What Is Still Missing and Will They Ever Be Found?
By Ken Parker
With this recent find of previously
missing episodes of Doctor Who and the raised hope for more,
let us look at what is still missing as of November 2, 2013 and see
what these stories could mean to Doctor Who fans if found.
Just a bit of back story and as you may
already know, a large amount of TV video tapes were destroyed in the
early 70’s including Doctor Who. Over the years the
majority of the episodes have returned but until just recently over
100 episodes were still not in the BBC archive. It is hoped that
private collectors and foreign TV stations may still hold some of the
film copies of these episodes. In the 60’s, the BBC sold Doctor
Who abroad not on video tape but on film transferred from the
original videos. It is possible that these films still exist as 2
virtually complete stories have just been returned after being
missing for 40+ years.
What if more of these stories were to
come back? What do these stories mean for the show and for fans.
Many fans, including myself, have never seen these completed stories
and for those lucky enough to have, they haven’t seen them since
their original airdates. What would be expected if these stories were
to come out in a similar fashion as the recent stories? Would these
stories live up to their expectations? What would a DVD look like?
What do these stories mean to the Doctor Who Universe and what
are the chances that they will be returned at all?
I have included how many countries each
story was sold to but this number may not be that accurate as some of
these films moved to different locations in neighboring regions.
There may also be some undocumented copies elsewhere.
Marco Polo – I call
this one The Impossible Missing Story. This is one of the holy grails
of the missing stories for Doctor Who and it is an odd
inclusion in this category since it was sold to so many countries (19
in total). You would think at least one episode would have made it.
In fact there is not a single clip of this story (only “Marco
Polo”, “Mission to the Unkown” and “The Massacre” have no
surviving clips). The audio only exists and pictures from the story
(telesnaps) exist in most of the episodes.
The story is the first historical
beyond the first one and is an epic 7 episodes long. One has to
imagine this story might turn out to be boring but it certainly looks
lavish from all the production photos floating around.
I believe this might be the biggest of
the missing episodes for the William Hartnell era that doesn’t
feature the Daleks and would certainly be highly sought after on
DVD.
Rumor – this was one of the first
stories to be talked about during this latest rumor. It was batted
around that no less than 3 copies were found even!
For the DVD release I would love to
have Carole Ann Ford (Susan), William Russell (Ian), Mark Eden (Marco
Polo), Ziennia Merton (Ping-Cho) and Waris Hussein (the director) to
provide the commentary!
The Reign of Terror – this 6
parter is missing only two parts and those were reconstructed and
animated for a release earlier this year, using the existing
soundtrack of the episodes. This story was sold to 16 countries. If
these two were found, it would seem obvious that the BBC would put
this on the back burner and release the story with all of the
episodes in a few years. The story is a popular one among fans and
it would be nice to see it complete at some point. This and “Marco
Polo” are the only stories of the first season with missing
episodes.
The Crusade – This story has
two of its four episodes already in release on the Doctor Who Lost in Time DVD set. It was sold to 12 countries. To see this complete with perhaps commentary by Maureen O’Brien (Vicki) and Russell with perhaps Julian Glover (Richard the Lionheart) would make for an excellent DVD. These two missing episodes, 2 & 4 are the only 2 episodes for the entire second season!
Galaxy 4 – This 4 part story
was missing all of its episodes until 2011 when episode 3 was
announced as found (although it is missing a few seconds toward the
end of the episode). There has been conjecture on whether this and
“The Underwater Menace” Pt 2 (which was also returned in 2011)
were not the start of the big find of 2013. This story was only sold
to 6 countries.
The story features Peter Purves
(Steven) and Maureen O’Brien (Vicki) and they would make a great
commentary team for the DVD. While researching this article I
discovered that Angelo Muscat played one of the Chumblies. Muscat is
better known for playing the butler in The Prisoner TV series.
Mission to the Unknown – Here
is where it gets depressing. This one part story was only sent to one
country, Australia and never aired. This is the one part story which
acts as a lead into “The Daleks' Master Plan” and features none
of the regular cast members.
Rumor – This has never been
included on any of the rumors of being found.
The Myth Makers is a four part
story with no surviving episodes. It is a very important episode as
it features the farewell to Vicki and the introduction to Katarina
(Adrienne Hill). The story features the Trojan Horse tale and ends
on a cliff hanger (as do most Hartnell stories) with Steven possibly
dying.
