What missing episodes have you seen?

[Pete Morris]

Before they went missing, I mean. I'm sure nobody on this forum is hoarding copies of missing episodes.

I'm too young to have seen any of the grown up drama episodes currently missing. But I did see several children's TV shows currently missing.

I was a regular viewer of TISWAS, Swap Shop, Saturday Banana, so I've certainly seen some missing episodes of those. I probably saw the 2 missing episodes of The Adventure Game, and certainly saw the Paul Darrow one (which I understand exists, but in poor quality)

I also was a regular watcher of Star Turn/ Star Turn Challenge. About half the episodes are missing. Not sure why this doesn't get the attention it deserves.

So what shows have you seen? Did you watch the missing episodes of Doctor Who, or Z Cars? Do you have any memories to share?

[George D]

While this is american, I remember watching the childrens tv hosts as a kid. Those are sadly missing. In America during the 60s, tv stations would buy cartoon packages and have a host introduce them and do skits in them. The one I remember was Captain Jack McCArthy, however there are many other regional classics such as Officer Joe Bolton, and Chuck McCann. I remember in the 1970s I would listen to dramatic radio programs such as Big Jon and Sparkie. While many skits exist, the entire shows from the 70s are missing.

Fortunately, growing up in the 1960s in America, there really isnt that much from my memory thats missing.

[Richard Marple]

Growing up in the 1980s means there arn't too many, but I can think of Fraggle Rock (TVS Inserts), Chock-A-Block (& a few other educational shows), Cheggers Plays Pop & The Saturday Picture Show (& other Saturday Morning shows).

[Rob Moss]

Jan 24, 2012 20:16:33 GMT Pete Morris said:

Before they went missing, I mean. I'm sure nobody on this forum is hoarding copies of missing episodes.

I'm too young to have seen any of the grown up drama episodes currently missing. But I did see several children's TV shows currently missing.

I was a regular viewer of TISWAS, Swap Shop, Saturday Banana, so I've certainly seen some missing episodes of those. I probably saw the 2 missing episodes of The Adventure Game, and certainly saw the Paul Darrow one (which I understand exists, but in poor quality)

I also was a regular watcher of Star Turn/ Star Turn Challenge. About half the episodes are missing. Not sure why this doesn't get the attention it deserves.

So what shows have you seen? Did you watch the missing episodes of Doctor Who, or Z Cars? Do you have any memories to share?

I'm just about too young to have seen anything of massive interest here, but similarly, I remember watching the Mersey Pirate, as well as Tiswas, Swap Shop etc. Most of my missing programme memories hail from the Adam Lee cull of the 1990s - Bod, Ragtime, Chock-a-Block, etc.

I have one particularly strong memory of Tiswas, which I'd love to know the status of - it's an OB section, where someone is talking about a plate of giant crisps, which were of course popadoms, before bringing his fist down on them and smashing them to pieces. As a kid, I was transfixed by the thought of massive crisps.

I also remember a single line of dialogue from a Pipkins which may or not be lost - Hartley has been teasing Topov about being younger than him, to which Topov replies "you wait until I'm older than you, Hartley!"

That's it, really. I can't work out if I'm glad that so little of my past has been junked, or whether I'm gutted that I never had a chance to see some of the great telly that no longer exists.

[John Green]

I very much enjoyed the Doctor Who Marco Polo story,and the Web of Fear was perhaps the most gripping of all.(Dalek and Cybermen stories were just plain scary).Can hardly remember any of the historicals at all.
It seems that the Peter Cushing Sherlock Holmes 'Shoscomb Old Place' is missing.Creepy!

[LanceM]

Very envious jgreen that you had the chance to see Marco Polo and Web of Fear. From what I have seen from the existing materials from either these perspective stories, looked to have been true classics's in their own right. I wish I could state I had seen any ( now ) missing material broadcast. Is always extremely interesting reading all these recollections regarding these misplaced-lost moments in time!

What a great thread Idea!!

Thanks for the great posts everyone. Hoping others come forward with their own " Missing Episode Recollections ".

Cheers, Lance.

[John Green]

I should perhaps have mentioned (blushes) I rather fancied Carol Ann Ford.

[John Fleming]

I would guess most missing TOTP from at least 1974 onwards, the earliest thing I remember about it though is the Wombles performing "The Wombling Song". Also Swap Shop, Tiswas, The Mersey Pirate etc. I doubt too many people would have seen many missing Swap Shop AND Tiswas unless they had a VCR as they clashed, mostly Swap Shop here but the occasional Tiswas.

