fans will sadly never be able to watch two episodes of the classic sitcom ever again.
The hit series aired from 1968 until 1977, before being revived for a film adaptation in 2016 with a new cast. But in that time, plenty of episodes were lost to the sands of time.
Thankfully in 2019, several lost episodes were remade starring an all-new cast, meaning episodes like The Loneliness of the Long Distance War and A Stripe for Frazer could be viewed by fans for the first time.
But other episodes will never be seen, including a series of segments that aired as part of the Christmas Night with the Stars from 1958 until 1972. The festive segment featured specially made seasonal shorts of some of the ’s best programmes, including Dad’s Army.
Four segments aired in total as part of the special – Present Arms, Resisting the Aggressor Down the Ages, The Cornish Floral Dance and Broadcast to the Empire.
Don’t miss…
Two Christmas specials have been lost to the sands of time (Image: BBC)
Currently, Present Arms is sadly missing from the archives, after originally being transmitted in 1968. The soundtrack to the episode was recovered in 2008, but the footage remains missing after the master transmission tapes at the were wiped for reuse.
Also missing is The Cornish Floral Dance – the lost the recording, though an amateur sound recording remains available.
The BBC had no central archive until 1978 (Image: BBC)
The is well known for losing some of its broadcasts as it had no central archive until 1978, when the Film and Videotape Library was created. Due to limited storage space, various videotapes were wiped to be used again for new programming.
Because series one of Dad’s Army sold poorly, and the lacked interest in selling series two abroad, only a few copies of episodes were made for the first two seasons.