Missing

Oh. This is the point where things start to fragment, at least as far as viewing the adventures of the Doctor and his companions as an ongoing saga is concerned, as from the start of the third season the 1970s purges really take chunks out of the archive. No sooner have I enjoyed watching the new combination of Vicki and Steven in 'The Time Meddler' than I discover that that was the only time I'll get to do so. The next story 'Galaxy 4' becomes only the second (after 'Marco Polo') to be completely absent; this is followed by the single-episode 'Mission To The Unknown' (or 'Dalek Cutaway' as it's also peculiarly known) – a preview to the upcoming 'Daleks' Masterplan' – which uniquely didn't feature the Doctor or any regulars, and which is also now missing. Then there is 'The Myth Makers', also lost and apparently one of the least-documented Whos in terms of surviving clips, photos, etc. - and it turns out that Vicki remains in ancient Troy at the end of it, after only nine adventures on board the TARDIS. Shame, I liked her too. Ah well, it seems I have a new stowaway, Greek handmaiden Katarina, to look forward to.

On, then, with the twelve-episode epic 'The Daleks' Masterplan', the longest single story Doctor Who would ever run (discounting the 14-part but essentially four-stories-in-one 'Trial of a Time Lord') - but, again, it has been gutted by those tape destructions and only three episodes survive. Back to the 'Lost In Time' DVD I go...