[John Green]

I missed the first episode of Doctor Who on 23rd Nov.1963,so missed the announcement "here's a new adventure series" or whatever (though a fake one's been put on Youtube.
On Monday,26th,though,someone at school said how good it was.That's the only time I can remember TV being discussed.You'd have thought president Kennedy's assassination on the Friday would have dominated conversation,but no.
Luckily,episode 1 of the tribe of Gumm was repeated on the 30th,followed by episode 2.Not missing episodes,then,but a missed moment."Missed it by that much."It was quite a week,though.

[Deleted]

I suppose if you're over a certain age, you are inevitably going to have seen a lot of missing material at the time it was first shown. Watching TV as I did in the '60s and early '70s on a daily basis, it probably goes into many hundreds. There are a few that I saw at the time that i'd particularly like to revisit though such as Doomwatch: Friday's Child and Survival Code, various Out Of The Unknown stories, certain TOTP editions, The Rat Catchers, Dr.Who: Web Of Fear and Power Of The Daleks, the ABC era Mystery & Imagination, late '60s Z-Cars stories, Zigger Zagger, The Beat Room, Intrigue, Sexton Blake, Lift Off, Five O Clock Club and the early Ace Of Wands serials. There are lots more too but these are a few that spring to mind.

Of course, being around back then didn't mean you saw everything and there are a load of programmes i'd like to see for the first time that are gone now such as Colour Me Pop, Late Night Horror and Disco 2, which for some reason I missed completely at the time!

[Colin Anderton]

"I should perhaps have mentioned (blushes) I rather fancied Carol Ann Ford."

You weren't the only one!

I just googled her on the web, and am astonished to learn she's the same girl who played the gorgeous barmaid in the "Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?" episode "Affairs And Relations".
Never mind the woman they were all google-eyed over - I only had eyes for the barmaid!
I bet she's still lovely today....

Colin.

[Richard Marple]

Jan 25, 2012 9:50:46 GMT John Green said:

I missed the first episode of Doctor Who on 23rd Nov.1963,so missed the announcement "here's a new adventure series" or whatever (though a fake one's been put on Youtube.
On Monday,26th,though,someone at school said how good it was.That's the only time I can remember TV being discussed.You'd have thought president Kennedy's assassination on the Friday would have dominated conversation,but no.
Luckily,episode 1 of the tribe of Gumm was repeated on the 30th,followed by episode 2.Not missing episodes,then,but a missed moment."Missed it by that much."It was quite a week,though.

My Dad did almost the same thing, but was lucky to catch the repeat.

I did hear an urban myth of a power cut that affected some parts of the country on the afternoon of 23/11/1963, but Kif of TBS had rubbished that idea.

[John Green]

I shouldn't go online so early in the morning; the Monday after DW started was 25 Nov.
I think you'll find that the Kennedy assassination swamped the TV-though I can't remember when the news broke her,I'd guess late on Friday 22nd.It meant,I believe that broadcast-times got disrupted,and a lot of people who meant to watch the first episode-and I don't even remember hearing about it in advance-missed it.That's why it was repeated the following week,followed by episode two.I wonder what they dumped to make room? The Billy Cotton Bandshow?Dixon of Dock Green?
While a lot of shows aren't actually lost,if they've been in an archive,unseen,for 18-odd years it means that a new generation hasn't had a chance to watch them,and are unlikely to in the near future.So feel free to consider many BBC children's shows lost to the public.

[Ian Wegg]

I remember very well seeing the Dad's Army episodes "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Walker" and "A Stripe for Frazer" and I was quite surprised when I first heard they were missing. Strangely, I have no original memories of "Under Fire" or any of the other series 2 episodes.

~iw

[adriane17]

I watched Doctor Who from the start - I remember finding the historicals boring! - nearly 50 years on it is all rather a blur. Certainly I remember An Unearthly Child for its strangeness and the Hartnell/Troughton regeneration particularly well. "Power", "Evil". Web" & "Fury" are ones I wish I could see again but then I thought I'd never see "Tomb" again - I remembered the cliffhangers to Episodes 1 & 2 vividly until it turned up.

Another "lost" episode that sticks in the memory is the Adam Adamant Lives! episode "Death Begins At Seventy" which begins with a "nurse" pushing an old man in a wheelchair down the stairs violently and the scene ends with him lying dead at the foot of the stairs.