For various reasons, the Film is Fabulous! team have been compelled to clarify the term ‘missing episode’ by consulting with archival and media experts.

Consequently, Film is Fabulous! define a missing episode, or missing programme, as follows (the definition principally relates to one in a series of television productions):

1. Material that does not exist in an archive, or official body, including those of the television stations that originally broadcast the programmes, and retain the copyright.

2. Unidentified titles of audio or visual footage to which no match can be readily found within the aforementioned archives, or official bodies. 

Supplemental Notes:

A. Although a programme may not be missing, it may exist on an inferior format, such as a b&w recording (when the original was produced in colour). Therefore, obtaining a copy that more closely matches the original recording is preferable. 

B. Having a copy is good, but if the copy is so poor that it cannot be restored, then it doesn’t have the same archival value as a broadcastable copy of the programme (as the poor copy is only useful for reference purposes).

An essential part of the Film is Fabulous! process is the team must be able to demonstrably prove the existence, and state the whereabouts, of the episodes they recover. Missing episodes, as well as sole surviving prints, plus items of superior condition found, are offered to the copyright holder (or deposited with another archive).

Since October 2023, Film is Fabulous! have returned a host of items to the BBC Archive for preservation purposes, including:

• The Basil Brush Show (Broadcast: 25th September 1970)
• The Basil Brush Show (Broadcast: 23rd October 1970)
• The Basil Brush Show (Broadcast: 20th November 1970)
• Dad’s Army: The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage (Broadcast: 7th March 1969)
• Doctor Who: The Survivors (Broadcast: 28th December 1963)
• Doctor Who: The Escape (Broadcast: 4th January 1964)
• Doctor Who: The Web Planet (Broadcast: 13th February 1965)
• Doctor Who: The Executioners (Broadcast: 22nd May 1965)
• Doctor Who: The Nightmare Begins (Broadcast: 13th November 1965)
• Doctor Who: Devil’s Planet (Broadcast: 27th November 1965)
• Hugh and I: New Year Resolutions (Broadcast: 4th January 1964)
• The Likely Lads: Entente Cordiale (Broadcast: 16th December 1964)
• The Likely Lads: A Star is Born (Broadcast: 23rd June 1965)
• The Likely Lads: Far Away Places (Broadcast: 14th July 1965)
• Moonstrike: He Who Tells (Broadcast: 4th July 1963)
• The Morecambe And Wise Show (Broadcast: 16th September 1968)
• Play School (Broadcast: 12th August 1965)
• Play School: Auditions (Recorded: 1st December 1976)
• Softly Softly: Recovery (Broadcast: 11th September 1969)
• Steptoe and Son: Full House (Broadcast: 7th February 1963)
• Steptoe and Son: My Old Man’s a Tory (Broadcast: 8th November 1965)
• Sykes and a Marriage (Broadcast: 1st February 1961)
• The Third Man: The Man Who Wouldn’t Talk (Broadcast: 8th April 1960)
• The Third Man: Man With Two Left Hands (Broadcast: 27th May 1960)
• The Third Man: Proxy Fight (Broadcast: 20th August 1965)
• Til Death Us Do Part: Peace and Goodwill (Broadcast: 26th December 1966)
• The Troubleshooters: Is That Tiger, Man? (Broadcast: 30th April 1966)
• Z Cars: Take It With a Pinch of Salt (Insert Rushes: 23rd August 1967)

Film is Fabulous! have also returned a host of items to the BFI Archive for preservation purposes, including:

• Boyd Q.C.: The Balance of Her Mind (Broadcast: 30th April 1958)
• Boyd Q.C.: Findings Keepings (Broadcast: 6th July 1961)
• Boyd Q.C.: Sunday’s Child (Broadcast: 20th July 1961)
• The Full Man: War Poetry (Broadcast: 28th January 1964)
• The Full Man: The Dramatist and Human Affairs (Broadcast: 11th February 1964)
• The Full Man: The Novel Landscape and Background (Broadcast: 25th February 1964)
• ITV Playhouse: Each Wind That Blows (Broadcast: 15th April 1960)
• No Hiding Place: A Bird to Watch the Marbles (Broadcast: 19th March 1963)
• Saber of London: Four Against Three (Broadcast: 11th November 1959)
• Saber of London: Kill And Run (Broadcast: 5th November 1962)
• The Vise: Sing Softly Sister (Broadcast: 4th July 1957)
• The Vise: Collector’s Item (Broadcast: 1st June 1958)
• The Vise: Death Takes No Holiday  (Broadcast: Broadcast: 6th November 1959)
• The Vise: Death Walks By Night (Broadcast: 29th January 1960)
• The Vise: Diplomatic Error (Broadcast: 5th February 1960)
• The Vise: Better Chance (Broadcast: 1st June 1962)
• The Vise: Weekend Guest (Broadcast: 24th July 1962)
• The Vise: Eight Window (Broadcast: 15th April 1963)
• The Vise: The Schemer (Broadcast: 29th April 1963)
• The Vise: Dr Damon’s Experiment (Broadcast: 6th May 1963)