In an exciting development, the charity Film is Fabulous! (FIF) recently uncovered two long-lost episodes of the beloved sci-fi TV series, Doctor Who. Found in a garage among a water-damaged collection of films, the black-and-white episodes titled “The Nightmare Begins” and “Devil’s Planet” were remarkably well-preserved.
These episodes, featuring the original Doctor portrayed by William Hartnell, had not been seen since their initial broadcast in 1965. BBC archivists have restored the episodes, set to be released on the broadcaster’s streaming platform next month.
The discovery reduces the number of missing Doctor Who episodes to 95, lost due to the BBC discarding film recordings or reusing video tapes. FIF orchestrated a surprise for Peter Purves, who portrayed the Doctor’s companion Steven Taylor, by revealing the recovered episodes during a gathering at a local theater in Leicester, U.K.
Justin Smith, a cinema professor and FIF chair, detailed the thrilling discovery and its significance for Doctor Who fans worldwide in an interview with As It Happens host Nil Köksal. Smith described the moment of finding the episodes wrapped in plastic bags among a larger damaged film collection as extraordinary due to their pristine condition.
The episodes were screened for Purves at a cinema after being cleaned and scanned, where he was pleasantly surprised and emotional upon realizing he starred in the recovered episodes. Explaining the scarcity of the missing episodes, Smith highlighted the historical context of television preservation practices in the mid-60s when the BBC did not foresee Doctor Who’s future global impact.
The recovered episodes were part of a private collector’s eclectic film collection, indicating the collector’s awareness of the episodes’ value. The fortunate discovery has allowed FIF to return the episodes to the BBC for preservation and future viewing.