10 Things Nobody Wants To Admit About Doctor Who
7. The Missing Episodes May Be Lost Forever
There are almost 100 episodes missing from the Doctor Who archives, and as the years grind on, it seems increasingly likely that they will never be found.
Even if it is true that a private collector has them all but won't negotiate with the Beeb, it's a situation that pretty much guarantees we'll never see the likes of The Evil of the Daleks or Marco Polo as originally intended.
Add to this the spectre of vinegar syndrome (the name given to the deterioration of poorly-stored film), along with the fact that the majority of the global archives have already been plundered, and it seems highly unlikely that anyone will chance upon a copy of The Web of Fear Episode 3. It's a harsh truth to accept, but it's statistically improbable that we'll ever have all of those missing episodes returned.
Not that there isn't any hope whatsoever, mind you. Nine episodes were found in a Nigerian TV station in 2013, so it's always possible that more will pop up somewhere. And hey, if you or a relative have any mysterious film cans in your loft or garage, it may be worth giving them a look. You might be sitting on a copy of The Macra Terror Episode 2, who knows!