Where Did It All Go?
When Dr Who began in 1963, videotape was in its infancy. The only way programmes could be recorded for later, or repeat transmissions was by pointing a film camera at a video screen. The results were spotty, to say the least - but since most TV reception in 1963 was spotty anyway, it wasn't that much of a problem.
As the BBC gradually became more of a player in the world television market, the then-fledgling BBC Enterprises began selling more programmes overseas to foreign broadcasters. Dr Who was just one of the offerings. Overseas TV stations were offered film copies of the original BBC transmissions.
As time wore on, the introduction of videotape recorders made higher quality recordings possible. Programmes were now being kept in two forms - the BBC Film Library kept film copies of videotaped editions of the programme. The BBC Videotape library (which was run by the engineering department instead of the libraries department, in a stroke of bureaucratic genius that only the BBC could come up with) kept videotapes.
A number of factors brought about the tragic destruction of hundreds of hours of classic BBC programmes. Not just Dr Who but Steptoe and Son,Top of the Pops,and Hancock's Half Hour were all junked. At the time, the reasoning probably seemed sound. The world was turning to colour TV - and these old black and white programmes weren't thought to be re-useable. Union agreements with performers at that stage prevented their being shown again. And it was thought unlikely that the progammes could be sold overseas. And so they were junked.
By 1978, home video recorders started to appear - and with them, the possible market for old episodes of classic programmes. But by then, the damage had been done.
Restoration Team to the Rescue
Fans began to try and find copies of the missing programmes. After all, many of them had been sold to overseas stations. Gradually, the back catalogue began to have fewer black holes.
Virtually the whole of the first two seasons were found in a dust-laden vault at the back of BBC Enterprises. Others were found in the archives of TV companies from Nigeria to Australia. Most recently, an episode thought lost forever was found in a touring cinema show winding round the rural back
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