Missing Episodes - TV and Radio

In the early years of television, especially before the video age, it was common policy for the BBC to dispose of television programmes which were felt to be of no further interest to the viewing public.

Dad's Army began a year before Colour Television started in 1969, and up until June 2001, 5 Black & White episodes of Season 2 were believed missing forever. Fortunately the BBC's Treasure Hunt appeal back in 2001 resulted in the recovery of both Operation Kilt and The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage leaving a tantalising few waiting to be recovered.

The most significant return to the archive since 2001 was in 2008, when BBC Radio presenter Ed Doolan returned several audio soundtracks he recorded from Dad's Army episodes in the late 1960s. Two of these, A Stripe For Frazer and Christmas Night With The Stars were significant discoveries as both no longer survived in the BBC archive. Ed broadcast the complete Christmas Night With The Stars Sketch on his Christmas day show in 2008. Further to this, the episode, "Room at the Bottom" was the first such programme to benefit from a recolourisation process. The results were broadcast on BBC2 in December 2008.

I have extended this list to include further missing recordings from the BBC archive which Dad's Army fans would like to see again. The three series 2 TV episodes still remain elusive as does visual material for the two remaining Christmas Night With The Stars sketches. However, the Dad's Army cast also made several appearances on other programmes giving interviews and discussing the series from shows as diverse as Nationwide to Swap Shop.

There is also an extended list to include radio programmes such as Desert Island Discs and Sounds Familiar. If you can help fill in the gaps with either audio or visual material, or even possess a recording not featured here it would be great to hear from you.