Doctor Who - The Missing Episodes

Doctor Who was first shown in the UK in November 1963. The series was a success and was soon seen in countries all over the world. By the 1970's the show had moved to colour and the old 60's black and white episodes were becoming less popular to show as more and more foreign TV stations opted to show the newer colour stories instead. The copies distributed abroad were supposed to be either destroyed or returned to the BBC after use. Believing that the BBC film archive held copies of all Doctor Who stories, BBC Enterprises decided that their old black and white film prints would no longer be required for overseas sales and their destruction began in the early 1970s.

It was later discovered that the film Archive did not keep copies, all the original prints and negatives had been passed to Enterprises. By the late 1970s virtually all the 60s episodes had been destroyed. Copies of many episodes have subsequently been found in other BBC archives and returned from foreign TV stations and private collectors. 109 episodes are still missing. If anybody has any information on any missing episodes, please let us know so that we can get the episodes safely returned to the BBC, it will also save us a lot of work!

The William Hartnell Era - In UK transmission Order

The Patrick Troughton Era - In UK transmission Order

Reconstructions - In Loose Cannon Production Order