My mum has programmed her hummy to record Neighbours at a fixed time every day. She's just pressed play on Thursday's episode, and apparently the screen briefly goes blank, then goes back to the list of recorded programmes. The other recorded programmes start to play with no problems. Is that programme lost for ever, and if so, why? Can anyone help, please?

What about Friday's is that OK or is it like Thursday's? What does it say in the recorded programmes list about the duration of the programme?

How much free space is there on the hard drive (Menu --> Record --> HDD Control)? If there is hardly any free space then that would explain why. There was no room to make the recording.

If that is the reason then you need to delete some old stuff off the drive to make room.

I have also had problems with my old 9150 where the only cure has been to format the drive (option on HDD Control menu). Obviously this is the option of last resort as it will delete everything on the drive. So only do it once you've watched everything you want to watch.

Friday's is okay, and there is plenty of room left on the hard drive. The programme listing shows the normal start and end times.

Has your mum ever noticed any occurrences of programs being recorded under the wrong name or multiple entries in the list of recorded programs for a single recording? Both are symptoms of file system corruption and the fix is, as chrisjr suggested, to format the hard drive.

No to both of those suggestions, I'm afraid.

If there is nothing essential on the hard drive I would be tempted to do a format on it anyway. It won't do any harm, other than delete all recordings on the drive, but may cure the problem.

It could be that the drive is only just showing the first signs of any corruption so may just get worse over time. A preventative format may just nip any further problems in the bud. But as I said just remember it will delete everything so make sure there is nothing you are desperate to watch before you hit the button.