Maybe. As other people have mentioned, film can degrade over time, and can be destroyed via negligence or accident. Archives occasionally catch on fire, destro

Maybe. As other people have mentioned, film can degrade over time, and can be destroyed via negligence or accident. Archives occasionally catch on fire, destroying old masters. It also depends how it was produced. In the 1970s some shows were recorded directly onto tape for the sake of cost and convenience. It wasn’t uncommon for tapes to be wiped and reused to save more money, which is why a bunch of original Dr Who episodes are missing. If the show was shot on film, then it’s more likely that masters or high quality prints survived, since it’s not possible to reuse the film.