Other movies have been banned in this fashion for their disturbing content too, with A Serbian Film<\/a> even leading to the director of a film festival being arrested for screening it.<\/p>\n A Serbian Film and Threads can be watched in roundabout ways however, whilst the BBC TV<\/a> film No Such Thing as a Vampire has previously been entirely impossible to watch.<\/p>\n The vampire horror film<\/a> was one part of a six-episode anthology series Late Night Horror, four parts of which have been fully lost.<\/p>\n It’s based on a short story by Richard Matheson, who wrote the novel for I Am Legend<\/a>, and follows a woman who falls mysteriously ill.<\/p>\n After discovering puncture marks on her neck, she begins to fear she’s fallen prey to something supernatural, much to her husband’s dismay.<\/p>\n In addition to No Such Thing as a Vampire there are episodes on creepy gothic tales such as William and Mary, a Frankenstein-like story about a \u2018radiologist who discovers a way of preserving the brain after the body has died\u2019, which was written by Roald Dahl.<\/p>\n No Such Thing as a Vampire released in 1968 and was last aired in 1969 at Europe\u2019s Grindfest, however was soon after destroyed.<\/p>\n This was relatively routine at the time, however, and it’s estimated that between 60 to 70 percent of BBC programming from the 1950s to the 1970s was destroyed.<\/p>\n It is also rumoured however that Late Night Horror spawned numerous complaints to the BBC, with a theory developing that it was destroyed not as part of a routine move to free up expensive tapes but because it was too dark and terrifying for the BBC.<\/p>\n You can watch a clip from the recovered film below:<\/p>\n A 2007 BBC News feature on the series said it had been taken off the air because of \u2018complaints it was too scary\u2019, with BFI film curator Dick Fiddy telling Atlas Obscura<\/a>: \u201cIt was quite shocking, I think it was controversial.\u201d<\/p>\n Atlas Obscura also found a 1968 piece on the series in the Radio Times, saying it \u2018makes it sound like it was made by the Antichrist\u2019, quoting how it had \u2018BBC technicians buckling at the knees\u2019.<\/p>\n Now though, No Such Thing As a Vampire has been found and will be screened soon by campaign group Film is Fabulous! The group, who describe themselves as an \u2018initiative to preserve vulnerable film treasures for future generations\u2019, announced that the TV film had been found by chance by Darren Payne, a cinema projectionist and engineer.<\/p>\n![\"No](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/aHR0cHM6Ly9ldS1pbWFnZXMuY29udGVudHN0YWNrLmNvbS92My9hc3NldHMvYmx0Y2Q3NGFjYzFkMGE5OWYzYS9ibHRmNDFiMTQx.webp\"\/)
No Such Thing as a Vampire was last screened in 1969 (BBC)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/aHR0cHM6Ly9ldS1pbWFnZXMuY29udGVudHN0YWNrLmNvbS92My9hc3NldHMvYmx0Y2Q3NGFjYzFkMGE5OWYzYS9ibHRmMzhmNjI2.webp\"\/)
The film had several reviews calling it chilling and terrifying at the time (BBC)<\/p>\n