The triple DVD set Lost in Time has been my constant companion since the sixth serial of Season Two, The Crusade. 106 episodes of Doctor Who are currently listed as officially missing from the BBC Archives. My use of the words “officially missing” are quite deliberate as rumours continue to swirl throughout Who fandom of the alleged recovery of multiple episodes. With neither a confirmation nor unequivocal denial by the BBC, these rumours are unlikely to dissipate in the near future. 

Episode One of The Crusade is the first orphan episode on disc one of Lost in Time

Tonight I had the great pleasure of finally removing disc three of Lost in Time from my Blu Ray player, putting it away in its case, and then reshelving the set. Having watched the extant episode two of The Space Pirates, and the Loose Cannon reconstructions of the  remaining five episodes, I’ve just completed one of the greatest challenges of a Doctor Who fan – to watch reconstructions of all 106 missing episodes and the 18 full orphan episodes released on Lost in Time.  What a relief it is to have straddled the last hurdle in the seemingly unending race towards the final episode of Doctor Who’s monochrome era, The War Games. Henceforth, there are no missing episodes of Doctor Who and only 10 black and white ones remaining. The end of an era is fast approaching and I will certainly miss Patrick Troughton’s “Cosmic Hobo” Doctor.

Episode Two of The Space Pirates is the last orphan episode on disc three of Lost in Time

Watch out for my review of The Space Pirates in the next day or two, and The War Games later in the week. The first post in my 50 Day Countdown to the 50th Anniversary will appear on Friday 4 October and will be rather unimaginatively titled The Ten Most Wanted Missing Episodes. Please join me then for a fun romp through 1960s Doctor Who. 

A Doctor Who Magazine front cover on Missing Episodes

Vivien Fleming

©Vivien Fleming, 2013.