The Missing Episode

[Nelson Collins]

I am curious about the infamous lost episode 1219 and efforts to recover it.

Being a huge fan Doctor Who, I am well acquainted with the disappointment of episodes of a beloved show going missing or destroyed.

But I was just wondering if someone might know or be able to point me to a site that has information on what efforts have been made to recover or verify that ep 1219 is lost/destroyed (and not maybe sitting on an archive shelf somewhere gathering dust.

Most of the info I know comes from the MPI website, detailing the reconstruction of the story with an audio copy, stills from surrounding episodes and "hosted" by Lara Parker.  I am just wondering if MPI are making any further efforts to try to track down the episode and/or if there is or has been a coterie of fans searching as well.

[Miss_Winthrop]

I believe Darren Gross would know if anyone does.  He's very involved in researching the missing scenes from both Dark Shadows movies. He might have information regarding any present or past efforts to find it.

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that WorldVision who was in charge of the master tapes at the time, lost the episode.  It's really sad that the original might never be seen.  I know that some of the other episodes were lost but at least they had kinescope copies.

[Midnite]

Darren's comments about the lost ep are here (reply #7):

Dark Shadows early VHS

[Darren Gross]

Basically, the episode's vault storage case for the missing episode had the correct ep # but the tape itself contained some other TV show on it. When cross-checked, the tape case that was supposed to contain the other TV show was either completely empty or blank.

Unlike the lost Doctor Who episodes which were all distributed to countries on 16mm and some on 35mm all over the world. DS was only distributed to a few countries (like Mexico), and exclusively on 16mm.

Later episodes (such as the lost one which is only 30 eps from the end) were not syndicated internationally and had no kinescopes made of them.

A tape librarian may stumble across the episode on the ABC vaults some day while looking for another tape, but that's a needle in a haystack.

A few tape copies of kine-only episodes have been upgraded or found in the intervening years, so there's always hope, but when you compare it to something like Doctor Who, it's a miracle that there's only 1 episode missing.

[Stuart]

One minor correction, some Spanish language markets did receive Dark Shadows on videotape rather than 16mm film.  For instance, the episode where Julia first discovers Barnabas' coffin (#289) survives on videotape only from a Spanish language dub - the English audio heard on it today is actually taken from a kinescope copy.

It is remarkable that the DS archive is virtually intact - especially compared to other soap operas of the same period.  As much as its cult status has played its role, doubtless the main reasons DS has endured is because it's survived to be repeated and exploited on home video.  Without that, it would never have attained the fan following it has - I think it would otherwise only be regarded as a mild curiosity.

[Darren Gross]

Thanks for clarifying Stuart. I was unaware of that! I really have to reread the DS Almanac some time.

[Nelson Collins]

when you compare it to something like Doctor Who, it's a miracle that there's only 1 episode missing.

Thanks for the 411 on ep 1219.  Yes, is indeed a miracle DS survives almost completely intact, even more so that a fan actually recorded the ep on audio!

[Miss_Winthrop]

I have a far out theory on the missing episodes. I've started thinking about this in the past, dropped it, come back to it, and dropped it again always planning to come back and rethink it.  It seems that original tapes for very key episodes went missing!  Fortunately for most of them, the kinescope copy was still available.  However, episode #1219 was one of those very key episodes that was such a plot turner and highly important to the Bramwell and Catherine relationship. I had actually planned on cataloging the actual episode numbers were the kinescope copy had to be used when the original was not available.  The idea was to see if there was a pattern formed.  My next project was to see if I could figure out why anybody would be interested in taking the episodes.  I think I need a dose of 'reality' TV about now. 

[retzev]

I have a far out theory on the missing episodes. I've started thinking about this in the past, dropped it, come back to it, and dropped it again always planning to come back and rethink it.  It seems that original tapes for very key episodes went missing!  Fortunately for most of them, the kinescope copy was still available.  However, episode #1219 was one of those very key episodes that was such a plot turner and highly important to the Bramwell and Catherine relationship. I had actually planned on cataloging the actual episode numbers were the kinescope copy had to be used when the original was not available.  The idea was to see if there was a pattern formed.  My next project was to see if I could figure out why anybody would be interested in taking the episodes.  I think I need a dose of 'reality' TV about now. 

Miss_Winthrop, Did you come to any conclusions about a pattern or anything?

Darren Gross, Is it possible that anything might be sitting on a shelf at my local affiliate? How would one go about gaining access to search?