Lost Doctor Who Episodes

Following up on Sara's post on Dr Who, I thought I would mention the fact that as many of the original episodes have all but vanished from the face of the planet. This was not a Dalek or Cybermen conspiracy, however, but instead a series of poor archival decisions. Between the late-1960's and the late-1970's, the BBC destroyed a majority of the original episodes in an attempt to open up space in their warehouses. Over the past few decades, some of the missing episodes have resurfaced, but as many as 92 are still missing. Whovians worldwide rejoice every time a new one turns up. The most recent discovery actually occurred in October, when nine of the lost episodes were discovered in Nigeria. Funny enough, this discovery was worthy enough to warrant mention from CNN.

What relevance does this have to public history? The way I see it, if more trained archival professionals were involved with the BBC's space-saving efforts, these important pieces of Dr. Who history would still be preserved today. Dr. Who has always had a cult following, but today it has exploded into popular culture. If the BBC still had these episodes they would making big money, but short-term economic benefits won the battle against long term preservation. We should all remember the BBC's mistake in our future careers; don't throw away the Doctor.

Source: Doctor Who Missing Episodes