Two of the lost Doctor Who episodes have been found, but the owner won't turn them over to the BBC

[Kale]

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-...des-found-owner-reluctant-to-hand-them-to-bbc

But the Observer has learned that the owners of the rare, rediscovered footage are not prepared to hand it over to the BBC, even as the clock ticks down to the 60th anniversary of the show's launch this month. British amateur collectors [want] that their private archives will not be confiscated if they come forward and that they will be safe from prosecution for having stored stolen BBC property, something several fear.

Discarded TV film was secretly salvaged from bins and skips by staff and contractors who worked at the BBC between 1967 and 1978, when the corporation had a policy of throwing out old reels. While collectors are in no real danger, the infamous arrest of comedian Bob Monkhouse in 1978 has not been forgotten, Franklin suspects: "Monkhouse was a private collector and was accused of pirating videos. He even had some of his archive seized. Sadly people still believe they could have their films confiscated."

I was accused (over a period of seven years) of conspiring to import copies of feature films belonging to Columbia Warner and other film distributors without having the rights to do so.' He described how members of the public misconstrued the charge. A petrol pump attendant said to him: 'Who's been a naughty boy then, eh, Bob? They give you back all your mucky porno films yet?' The case went to court on June 6, 1979. Monkhouse was quickly acquitted and awarded costs.

Despite the victory, he lost the greater part of his collection because he would have had to go to court to establish his right to each film individually.
Many were destroyed including, it is believed, a number of unique films.

I had no clue about this myself and had no idea someone got arrested over this.

 

[Aaron]

I know of so many of the old episodes that they lost. Wouldn't it be funny if some person had every lost episode

 

[Kale]

I know of so many of the old episodes that they lost. Wouldn't it be funny if some person had every lost episode

Yes, I'd not doubt there's someone who does lol