2026 - April to June

2026 - April to June

April 2026

2 - On their X, FIF post a short clip of Nicholas Briggs - voice of the Daleks in the modern series - speaking about his reaction to hearing the episodes had been found. At the end of the clip he makes the somewhat cryptic remark: "Let's see the episodes, and see what happens next"!

The Daleks' Master Plan episodes go LIVE!

3 - At 6am UK time on Good Friday, the two recovered episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan go live on the BBC's iPlayer service - to a rapturous reception by fans.

On the official Doctor Who X account, they confirm that US viewers can access the episodes on the official Classic Doctor Who YouTube channel.

4 - The screening of the first three episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan together with panel discussions takes place at Riverside Studios in London. In attendance is Peter Purves who starred in the episodes.

On GB, member ElectroBoy, who attended the event, states that Joggs Camfield, Jessica Carney and members of the late Adrienne Hill's family were also present.

ElectroBoy also states that Paul Vanezis believes that episodes 5 and 10 (returned in the mid 1980s) are likely to be returned Australian audition prints, judging by the cans. Previously, these were believed to still be held in the infamous Australian "bonded warehouse" - it now appears that Master Plan's audition prints somehow made their way back to the UK!

On Roobarbs, member DoctorWhoDVDs adds to this: Paul discovered that one of the cans has an original 1960s label hidden beneath a later, 1980s one. The newly-discovered label bore a handwritten date which matches with the dates on which the episodes were being reviewed and rejected by the Australian censors.

Furthermore, episode 2 (recovered in 2004) may also be an Australian  ex-audition print, but as yet there is no conclusive evidence.

10 - The quotes from Paul Vanezis above can now be heard on the FIF YouTube release of the second discussion panel on the screening day. Paul also delves into more details about what a cutting copy is.

13 - On their website, FIF announce that the two recovered episodes (together with "Day of Armageddon") will be screened at HOME Manchester on 23 May 2026.

24 - On their website, the BBC announce the recovery of a missing (albeit black and white) 1968 Morecambe & Wise by FIF. Like the episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan, the episode was also found in the collection of a deceased industry professional, but it's not clear if the M&W was found in the same collection.

On their FB, in response to such enquiries, FIF state that details of the find will be announced next week. (However - they later state that this is NOT from the same collection.)

Replying to a comment, FIF also state that they are currently working on FIVE film collections - and have a number of recoveries to announce in the weeks ahead!

25 - On the DWMEPC X account, Tim Burrows reveals that the found M&W episode was also a cutting copy.

30 - On their FB, FIF state that the estate of the late collector in whose collection the episode of M&W was found wishes him to remain anonymous. They confirm however that this was another cutting copy.

May 2026

1 - On doctorwho.tv, an informative article by James Goss on Doctor Who's missing episodes is published.

3 - On their FB, FIF reveal they currently have 70 items of film that are being returned to BBC Archives - including negatives - and that many of these are "cutting copies", some of which have had editorial cuts made to them.

In a reply, FIF confirm that they hold a mix of missing, rare and better quality episodes together with "clips, scenes, etc" and they will publish a list shortly. 

However they then DO provide something of a list - the "seventy" include missing comedy shows and clips, drama, horror, and a large number of regional features of 8-12 mins from programmes like London This Week (1960s and 70s). (Ed: - so potentially, "drama" could include Doctor Who.)

They also confirm they will be holding "another event later in the year" - presumably to show some of this material.

4 - In a further reply to their FB post, FIF confirm that all the missing material including full episodes have been returned to the BBC archives.

On the Sense Sphere podcast, Brendan says one of his contacts "thinks they may be onto something Doctor Who related" in a film collection (2:45).

Then at 19:36, Brendan says he "received an email live" from an individual with "some positive news"! Brendan needs to talk to this person first and then may release another update. 

In a reply to a comment from @watcherviewer-o4i, Brendan insists this is "not a hoax", and replying to a comment by @mb19821, Brendan says "it's 100% good news".

7 - On their X, FIF announce the first item to come from the "seventy" - a short film from the BBC's internal director's course, "Tell Mummy" (c. 1964) directed by Tina Wakerell.

(Ed:- this short was already announced and screened by FIF in November 2025; presumably this latest announcement is because the item has now been officially returned to the BBC.)

