A Doctor Who archive expert has shared a key update on the search for missing episodes, teasing that fans will be "very happy" with announcements to come.

A total of 97 of 253 episodes from the show's first six years are currently missing, leaving 26 stories incomplete, because the BBC erased or reused tapes in the 1960s and 1970s to save storage space and costs, before archiving policies were in place.

In recent years some of these episodes have now been recreated via animation, as tapes of audio recordings have survived for every episode. However, it has long been believed that some of the episodes exist in private collections – something that now appears to have been verified.

Speaking on behalf of Film is Fabulous!, a charitable trust dedicated to preserving vulnerable film collections across the UK, film collector John Franklin shared a statement to clarify some recent claims made about missing episodes.

Franklin explained: "We are aware of several collectors – plural – with several episodes of Doctor Who that are missing from the archive – plural – that are in private collections and with former industry professionals.

"We are aware of those and we are actively discussing their whole collections. We’re not going to just take the Doctor Who, or the other rare bits they have, we’re talking about the whole collections, coming in, being catalogued, and being managed in the way that we manage everything. So I hope that is a positive that your listeners take out of this."

Speaking specifically about a conversation on the Film is Fabulous! Facebook page, Franklin added on the Doctor Who: The Missing Episodes podcast: "The comment that was made on Facebook related specifically to one item, one unique set of circumstances with a film collector, and I’m going to give you some information about that."

He explained: "Since 2023, I and a couple of other key members of the Film is Fabulous! team have been aware of a large collection of films, thousands of films, that have become vulnerable. That collection contains some very important material including a missing episode of Doctor Who. It is a large collection and there is a possibility that there are other episodes of Doctor Who in that collection but at this moment in time, we know of one."

He went on to say that the collector very recently died after becoming ill and, while Film is Fabulous previously received permission to catalogue the collection and bring the items back to their secure facility, the legal situation is ongoing and has changed after the collector's death. Film is Fabulous will now make an application to the court to continue with the previous agreement.

Franklin also pointed out that Film is Fabulous deals with entire collections, and added that removing a single print or a rare item would be "illegal and immoral", emphasising that the trust will only work legally and respectfully.

He said: "We are doing everything legally, with propriety, to make sure we secure that collection and can return that missing episode of Doctor Who and other items to the rights holder."

Sharing a final insight, Franklin urged fans: "Give us the space to conclude the things that we’re doing. You will be very, very happy with the announcements when they come, but we just need the space to be able to do that now."

Franklin's comments come a few months after Malden also shared an update on the search for missing episodes.

In May, she said: "As far as Doctor Who goes, we do not have a statement or anything to make at the moment. We do know fairly certainly that there are episodes missing in private collections. Some members of the Film is Fabulous! team are in a considerably significant position to help on that."

She continued: "So, when the time is right, we really do hope that it will be Film is Fabulous! that manages to return, at least one or two - I don't know - missing episodes of Doctor Who to the BBC. We will have a ceremony with Claire [Coss, head of library & curatorial services at the BBC] to do that, I'm sure.

"That works on the assumption every one of them had to be recorded somewhere. I've been asked in the past, when I knew less, whether I thought we'd found the last Doctor Who. And I'd sort of look a bit vague and say, 'Oh, I don't know.'

"But actually now I've stopped to think about it, every one has been recorded, they've got to be there somewhere. And we now think we know a few places where they might be."

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