10 Biggest Doctor Who Conspiracy Theories

At the time Doctor Who was created, television was largely thought of as having a limited shelf life, with programmes holding no further value once broadcast.

Combined with the cost of buying and storing videotape, broadcasters regularly exterminated their shows once they'd aired, and though many of these lost episodes have since been rediscovered, 97 are still missing at this present time.

At least, that’s the official line.

For one thing, some lost stories are known to exist in the hands of private collectors – who, for whatever reason, are reluctant to return them to the BBC.

Then there are the territories that have yet to be explored. One unusual conspiracy suggests that former president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe had been sitting on a stash of missing episodes, but had banned the BBC from entering the nation.

And then there’s the theory that the episodes have already been found, and the BBC is simply holding them back so they can stagger home media releases, and make us double-dip by buying the animated reconstructions first.

It does seem highly unlikely, but then again, if there's one thing big corporations like, it's easy money. Whatever the case, here’s hoping more missing episodes are returned soon!