8 - On GB, member Aggedor_09 quotes an article from the latest issue of the Radio Times, in which John Franklin of FIF is interviewed. Apparently John promises "further announcements from [FIF] in the months ahead. So stay tuned...]

Meanwhile on their X, FIF reveal a second found item: a short silent movie entitled "The Actress" (1913). The film was found in "a dank haven" in the north of England. More details are given in a FB post.

14 - In an article by the Telegraph, it's mentioned that the M&W episode was found "in the attic of a former television executive".

June 2026

2 - FIF report that at the British Film Collectors’ Convention, held in Surrey on 30 May 2026, a 35mm negative of the debut Top of the Pops appearance of The Beatles was handed over. This was one of several items from the estate of a deceased film collector. 

The appearance is from 19 March 1964. The segment previously existed, but the donated film is of higher quality (it was still in the original BBC film can).

In addition to The Beatles negative, other items, including four recordings of BBC Radio show ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’, on reel-to-reel tape, were also donated by the family of the deceased collector. Full details will be provided in due course.

8 - The DWMEPC releases a fascinating and in-depth interview with Neil Lambess, co-finder of missing episode "The Lion" (episode one of The Crusade). As well as giving more detail about finding the episode, Neil reveals that the school screening of two episodes of The Macra Terror is now supported by anecdotal and documentary evidence.

Neil also states that two episodes of Marco Polo, plus one of The Highlanders, are known to have existed in the archives of TVNZ at one point. Investigations into missing episodes in NZ are ongoing.

As an aside, Tim mentions that as at the time of the interview (approx. 6 months prior to publication), FIF are still engaged in cataloguing the collection of the late film collector, Terry Burnett.

Meanwhile on FB, FIF post that they will present at Utopia 2026 - the annual Fantom Events for Doctor Who fandom - on 13 June. John Franklin will give an update on the latest recoveries including The Daleks' Master Plan. 

Also appearing at the event will be Carole Ann Ford, Peter Purves, Wendy Padbury, and Paul Vanezis.

13 - On GB, member Flashpoint reports a few snippets from the FIF panel at Utopia 2026: John Franklin says that prospects for dealing with collectors are positive, with logistics being the main roadblock. 

In October 2025, when John made his comments about the collection having gone to probate, the episode known to be in the collection was "Devil's Planet" (episode 3, The Daleks' Master Plan).

And when Peter Purves stated he believes more will come back but not in his lifetime, John apparently made a face - "a knowing smirk" - giving the impression that Peter may well be incorrect.

15 - On GB, when asked whether the three Doctor Who prints mentioned in the Neil Lambess podcast could have survived, Tim B replies that they may have been junked, but there is enough anecdotal evidence to be "hopeful" that they could have escaped.

22 - On their FB, FIF announce a return of missing BBC variety show, "Once More With Felix" from 30 March 1968, featuring Julie Felix and Peter Cook. Originally shown in colour, the print is black and white and again, was found in the collection of a deceased former industry professional.

And while it's not Doctor Who, in a reply to Anthony Clark FIF state that they "have a host of b&w comedy items to announce".

In a reply to Rob Rosenbrock, FIF say they are constantly busy dealing with "many private collections." And in a reply to George Seaton, FIF state they recently retrieved a collection of 500 films from a loft, and include a picture of the find.

25 - On their FB, FIF post a round-up of their recent finds, including The Daleks' Master Plan, the recent Beatles/Top of the Pops find and additional comedy finds such as That Was The Week That Was. These finds have come from the collections (plural) of former industry professionals.

And under a reply to GR Roberston that there is more comedy to be announced in the coming weeks, FIF also state that it's "fingers crossed" for an update on Doctor Who in the future.

26 - On the Type 40 podcast, Dallas Jones - founder of the Doctor Who Club of Australia who played a role in the return of the censor clips by unearthing the records of the Film and Censorship Board - says he believes there could be missing episodes of Doctor Who in Australia (1:20:58). Jones believes that the ABC could still have some in a warehouse somewhere, but it would require time and money to catalogue their entire stock of film.

2021 - 2022

2021

January 2021

4 - On Twitter, Philip Morris replies to an accusation that he still has episode 3 of The Web of Fear, stating that it's "bullshit" and it was stolen by one of "the Fitzroy crowd". On GB, member grazey1 states the Fitzroy Crowd consists of a high level group of Who fans including Steven Moffatt, Chris Chibnall, Robert Shearman, Paul Cornell and others. However other Tweeters dispute whether Chibnall was an attendee at all.

