As mentioned by Sue Malden at our RECOVERED event in May, we are aware of several missing episodes of Doctor Who (Sue stated one [or] two, but there are more than this) in private film collections in the UK. We are liaising with the individuals about cataloguing and preserving their entire collection, including the missing Doctor Who episodes, and ensuring that copies are returned to the BBC. We expect to make a detailed announcement shortly.

The Daily Star doesn’t give a source for this information, and has a somewhat spotty reputation with this kind of thing, but their suggestions for what’s in private hands are: Episode 4 of The Tenth Planet, Episode 3 of The Web Of Fear, and all of Marco Polo.

I’m suspicious because, apart from Power Of The Daleks, those are all the most-wanted finds. And if someone’s telling you everything you want to hear, then you should always pause to go “hmmm”.

Marco Polo, though. It’s a great story, even just presented as a series of telesnaps with bad audio. Imagine if we actually get to see Ping Cho’s dance! And it’s Warris Hussain, so you know that it’s going to be a story which makes the absolute most of its limited resources. People moan about episodes 2-4 of An Unearthly Child, but I think they’re gorgeous. And look at how dynamic the filmed inserts are.

Again, not getting my hopes up, but just imagine if we actually got to see Marco Polo in all its glory.