Yes, the tapes were erased and reused, as film was so expensive, that happened to such a lot of good drama and comedy in the early years. I remember the series being broadcast around 1958 I think. Duncan Macrae was Para Handy, Roddy Macmillan was Dougie, John Grieve was Dan Mcphail and Alex McAvoy...Sunny Jim, as far as I can remember.
In the book Peter MacFarlane was "short and stocky" so I didn't care for big Duncan in the role, he also played it very deadpan and slow, while Munro had Para Handy volatile and full of humour. Roddy MacMillan was better, to my mind.