I am not a big fan of historical
stories although I love “The Aztecs”. “The Myth Makers” is
probably the historical I am most looking forward to after Marco
Polo. It was sold to 6 countries.
The Daleks’ Master Plan –
This is probably the most sought after story for the Hartnell era.
It is a 12 part epic (13 if you count “Mission to the Unknown”)
and features the Daleks and the Meddling Monk. The story sees the
death of two companions (Sarah Kingdom and Katarina) and is not
included in the rumored find of 2013. The story was only sent to
Australia and so is the least likely to have survived and yet 3 of
the 12 do exist. Parts 5 & 10 were located in a church in the
80’s and a former BBC engineer returned part 2 in 2004.
The news for a complete story are even
worse for episode 7 (“The Feast for Steven”) which is the famous
Christmas episode that takes a break from the story and features
William Hartnell wishing all the viewers at home a Happy Christmas.
This episode was not sent to Australia and so the chances it survived
are the Doctor Who episode.
The Massacre is another
historical story with all four episodes missing. The story features
the first appearance of Dodo( Jackie Lane) and is not really a highly
sought after story in my opinion. Since so little is known about it,
there is a curiosity about the story. 6 countries purchased this one.
The Celestial Toymaker –
another popular episode, this four parter does have one existing
episode (part 4) and features some surreal imagery and Michael Gough
as the Toymaker. William Hartnell is on vacation during two episodes
(a common practice during the 60’s). I love the look of episode 4
and would be interested in seeing this one. Peter Purves is always
great on commentary but I don’t think Jackie Lane has ever done
one. 6 countries had this one.
The Savages – an interesting
story as it features Steven for the final time. It is also Dodo’s
final full appearance as she leaves in the following story. “The
Savages” is the first story without the individual titles 
The Smugglers is another 4 part
story that little is known about. The story gained the fewest ratings
for Doctor Who up to that point and would remain the least
watched story until 1986 (“Trial of the Time Lord: The
Mysterious Planet”). Anneke Wills (Polly) would be an obvious
choice for commentary for a DVD but it would be hard to find others
for the commentary as many of the cast are gone. Sold to 6
countries.
The Tenth Planet – Ah, the gem
of the missing episodes, Episode 4 which includes the demise of the
original Cybermen and the first regeneration. While parts 1-3 and a
clip from the regeneration still exist, the final part would be gold
to have. The episode was often rumored to be circulating around and
a hoax had someone trying to sell it to the BBC at one point. This
one was only sold to 3 countries supporting the idea that just
because something made its way to more countries doesn’t mean the
chances are better it will be found.
The Power of the Daleks –
another important story where no episodes exist. This being the
first Patrick Troughton really makes it one of the most sought after
missing stories but alas, it was only sold to 3 countries. This story
is part of season 4 which is currently the season missing the most
episodes – finding this 6 parter, while remote, would be pretty
incredible. Thinking about the DVD release of something like this,
one is saddened by the fact that Anneke Wills is the only survivor of
the main cast of Doctor Who from 
The Highlanders – There is a
temporary increase of countries that received the following few
stories, totaling 6. “The Highlanders” is a historic story in
that it is the last of the historicals until “The Black Orchid”.
It also is the debut of the popular companion, Jamie (Fraser Hines).
This four parter would be an excellent find!
The Underwater Menace – this 4
parter has been really trying to become not missing over the years
with one found just a couple of years ago in 2011 and one already
existing in the archive. The story is often maligned for its over
the top “Nothing in the World Can Stop Me Now!!” performance by
Joseph Furst but recent reviews of the newly found episode 2 have
praised the episode and one wonders if the story is not as bad as
originally thought or perhaps when in comparison to the bad Doctor
Who we as fans have been subjected to in the past few years of
the new series (sorry for the jab!!)
The Moonbase – another 4 part
with only 2 parts missing, this story features the return of the
Cybermen.
Rumor – the planned release of the
DVD with animated episodes to replace the missing ones, has been
delayed and one wonders if it were to include newly found parts 1 &
3!!
The Macra Terror – A 4 parter
missing all episodes, this story is another fan favorite and features
Jamie, Polly and Ben as companions. It is such a shame that Polly
and Ben among other companions were most heavily hurt by the missing
episodes.