Meanwhile on PMF, Ian Levine's name is bandied about but member DouglasWulf states he heard "another name" - but as he can't substantiate the claim, he won't reveal their identity.

14 - Richard Molesworth is interviewed on YouTube, and at around the 41:00 mark he weighs in on the debate over episode 3 of The Web of Fear. He contradicts Phil's account, posted on Facebook in 2015 (See 2015, October 11) that "no attention" was drawn to the film cans, but the station manager picked it up, curious as to why Morris was interested in it. In this, he concurs with Paul Vanezis's view, but he goes further and says he believes it has been destroyed.

23 - On PMF, member and moderator Black Orchid quotes a post from Richard Molesworth from 2016:

Just found this:

Richard Molesworth wrote 9/4/16:

These prints of 'Enemy' and 'Web' were sent to Nigeria in 1974 by TVS in Sigapore. TVS Singapore were sent the prints by RTV in Hong Kong in 1970. RTV in Hong Kong were sent the prints by BBC Enterprises in 1969.

I've gone over all 11 of the returned cans and spools with a fine tooth-comb. They contain notations and markings which are consistant with them being the tx prints for Hong Kong, Singapore and BPTV.

Member DouglasWulf then adds an excerpt of a conversation between Victoria actress Deborah Watling and Philip Morris, taken from a WhoTalk commentary for episode 6 of The Web of Fear:

Watling: They were in terrible condition, weren’t they?

Morris: To be honest with you, Debbie, they weren’t bad. You’ve got to realize that this is a set of films that been Hong Kong, Singapore, Gibraltar...

Watling: Yeah.

Morris: … and then, Zambia, and then Nigeria. So, everyone had played them.

And in a further post, Doug clarifies that the Enemy and Web prints that Morris found in Nigeria were in fact originally from Hong Kong. They were then 'bicycled' on to Singapore, to Gibraltar, to Zambia and then to Nigeria.

Doug also makes the point that in his excellent missing episodes documentary series, YouTuber and videographer Josh Snares shows how the fate of almost all prints sent to Singapore is unknown. 

30 - On PMF, member Mobius posts to call attention to a tweet by Matthew Purchase, who says that the DVD and Blu-Ray releases for The Web of Fear have been taken down from pre-order on Zoom. Only the steel book remains available for purchase.

When Twitter user Anthony Carroll joins the thread and questions whether this could be in relation to the return of Web 3, Philip Morris also joins in, dropping a series of cryptic hints.

This discussion is later taken up on MEF by member issacc. 

Speculation ensues as to whether the steel book will feature the missing episode 3.

February 2021

4 - Fantom Films host a Zoom event featuring Paul Vanezis and Peter Crocker. On PMF, Robert Mammone states that at the very end, Paul Vanezis says there are "definitely" episodes in the hands of private collectors.

5 - On GB, poster KyleRickards alludes to posts discussing the event apparently having been excised from the ME Megathread.

7 - Member Sarah Hadley states that the event featured Paul Vanezis and Peter Crocker, who in part discussed missing episodes:

• PV repeated his belief that episodes exist in private collections
• PV believes that of the 1960s era, seasons 1, 2 and 6 are the most likely to be added to the collection of season blu-ray boxsets 
• PC mentioned he is attempting additional restoration work on The Crusade episode 1, 'The Lion' - not because it is a planned release, but he is doing it on his own time because he knows it will be released "eventually". 
• PV put out a call for anyone who owns original film trims from the classic series to contact the Restoration Team: in particular, the fight scene from The Curse of Peladon.

Member RareWolf replies to say he already put the owner of the film trims in touch with PV before the Zoom session was over. RareWolf also said that the RT knows who now has the original film print of 'The Lion', but damage to the print means a rescan might not be worthwhile.

PC had already said on Twitter subsequent to the Fantom Zoom, that he wasn't teasing missing episodes and has no insider knowledge. Clarifying his Zoom comments, PC said that if the missing episodes of The Crusade, 2 and 4 were ever to turn up, more than likely it would be the full set with 1 and 3 (already in the archives) accompanying them.

March 2021

1 - On MEF, when asked as to the progress of investigation into a possible screening of The Power of the Daleks at a Singapore school some 45 years ago, member A Barron replies that the lead no longer looks credible but he is still waiting to tie off every aspect of his investigation.

