Editing Doctor Who (section)

===Missing episodes===
{{Main|Doctor Who missing episodes{{!}}''Doctor Who'' missing episodes}}
Between 1967 and 1978, large amounts of older material stored in the BBC's various video tape and film libraries was either destroyed{{efn|The tapes were on a [[405-line television system|405-line broadcast standard]] and not transferred to the [[625-line television system]] entering use.}} or [[Lost television broadcast|wiped]]. This included many early episodes of ''Doctor Who'', those stories featuring the first two Doctors: [[William Hartnell]] and [[Patrick Troughton]]. In all, 97 of 253 episodes produced during the programme's first six years are not held in the BBC's archives (most notably seasons 3, 4, and 5, from which 79 episodes are missing).<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 November 2023 |title=Doctor Who has 97 'missing episodes'. Where are they hiding? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/doctor-who-missing-episodes-lost-anniversary-b2451834.html |access-date=5 January 2024 |website=The Independent}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Thorpe |first=Vanessa |date=11 November 2023 |title=Lost Doctor Who episodes found – but owner is reluctant to hand them to BBC |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/nov/11/lost-doctor-who-episodes-found-owner-reluctant-to-hand-them-to-bbc |access-date=5 January 2024 |work=The Observer|issn=0029-7712}}</ref> In 1972, almost all episodes then made were known to exist at the BBC,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Molesworth |first=Richard |title=BBC Archive Holdings |url=http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rtwebsite/archive.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121228210500/http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rtwebsite/archive.htm |archive-date=28 December 2012 |access-date=30 April 2007 |website=[[Doctor Who Restoration Team]] |quote=A full set was held at least until early 1972, as 16 mm black and white film negatives (apart—of course—from 'Masterplan' 7)}}</ref> while by 1978 the practice of wiping tapes and destroying "spare" film copies had been brought to a stop.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Molesworth |first=Richard |title=BBC Archive Holdings |url=http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rtwebsite/archive.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121228210500/http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/rtwebsite/archive.htm |archive-date=28 December 2012 |access-date=30 April 2007 |website=[[Doctor Who Restoration Team]] |quote=the videotapes began to be wiped, or re-used, until the formation of the BBC's Film and Videotape Library in 1978 put a stop to this particular practice.}}</ref>

No 1960s episodes exist on their original videotapes (all surviving prints being film transfers), though some were transferred to film for editing before transmission and exist in their broadcast form.<ref>{{Cite news |title='Doctor Who': Restoring and Reconstructing Missing Episodes |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A14066589 |url-status=live |access-date=20 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201140746/http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A14066589 |archive-date=1 December 2012}}</ref>

Some episodes have been returned to the BBC from the archives of other countries that bought prints for broadcast or by private individuals who acquired them by various means. Early colour videotape recordings made off-air by fans have also been retrieved, as well as excerpts filmed from the television screen onto 8&nbsp;mm [[cine film]] and clips that were shown on other programmes. Audio versions of all lost episodes exist from home viewers who made tape recordings of the show. Short clips from every story with the exception of ''[[Marco Polo (Doctor Who)|Marco Polo]]'' (1964), "[[Mission to the Unknown]]" (1965) and ''[[The Massacre (Doctor Who)|The Massacre]]'' (1966) also exist.

In addition to these, there are off-screen photographs made by photographer [[John Cura]], who was hired by various production personnel to document many of their programmes during the 1950s and 1960s, including ''Doctor Who''.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} These have been used in [[Doctor Who missing episodes#Reconstruction|fan reconstructions]] of the serials. The BBC has tolerated these amateur reconstructions, provided they are not sold for profit and are distributed as low-quality copies.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lewinski |first=John Scott |date=29 September 2008 |title=Fans Reconstruct Doctor Who's Trashed Past |url=https://www.wired.com/2008/09/who-recon/ |url-status=live |magazine=Wired |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111095803/http://www.wired.com/underwire/2008/09/who-recon |archive-date=11 January 2012 |access-date=8 February 2022}}</ref>

One of the most sought-after lost episodes is part four of the last William Hartnell serial, ''[[The Tenth Planet]]'' (1966), which ends with the [[First Doctor]] transforming into the [[Second Doctor|Second]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Lara |date=20 February 2009 |title=Zimbabwe 'hoarding lost 'Who' episodes' |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a147355/zimbabwe-hoarding-lost-who-episodes.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629145219/http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s7/doctor-who/news/a147355/zimbabwe-hoarding-lost-who-episodes.html |archive-date=29 June 2012 |access-date=20 January 2012 |website=[[Digital Spy]]}}</ref> The only portion of this in existence, barring a few poor-quality silent 8&nbsp;mm clips, is the few seconds of the regeneration scene, as it was shown on the children's magazine show ''[[Blue Peter]]''. With the approval of the BBC, efforts are now underway to restore as many of the episodes as possible from the extant material.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

