Two episodes of Doctor Who from the William Hartnell era, unseen since 1965, have been released after being discovered in a private film collection. The episodes, titled The Nightmare Begins and Devil's Planet, are parts one and three of the mostly lost 12-part adventure The Daleks' Master Plan, written by Dalek creator Terry Nation and broadcast in November 1965.
The episodes were recovered by Film is Fabulous, a charitable trust dedicated to preserving private collections. The estate of the deceased owner, who wished to remain anonymous, held the prints. Among his collection were four other Doctor Who episodes, but those were already held by the BBC. The original 16mm telerecordings have been restored and made available on iPlayer in the UK from Friday morning.
The discovery was revealed as a surprise to actor Peter Purves, who plays the Doctor's companion Steven in the episodes, at a private screening in March. Purves described the episodes as "beautifully directed" by Douglas Camfield. The episodes also mark the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney in Doctor Who, playing Bret Vyon; Courtney later became known as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
Ninety-five episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s remain missing, having been wiped or junked by the BBC in the 1970s. This is the first recovery of lost episodes since 2013, when nine Troughton-era episodes were found in Nigeria.