12 - Fantom Films posts an excerpt from the Zoom talk where Paul Vanezis speaks about episodes in the hands of private collectors.

November 2021

15 - The official animated release of Galaxy 4 on DVD features  fascinating interviews with both Terry Burnett and Ralph Montagu, going into more detail as to the recovery and return of both "Airlock" (episode 3 of the serial) and part 2 of The Underwater Menace.

2022

January 2022

27 - The year gets off to a flying start: on GB, Scot Ferre quotes a Facebook post by one Craig Cabell who claims to have been searching for missing episodes in the Middle East. Interested parties can check the full quote for themselves, but to this editor, it reads as absolute horse-shit.

28 - The Plymouth Herald reports on "a fan's" (Craig Cabell's) claim that 17 missing episodes of Doctor Who are being held to ransom "for political reasons" by a country in the Middle East:

"There are claims of a fan tracking down missing episodes in the Middle East for the past two years after finding evidence a country in the region had acquired the episodes from other nations.

They say evidence shows studios in Japan, New Zealand and Australia all had possession of classic era episodes before forwarding the stories on to the Middle East in 1967 and then again in the 1970s.

These episodes are likely to be from the first five seasons of Doctor Who. The fan claims to have confirmation that a broadcasting agency in the region 'accepted' dates of episodes provided to them, and that files exist corresponding with them."

July 2022

2 - In the second part of The Daleks’ Master Plan instalment of the DWMEPC, researcher Jon Preddle expresses the belief that having been rejected by the Australian censors, the film prints of DMP were sent back to the BBC in the UK sometime after March 1967. 

This would seem to contradict rumours that Philip Morris intended to check a "bond store" in Sydney that may have held the prints, once the ABC's Gore Hill facility had been closed down and sold. (Go to 55:00)

23 - On PMF, member GeostarOne almost offhandedly remarks that a "guy who lives outside of Boston" claims on the film and stock forums to be in possession of the missing presumed stolen episode 3 of The Web of Fear. Further, that this person is "the most miserable 60 year old man I have ever met" and he won't return the episode, ever.

When this is queried and evidence requested, GeostartOne adds that this person:

"...has bragged for 30 years on many of the 8mm and 16mm film stock collector's forums that he has the largest collection of BBC film stock outside of the BBC and put up pictures to prove it. Most of it looks like stuff that is already out there but he probably has a good deal that isn't. He was some kind of professor at UMASS or Amherst since retired. When Web 3 went missing he claimed responsibility for bribing the studio guy. I have never actually seen it but I'm sure he isn't lying about it. He loves to brag about the fact that he has all of these things we will never see."

GeostarOne goes on to say that this person has "a near complete run of the first two seasons" (but then to be fair, so do the rest of us! - Ed.).

August 2022

7 - In The Massacre instalment of The DWMEPC, Steven Schapansky of the Radio Free Skaro podcast states his belief that The Feast of Steven (The Daleks' Master Plan episode 7) was more than likely copied onto film in readiness for potential overseas sales. (Go to 1:42:28).

October 2022

4 - Ralph Montagu and the Radio Times launch a new campaign to find lost and missing television and radio. 

12 - As part of the RT's Treasure Hunt, a call is put out to anyone who might have episodes 1-3 of The Celestial Toymaker. Oddly, this is the only Doctor Who story mentioned as part of this campaign.

16 - Aron Challinger, owner of a Melbourne sci fi merchandise retail store, posts on Twitter that he is processing the deceased estate of someone who by all appearances was quite a hoarder - and a Doctor Who fan! - and among the hoarded items is "the biggest collection of domestically recorded video tapes that has ever been found in Australia".

He later states that the collection stretches right back to the mid 1970s and includes the earliest known home video recording of a Star Trek episode in Australia.

The collection includes a massive haul of old VHS, Betamax, Umatic and vintage reel to reel audio tapes. Speculation on forums is whether any missing Who could be present in the haul.

November 2022

18 - Aron appears on the 42 to Doomsday podcast to discuss his progress. Unfortunately, around 27 tonnes of material had already been disposed of before Aron could begin the work.

December 2022

20 - Aron's final update for 2022 is that he is checking "thousands" of items including Doctor Who DVDs that the collector burned himself. Aron states downthread that the earliest items appear to date from 1972 and that there is a "slim" chance missing Who could be among the collection.

