2023 - November and December

 November 2023

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 2023

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. 

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.

2018 - July to December

2018

July 2018

1 – The Grumpcasters release episode V, part 2 of their missing episode exposé focusing on the question of whether Philip Morris has more Doctor Who.

August 2018

2 – On MEF, member and BBC Radio producer Richard Latto reveals that earlier in the year (May) he found pristine 16mm original film negatives for all 30 episodes of Worzel Gummidge plus the double length Christmas special. The 40^th anniversary of the program is in 2019.

September 2018

23 – On GB, Mark Humphries posts a 2015 screengrab of eBay user philg128 – suspected to be Philip Morris – looking to pay “top prices” for any 16mm prints of British television programs.

October 2018

5 – After literally years of near radio-silence from Phillip Morris, he makes an unheralded appearance on BBC’s The One Show to announce the recovery of two episodes of The Morecambe and Wise Show, a better quality episode of Steptoe and Son, an episode of The Basil Brush Show featuring an appearance by The Kinks, and an edition of The Rag Trade.

In addition, Morris announces he has found the entire run of Steptoe in its original format.

Paul Vanezis confirms these details on MEF, and Morris tweets “…Morecambe and Wise 2 lost editions plus lots more to be revealed.”

Morris mentions that one of the M&W episodes was found in Sierra Leone, sparking forum discussion about previous denials from Paul implying that the archive facility was destroyed and there was nothing to be found there.

In response to a question on MEF, Paul cannot say whether the rest of the recovered material was also found in Sierra Leone.

On PMF ericthehalfabee points out that parts of the TIEA website have been updated.

Speculation ensues on the forums that this positive step forward may signify good things to come.

6 – Responding to a tweet from an unverified but seemingly official Basil Brush account, Philip Morris says there will be “lots more exciting news” for him!

7 – On GB, Steve Roberts replies to a post by The Space Pirate, explaining that the 50^th anniversary of Morecambe and Wise is being celebrated by the BBC at Christmas and this is the reason for Morris’ announcement. Strangely however, this was not mentioned on The One Show spot.

11 – On PMF, members camaro and Dr Scott quote from Philip Morris’ Facebook page that the latest batch returned to the BBC are non-Who finds (here and here).

12 – On GB, member Alan Matthews shares a screenshot of a tweet from Twitter user @farfromallover which appeared to show five seconds worth of monochrome footage. Posters downthread speculate it might have been from either Marco Polo or The Daleks’ Master Plan.

13 – In response to a query about the deleted tweet and whether it was missing Doctor Who material, @farfromallover simply replies with a “shushing” emoji.

14 – On PMF, anthonycarroll quotes a post from Philip Morris on the Missing Believed Wiped Facebook page:

“We are Delighted to announce we will be at the BFI in December. helping celebrate the wonderful Anniversary of Missing Believed Wiped with Dick Fiddy.We will be showing lost gems from British TV culled from the TIEA Archives.Hope to see you there.”

15 – On the MBW Facebook page, Philip Morris confirms that the event will be held on 15 December and that Doctor Who will not be a discussion topic.

On PMF, GollyGTFC puts forward a theory that a cinema in Sierra Leone was used to view the audition prints of Doctor Who stories sent there.

25 – On Roobarbs, member Alan says that the BFI programme mentions that a newly animated Doctor Who episode will be screened at Missing Believed Wiped on 15 December. 

Speculation breaks out across forums, pondering why an animation would be shown at an event that normally focuses on returned film and television.

For clarity, Alan states that he acquired this knowledge from the printed programme he received from the BFI.

Meanwhile on GB, member phil-mcgill states that once word gets out about which episode it is, “those who are up to speed with the omnirumour will go into melt down”.

26 – A tweet from Philip Morris featuring a large red number 7 causes some to speculate that it could be code for episode 7 of the The Daleks’ Master Plan, “The Feast of Steven”.

28 – In response to a question on Twitter, Paul Vanezis replies that the reveal of TIEA’s comedy show finds is a joint BFI/BBC Archive announcement. Interestingly, Paul refers to the event as a "press launch".

29 – Paul Vanezis tweets that the announcement of comedy show returns has been delayed, most likely by one day. But he comments that “comedy fans will not be disappointed”.

November 2018

1 – On the MBW Facebook group, Dick Fiddy says that the announcement of recovered comedy programmes has been postponed to Monday 5 November.

On GB, Tlotoxl makes two extraordinary posts. First, he claims that the “comedy reveal”, which is scheduled for Monday 5 November, is in fact “the big ‘Who’ announcement we’ve all been waiting for”. Second, he alleges that the BFI are helping with a campaign of “mis-direction” and the animation scheduled to be revealed at MBW on 15 December is “a compilation of clips from the returned haul” (that is, clips from actual returned episodes).

Further, Tlotoxl says that there will be a series of BFI events over the next year that will cover the best of the TIEA finds, starting with a two-day event in January celebrating the Doctor Who returns that will also serve as the announcement of the episodes’ public release.

Downthread, it transpires that on the MBW Facebook group Cliff Chapman had alluded to the animation release being a show reel of animations, but Tlotoxl’s speculation is based on his suspicions about the so-called comedy release necessitating a “press launch”, as quoted by Paul Vanezis (see 28 October).

4 – On PMF, member epalme01 posts a link to a newly listed Amazon DVD release page for currently missing second Doctor story, The Macra Terror. As with the previously listed title The Wheel in Space, other than the price and the region there is no other information given.

5 – The BFI announcement finally comes, but it’s not what was expected. The official press release refers to the MBW event on 15 December and details two sessions; the first will be actual screenings of newly recovered material, but also including a ten minute animated “mini-episode” of part of The Wheel in Space.

The second session will be 'Philip Morris Presents', and will feature such finds as the Morecambe and Wise episode, the Basil Brush episode featuring the Kinks, and an episode of Citizen James found at Monaco Television during a clear out of their premises.

Speculation and disappointment reign on the forums in equal measure. However, on PMF member Prof Travers posts a screenshot of a Facebook post by Philip Morris, saying that the program is what the BFI are choosing to show but the BBC may have more to announce in due course.

Meanwhile on MEF, Paul Vanezis posts that Philip Morris returned a total of 9 BBC comedy productions to the BBC archive a few weeks ago, including all those currently known plus three episodes of Harry Worth. Paul also confirms that Philip Morris will announce further recoveries in the new year.

And on Roobarbs, the producer of the 10 minute animation, Charles Norton, posts to say that there is no larger project afoot to animate the rest of the serial, and “we” haven’t found the lost episodes.

However on Twitter, the animator working on the project, Rob Ritchie, says that now that the cat’s out the bag, he better get back to finishing it!

7 – On MEF, Paul Vanezis claims not to know which additional editions of Basil Brush Philip Morris has in his possession.

21 – On Twitter, in reply to Greg Bakun of From the Archive, Philip Morris says he will also be attending the Chicago Tardis convention on 23 November and will be bringing “some surprises”.

December 2018

5 – On PMF, Scot Ferre posts a link to an announcement about the DVD release of The Macra Terror. The release will feature animations of the four currently missing episodes.

Then on GB, Sir Didymus posts that an article has appeared on Cultbox claiming Marco Polo has been recovered from a 16mm cine film shot by a fan during broadcast of the episodes. A source has apparently said that the BBC will unveil the find “next month”. The article notes there is no word as to whether Philip Morris or TIEA were involved with the find.

The article is later taken down, however member Jeflar posts two sets of screenshots here and here.

Simon Watkins provides a link to the original version of this story, a cached article from the Mirror in 2013.