The Faceless Ones – with 2 of
the 6 found, this story would be great to see returned. It is the
final Ben and Polly story.
The Evil of the Daleks – might
be the most wanted story of any of the missing episodes. Episode 2
does exist and only whets the appetite for more. Not only do the
Daleks star but the Emperor Dalek debuts as does Victoria Waterfield
(Deborah Watling). This story was only sold to 4 countries, none in
Africa. This may be upsetting news as the recent search appears to
have been focused in Africa.
This is one of only a few stories that
I have listened to the soundtrack and it was outstanding. Imagine
listening to Watling and Hines in commentary from this classic story.
The Abominable Snowmen –
Another classic story features the first Yeti and Great Intelligence
appearance. The 6 parter was sold to 7 countries including some in
Africa and so perhaps the chances 
The Ice Warriors – This 6
parter is thankfully almost complete with only 2 parts missing. The
recent DVD release included the 2 parts animated with the original
soundtrack. This story was sold to 6 countries and the fact that 4
of them exists would seem to be raised hope for more.
The Enemy of the World – this
6 parter was found and released earlier this year but lets look at it
in terms of context for the rest. It was also sold to 7 countries
including Zambia where it was found. Since this was purchased as
late as 1974 one wonders if the chances are better for stories that
were around as late as that as opposed to episodes that were sold in
the late 60's.
The Web of Fear – also 7
countries involved.
Rumor – The missing episode 3 is a
bit odd as early rumors did not mention it missing. It is possible
one of several things have happened – it was not found, it was
thought found but is indeed lost, it was beyond restoration or it was
held back for another reason.
Fury from the Deep – this 6
part was only sold to 5 countries and no episodes currently exist. It
was not sold to any countries in Africa. It is the last story for
Victoria.
Rumor – one
early rumor stated that the finds of missing episodes might be coming
from multiple locations and if this is true then perhaps a find in
Australia, Singapore or Hong Kong is true and if so, would increase
the chances for many of these stories that did not make it to Africa.
The Wheel in Space – 6 parts
but still missing 4, this story is the debut of Zoe and the return of
the Cybermen. 6 countries were involved including Nigeria (where
“Enemy of the World” and “Web of Fear” were found.)
The Invasion – This 8 part
story features the first official UNIT appearance and the return of
Lethbridge Stewart. 6 of the 8 episodes exist of this Cybermen story
and this was released on DVD quite a while ago with the missing
episodes animated. Only four countries are known to have purchased
these.
Rumors – while anything is
possible, the two episodes are rarely at all mentioned in the
category of being found.
The Space Pirates – often
thought of as being horrible, this 6 part story does have 1 existing
and is not particularly liked by fans. Sold to only 4 countries, the
remaining 5 stories are the last episodes to be officially missing
for Doctor Who.
It doesn't end there. Beside numerous
episodes that still have a few seconds or longer clips missing there
is always the strong chance that anything found might be in better
condition than what the BBC currently has in their archive. That was
the case of “The Web of Fear”part 1 and “The Enemy of the
World” part 3. Both of these archived episodes were upgraded
before their Itunes release. There is always a possibility of
improved quality of episodes with new finds. Of course this doesn't
necessarily mean a re-release on DVD. If a better copy of “The
Daleks” was found it
would take a full remastering and new extras,
for example to warrant a future special edition release.
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In addition to all this, it is possible
that some color episodes from the Jon Pertwee era would be found.
This would mean that stories that were recently reconstructed using
B&W prints mixed with inferior color copies would be improved
with the real color episode.
And this is just Doctor Who.
There are so many other shows out there that still have missing
episodes.
One can only look and see what the BBC
does have in their archive to know that Doctor Who fans have
been blessed. Sure, there are 97 episodes missing but look at what
we have enjoyed watching over the past bunch of years. So many
important stories like the first one, “An Unearthly Child”, “The
Daleks”, “The Dalek Invasion of Earth”, “The War Games” and
others. With 2 more mostly complete stories now back and the hope
for more, it is a great time to be a fan. Hats off to all the
episode hunters of today and the past as well as the people who
lovingly restore these episodes for us to enjoy. Thanks to you all.
This link has some great information
about the missing episodes -
An incredible wealth of information on
this site although it is not updated
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