2019 - 2020

2019

February 2019 

6 - On MEF, in response to a question from Charles Daniels about the possible existence of Marco Polo in Tehran, Paul Vanezis reiterates that "an engineer" personally witnessed Doctor Who film cans on the shelves of the State broadcaster. Paul says that the films "could" be Marco Polo, as the first two episodes were sent there, but the chances of a repatriation are "slim" due to the state of relations with the country.

October 2019

10 - On the 6th anniversary of the reveal of missing episodes in 2013, the official Doctor Who YouTube posts the University of Central Lancashire's full-length recreation of Mission to the Unknown.

Also the channel posts a 10-minute video by Australian YouTuber Josh Snares, on the making of the recreation.

2020 is mostly taken up with discussion of statements by both Paul Vanezis and Philip Morris that a smattering of episodes (2 according to Paul, 6 according to Phil) still sit with private collectors.

2020

February 2020

14 - On AZ, member Theodore J Flicker alludes to speculation that the two episodes in private collections are Hartnells: Galaxy 4, episode 4, "The Exploding Planet" and The Celestial Toymaker episode 3, "The Dancing Floor".

April 2020

5 - On MEF, member Luke Sherlaw posts that Fantom Films has posted to YouTube a four-hour interview with Philip Morris. 

At 3:11:07, Morris reiterates his claim that in response to Morris' query about the missing Web 3, the NTV station manager at Jos, Nigeria merely replied "I don't know anything about missing episodes" - leading Morris to believe that his recovery efforts had been "infiltrated". Morris further claims to know precisely who has the episode and says he hopes that person will return it. In fact, Morris is emphatic that "every missing episode" will work its way back to the BBC in due course. Hmm.

Furthermore, at 3:14:49, Morris explicitly states that "at least six" missing episodes sit with private collectors. The reason these individuals are hesitant to return the episodes are they are uncertain how they will be treated by the BBC. And Morris thinks there "probably" are episodes in private collections in Australia.

Finally, Morris says he is "not done" on the Doctor Who front - and that he wants any future returns to be "a surprise".

11 - Tim Burrows and Paul Morris kick off The Doctor Who Missing Episodes Podcast, discussing in depth each serial that currently lacks episodes, the production of each, the bicycling chains and the relevant rumours.

18 - Fantom publishes to YouTube a video interview (recorded in 2017) with the members of the Restoration Team, a fascinating and wide-ranging discussion on the process of restoration and the issues the team face.

During the course of the interview, Paul Vanezis states that it took only a week from Galaxy 4: Airlock being returned to film collector Terry Burnett, before he came forward with The Underwater Menace: 2. Paul says that despite Burnett's claim that it was "a fluke" that he'd found it, it seems clear that Burnett already knew he had it in his collection. The implication is that Burnett was waiting to see if the BBC could be trusted in the first place: an interesting insight into the difficulties in establishing trust with collectors and ensuring all such dealings run smoothly.

August 2020

1 - On the The Myth Makers edition of The Doctor Who Missing Episodes Podcast, guest Toby Hadoke relays what Paul Vanezis has recently said about Sierra Leone: that the stories purchased by the country - which are Galaxy 4, The Myth Makers, The Massacre, The Ark, The Celestial Toymaker, The Savages, The War Machines and The Smugglers - were no longer there by the 1980s. The most likely outcome for these stories is that they made their way firstly back to BBC Enterprises and from there into the hands of private collectors.

This comment would now seem to corroborate what Philip Morris - who was there in 2011 - has previously said: that all the episodes held in Sierra Leone were sent back the the UK in 1974. And it would seem to be a backtrack on Paul's previous comments about everything having been destroyed in the civil war.

23 - ABC News publishes an article on their website featuring Darran Jordan, Vice-President of the Doctor Who Club of Australia, and Paul Vanezis. Paul alludes to The Daleks' Master Plan not passing the Australian censors and being stored away in their Gore Hill facility in the late 1960's. This facility was then sold in 2003, and the whereabouts of the film prints are unknown. However Jordan goes on to suggest they may be in the hands of private collectors.

December 2020

24 - The Type 40 Podcast publishes a lengthy interview with Richard Molesworth, author of "Wiped!". The topic of missing episodes is canvassed in a general way, but at 42 minutes Richard states his belief that episode 3 of The Web of Fear was stolen by the Jos station manager and destroyed. Richard also states that he is not sure whether the reports of episodes in private collections are true.