A lost episode of the BBC's terrifying horror series Late Night Horror has been rediscovered after nearly six decades and is set to air once again. The episode, titled No Such Thing As a Vampire, was adapted from a short story by Richard Matheson, author of I Am Legend.
The series, originally broadcast in 1968, was a six-part anthology known for its dark and disturbing content. It was wiped from the BBC archives within a few years, with some reports suggesting its extreme nature may have contributed to its removal. During the 1960s and 70s, the BBC erased up to 70 percent of its archive to reuse tapes.
The rediscovered episode was found by cinema projectionist Darren Payne in a storage room at The Regent, a 1930s art deco cinema in Christchurch, Dorset. The story follows a woman who becomes ill and is discovered to have two small puncture wounds on her neck, a classic sign of vampirism.
Four episodes of Late Night Horror remain missing: William and Mary, The Triumph of Death, The Bells of Hell, and The Kiss of Blood. Another episode, The Corpse Can’t Play, was recovered in 2016 after a 30-year search and is available on YouTube.
The episode will be screened in Dorset on 20 September as part of the three-day Grindfest event, in partnership with the BBC Archives.
