Two previously missing Doctor Who episodes from the 1965 First Doctor adventure, 'The Daleks' Master Plan', have been found!
Episode One (The Nightmare Begins), and Episode Three (Devil's Planet) were discovered in an "eclectic" collection by Film is Fabulous! – a charitable trust run by film collectors, cinema lovers and vintage television enthusiasts. The trust approached BBC Archives after finding them in a private collection.
This brings the total number of discovered episodes from the serial to 5 (Episodes 1, 2, 3, 5 & 10), with the most recent episode from the serial (Episode Two: Day of Armageddon) having been recovered in 2004 from a former Yorkshire Television engineer who rescued it from a junk pile in the 1970s.
Written by Terry Nation, the story featured William Hartnell as the Doctor and Peter Purves as Steven Taylor. It also featured Nicholas Courtney (who would later to go on to play Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart) as Bret Vyon, Adrienne Hill as Katarina, and Kevin Stoney as Mavic Chen.
Peter Purves, was invited to the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester on Wednesday under false pretences to view the two episodes, and said:
"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. I'm not sure I even saw those programmes go out originally - I remember the stories, but having seen them, the pictures are unfamiliar to me.
I didn't remember the first one when I was still almost comatose following the injury I received fighting in Troy in the wonderful Mythmakers - which of course is missing.
It was just a job. It sounds silly but we did an episode of the programme each week, in the year I did 46 episodes. It was great fun and was great to be doing a series that was hugely popular. But it was a difficult time, I won't pretend it was easy, the cast kept changing and it seemed a bit of a time of flux.
In the two episodes we've seen there was a great performance by Nick Courtney playing Bret Vyon. I was concerned very much that he was there as a replacement for me. As it happens, he got killed in episode four or five."
Noreen Adams, Director of BBC Archives said:
“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.”
BBC Archives has worked to restore the original 16mm telerecordings – meaning viewers will be able to watch them in the best possible condition on BBC iPlayer this April!
A full Press Release can be found on the Film is Fabulous! website.
