Historic Discovery: Missing Doctor Who Episodes Recovered After Six Decades
In a remarkable development for television history, two long-lost episodes of the iconic BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who have been unearthed from a donated collection of tapes. This marks the first confirmed recovery of missing episodes from the programme since 2013, ending an eleven-year gap in discoveries.
The Episodes and Their Significance
The recovered instalments are episodes one and three from the show's third season, originally broadcast in November 1965. These form part of the twelve-episode story arc The Daleks' Master Plan, described as a "dark and gritty" narrative. The first episode, titled The Nightmare Begins, premiered on 13th November 1965, while the third, Devil's Planet, aired two weeks later.
These episodes feature William Hartnell in his role as the First Doctor, alongside companions played by Peter Purves as Steven Taylor, Adrienne Hill as Katarina, and Nicholas Courtney as Bret Vyon. The villainous Mavic Chen is portrayed by Kevin Stoney.
The serial was primarily written by Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks, and follows the Doctor and his companions as they uncover a conspiracy between the Daleks and the treacherous politician Mavic Chen, who allies with aliens to conquer the solar system using a weapon called the Time Destructor.
The Discovery Process
The episodes were found by Film is Fabulous!, a charitable trust dedicated to preserving historic film collections in the United Kingdom. They made the discovery while cataloguing a "ramshackle collection" donated by a deceased collector. Justin Smith, cinema and television history professor at De Montfort University and chair of trustees at FIF, described the find as "gems in what was an eclectic and ramshackle collection."
Smith noted that while the collector had recognised the value of these particular items, the exact provenance of how they were acquired has been lost to time. The storyline's exclusivity to UK broadcasts adds to its significance, as censors in Australia and New Zealand deemed it too violent for transmission in those countries.
Restoration and Release Plans
BBC Archives director Noreen Adams expressed excitement about the recovery, stating: "We're thrilled to have worked with the team at Film is Fabulous! to bring these lost Doctor Who episodes to viewers on BBC iPlayer this Easter. BBC Archives has been working to restore the original recordings and update these to broadcast quality, ensuring fans can enjoy a little extra treat with their Easter Eggs this April."
A special screening of the restored episodes has been scheduled for 4th April in London, with Peter Purves attending as guest of honour. The rediscovery prompted an emotional reaction from Purves, now 87, who was initially invited to the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester under the pretext of participating in interviews about 1960s television, only to be surprised with the screening.
Historical Context and Missing Episodes
This discovery breaks the longest gap in the series' history without recovered episodes. The previous major find occurred in 2013, when nine missing instalments from two Patrick Troughton stories – The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear – were discovered by Philip Morris at a television relay station in Nigeria.
Currently, 95 episodes of Doctor Who remain unavailable to watch anywhere. These episodes went "missing" during a period between 1967 and 1978 when the BBC ceased archiving programmes, coinciding with the show's original run. Episode two of The Daleks' Master Plan, titled Day of Armageddon, was previously rediscovered in 2004 during a review of the BBC's commercial film archive.
After viewing the recovered episodes, Peter Purves humorously remarked: "My flabber has never been so gasted. I've never forgiven the BBC for losing those episodes – it would be really nice to get a few royalties." He added: "It was the fourth appearance of the Daleks and it'll be exciting to fans for a lot of reasons. The fans of Doctor Who are legion, and they seriously love the classic times."
