Tele-snaps

Telesnaps are a series of photographs taken from the original television transmissions. In many cases, they provided the only surviving visual record of early B&W episodes. They are commonly referred to as the missing episodes.

History
In 1947 John Cura, a self taught man with a passion for electronics, sent a letter to the BBC offering his services of tele-snaps, still photographs taken at various intervals during the program's broadcast. His method was simple – a 35mm camera of his own design, pointed at a television screen, could take up to 80 such images during the broadcasting of the programme. Normally, Cura would take around 60 photographs for a half-hour episode and provide these on a contact sheet to the BBC.

Availability
Several of the groups of telesnaps have been published as blocks of episodes in Doctor Who Magazine, or been released in a compilation form with audio soundtrack on video, DVD or CD by the BBC.