
The actors' union Equity had actively fought against the introduction of TV recording since the 1950s, when it first became a practical proposition.

This happened for several reasons, primarily the belief that there was no practical value to its retention. 5.2.1 Unreleased and unofficial animationsīetween approximately 19, large quantities of videotape and film stored in the BBC's Engineering department and film libraries, respectively, were wiped or destroyed to make way for newer programmes.3.1.1.3.6 Galaxy 4 and The Underwater Menace.3.1.1.3.4 The Faceless Ones and The Evil of the Daleks.3.1.1.3.1 The Abominable Snowmen and Invasion of the Dinosaurs.3.1.1.2.3 The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear.3.1.1.2 Overseas broadcasters that purchased missing episodes.
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Furthermore, after careful restoration, all 1970s episodes are available in full colour, which is not always the case for other series.Įfforts to locate missing episodes continue, both by the BBC and by fans of the series. Most episodes are also represented by production stills, tele-snaps, or short video clips. ĭoctor Who is unusual, however, in that each of its 97 missing episodes survives in audio form, recorded off-air by fans at home. ITV regional franchisees, such as Rediffusion Television and Associated Television, also deleted many programmes, including early videotaped episodes of The Avengers.
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Other affected BBC series include Dad's Army, Z-Cars, The Wednesday Play, Till Death Us Do Part, Steptoe and Son and Not Only.

Until the BBC changed its archiving policy in 1978, thousands of hours of programming in all genres were deleted. Many more were considered lost until recovered from various sources, mostly overseas broadcasters.ĭoctor Who is not unique in its losses, as many broadcasters routinely cleared their archives in this manner. As a result, 97 of 253 episodes from the programme's first six years are currently missing, primarily from seasons 3, 4 and 5, leaving 26 serials incomplete. Between 19 the BBC routinely deleted archive programmes for various practical reasons-lack of space, scarcity of materials, a lack of rebroadcast rights. Several portions of the long-running British science-fiction television programme Doctor Who are no longer held by the BBC. DVDs have also been released of surviving episodes from otherwise-missing serials, and tele-snaps exist of many missing episodes. Material from missing Doctor Who serials has been released in books and in audio form on CD, and several episodes have been animated for DVD release.
