How Doctor Who's Missing Episodes Came Back [Part 1]

Brief Summary

This video explores the history of missing Doctor Who episodes, explaining why the BBC junked its own material and how many episodes were recovered. It covers the reasons for wiping videotapes, the role of archive selectors in stopping the junking, and the efforts of individuals like Ian Levine and Sue Molden in recovering missing episodes from BBC Enterprises' film store at Villia's House.

• The BBC reused videotapes to save money, assuming film copies were kept, leading to many episodes being junked.
• Archive selectors like Sue Molden played a crucial role in halting the junking and searching for missing episodes.
• Ian Levine's efforts at Villia's House led to the recovery of 56 previously missing episodes and 125 copies of existing episodes.

Why the BBC Junked Doctor Who Episodes

The BBC junked episodes due to a combination of factors, including mistakes, assumptions, and cost-saving measures. Doctor Who episodes were filmed on videotape, which was then tele-recorded onto 16mm film for international sales. The videotapes were wiped and reused because they were expensive. It was assumed that the 16mm film copies would be kept, but after the international broadcast rights expired, these film copies were often junked as well. This practice was routine and not a targeted attack on the show.

The Role of Archive Selectors

In the early 1970s, the BBC recognized the poor state of its archive and created the position of archive selector to stop the junking of episodes. Sue Molden was appointed to this role and made it her mission to inspect the archive, implement new systems, and recover lost programs. She chose Doctor Who as her pet project and discovered that the only complete serial from the 1960s in the BBC's film and videotape library was "An Unearthly Child."

Ian Levine's Discovery at Villia's House

Ian Levine, a dedicated Doctor Who fan, played a significant role in recovering missing episodes. He negotiated agreements to purchase old episodes for private use and discovered that many episodes listed in the "Who's Doctor Who" documentary were not present in the BBC's film and videotape library. This led him to Villia's House, a separate archive that handled international sales of BBC material. There, he recovered 56 previously missing episodes and 125 copies of existing episodes.

Villia's House and Pamela Nash

Villia's House was one of the storage archives for film prints sent to other countries for broadcast. Up until January 1972, they retained a 16mm copy of every Doctor Who episode, except for "The Feast of Steven," which wasn't offered for international sale. In early 1972, they began junking episodes, typically five years after their first broadcast. Pamela Nash, the film recording clerk, was responsible for listing which episodes were to be junked. Despite being sometimes seen negatively, she was the person behind making the 16mm tele-recordings of every episode.

Conflicting Stories of Who Saved The Daleks

When Ian Levine visited Villia's House, he discovered that all seven episodes of "The Daleks" were scheduled to be junked. He tried to intervene with Pamela Nash, who needed space for new programs. Levine then sought help from Sue Molden, who he believed was unaware of the Doctor Who prints at Villia's House, and she sent a holding order to Nash to halt the junking. However, Sue Molden recalls discovering Villia's House before meeting Ian Levine and initiating the search for missing episodes. Enid Mawson, who worked at Villia's House, claims to have no memory of sending material to the BFI. The true story of who saved "The Daleks" remains uncertain.

The Search Continues

By the end of 1978, 139 Doctor Who episodes were still missing. With the BBC's internal archive established, the focus shifted to external options: identifying who had copies of Doctor Who episodes, addressing the legality of holding copyrighted material, and attempting to recover those episodes.