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.

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.

 

Reflecting on the 60th anniversary

 Well we've made it - it's 2023, and Doctor Who of course turns 60 this year.

On re-reading over this blog, one is reminded of the previous anniversary year of 2013 - and naturally, one can't help but speculate whether this year will be the year of further missing episode returns.

The elation felt throughout the fan community in October 2013 was unparalleled, but to me the point is this: the elation came about precisely because there was such an intense build up prior. It's amazing to look back and see just how much information was circulating, and how many people whose information proved to have substance.

It's clear to me reading back over the timeline that more episodes are with private collectors, and this could include Mr Morris himself. However, being generous, one could say that such a massive and unprecedented project could indeed take many years to be completed. When one considers the time it takes to fulfil contracts, to secure the returns and repatriate material, to negotiate with a potential buyer of the material, to physically restore all the items - it becomes clear that much time could elapse before these things are resolved.

And so it brings me to hope - the hope that maybe, just maybe, ten years since the triumphant return of two beloved stories from the 1960s, could we finally be in a position to welcome back further lost stories?

Time of course will tell. I can only hope that all the factors in play for the relevant parties are finally mutually favourable and things can move forward.

Here's hoping for a spectacular anniversary year.

Edit: 01 Feb 2023 - as luck would have it, I found out that a work colleague's wife actually worked at ABC at Gore Hill during the time it was still operating! (The site of the rumoured reels of Daleks' Master Plan). Naturally, being a tragic Whovian I asked if he would ask her if she knew of any reels of Doctor Who being stored there. Sadly as a humble production assistant she didn't, but hey, it was worth asking. I am a big believer in always keeping my ears open and following up leads. 

Update: 17 Feb 2023 - added to the Big Reveal post, where a member of a Digital Spy forum posted that a post on Facebook broke the news early!

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.