector who had "hundreds" of films.

29 and 30 - The YouTube channel for the Cinema and Television History Research Institute (CATHI) hosts three livestreams as part of Film is Fabulous. Steve Roberts features in part 1 and Paul Vanezis in part 2; Sue Malden takes part in both parts 1 and 2.

Link to part 1 - Archiving

Link to part 2 - Television

Link to part 3 - Feature Films.

At 27:00 in the Archiving livestream, Steve Roberts mentions that in addition to the three television episodes found recently (see October 20), a further find will be announced in the following session. 

At around 13:30 in the Television livestream, Dick Fiddy of the BFI mentions that items went missing from the Bob Monkhouse collection after he died, which the BFI knew were there from a previous inspection. And Paul reiterates his view that items were making their way from Villiers House direct into the hands of collectors as the items were being disposed of.

At 26:45, Paul announces the fourth find is an episode of The Basil Brush Show, recovered from the collection of someone who has died.

30 - On MEF, Paul Vanezis announces that Film is Fabulous has unearthed a "near perfect" condition print of an edition of The Basil Brush Show.

And finally, ScreenRant publishes an article that missing episodes of Doctor Who will be released by the BBC on the BBC Sounds app in "podcast format", with surviving audio from the existing episodes and narration from some of the programs' stars.

31 - On MEF, Paul Vanezis states there is another recovered missing episode to be announced by the end of November - it is not Doctor Who, however. 

Paul further says that a total of 17 missing episodes were expected to be announced at the event, but three collectors weren't able to attend and one only brought a single episode.