"Official" reconstructions have also been released by the BBC on VHS, on MP3 [[CD-ROM]], and as special features on DVD. The BBC, in conjunction with animation studio [[Cosgrove Hall]], reconstructed the missing episodes 1 and 4 of ''[[The Invasion (Doctor Who)|The Invasion]]'' (1968), using remastered audio tracks and the comprehensive stage notes for the original filming, for the serial's DVD release in November 2006.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} The missing episodes of ''[[The Reign of Terror (Doctor Who)|The Reign of Terror]]'' were animated by animation company Theta-Sigma, in collaboration with [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]], and became available for purchase in May 2013 through Amazon.com.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=Chuck |date=21 June 2011 |title=The Reign of Terror—animation update |url=https://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/06/dwn210611211508-reign-of-terror-update.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505050947/http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2011/06/dwn210611211508-reign-of-terror-update.html |archive-date=5 May 2012 |access-date=6 October 2011 |publisher=[[Doctor Who News Page]]}}</ref> Subsequent animations made in 2013 include ''The Tenth Planet'', ''[[The Ice Warriors]]'' (1967) and ''[[The Moonbase]]'' (1967).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shayo |first=Lukas |date=29 October 2023 |title=More Missing Doctor Who Episodes Planned For Animated Restorations |url=https://screenrant.com/doctor-who-episodes-animated-restoration-future-plans/ |access-date=1 July 2024 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}</ref>

In April 2006, ''Blue Peter'' launched a challenge to find missing ''Doctor Who'' episodes with the promise of a full-scale [[Dalek]] model as a reward.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 2006 |title=Blue Peter—Missing Doctor Who tapes |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/content/articles/2006/04/19/doctor_who_feature.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060424144255/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/content/articles/2006/04/19/doctor_who_feature.shtml |archive-date=24 April 2006 |access-date=24 April 2006 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> In December 2011, it was announced that part 3 of ''[[Galaxy 4]]'' (1965) and part 2 of ''[[The Underwater Menace]]'' (1967) had been returned to the BBC by a fan who had purchased them in the mid-1980s without realising that the BBC did not hold copies of them.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mulkern |first=Patrick |date=11 December 2011 |title=Doctor Who: two long-lost episodes uncovered |work=Radio Times |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-12-11/doctor-who-two-long-lost-episodes-uncovered |url-status=live |access-date=11 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107050824/http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-12-11/doctor-who-two-long-lost-episodes-uncovered |archive-date=7 January 2012}}</ref>

On 10 October 2013, the BBC announced that films of eleven episodes, including nine missing episodes, had been found in a Nigerian television relay station in [[Jos]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Christopher |date=10 October 2013 |title=Two "Missing" Doctor Who Adventures Found |work=Doctor Who |url=http://www.doctorwho.tv/whats-new/article/two-missing-doctor-who-adventures-found/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011014953/http://www.doctorwho.tv/whats-new/article/two-missing-doctor-who-adventures-found/ |archive-date=11 October 2013 |access-date=11 October 2013 |publisher=BBC Worldwide}}</ref> Six of the eleven films discovered were the six-part serial ''[[The Enemy of the World]]'' (1968), from which all but the third episode had been missing.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doctor Who Online |date=11 October 2013 |title=Nine Missing Doctor Who Episodes Recovered! |url=http://news.drwho-online.co.uk/Nine-Missing-Doctor-Who-Episodes-Recovered!.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131011225318/http://news.drwho-online.co.uk/Nine-Missing-Doctor-Who-Episodes-Recovered!.aspx |archive-date=11 October 2013 |access-date=11 October 2013 |publisher=Doctor Who Online}}</ref> The remaining films were from another six-part serial, ''[[The Web of Fear]]'' (1968), and included the previously missing episodes 2, 4, 5 and 6. Episode 3 of ''The Web of Fear'' is still missing.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Masters |first=Tim |date=11 October 2013 |title=Doctor Who: Yeti classic among episodes found in Nigeria |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24467337 |url-status=live |access-date=25 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025183523/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24467337 |archive-date=25 October 2013}}</ref>