Two missing Doctor Who episodes from the 1960s have been found…and restored | Doctor Who

Two missing episodes of Doctor Who that have not been seen since it aired in the 1960s have been discovered in a cardboard box belonging to a deceased film fan.

The film boxes, which were previously wrapped in plastic bags, have now been restored by the BBC Archives and will be available next month on iPlayer.

The episodes feature the first incarnation of the Time Lord, played by William Hartnell, as he deals with a Dalek plan to take over Earth, the solar system and the galaxy in a story that has only been shown in the UK.

The first, titled The Nightmare Begins, was part of the third series and was originally broadcast in November 1965. The second redeemed episode, The Devil’s Planet, was broadcast two weeks later.

Film is Fabulous!, a charity in Leicester that works to preserve the history of film and television, found the film boxes containing the two black-and-white episodes in a collector’s vintage film collection.

“The major U.K. broadcasters in the 1960s, 1970s and even 1980s neglected a lot of content,” Justin Smith, professor of film and television history at De Montfort University and chief curator of Fantastic Film!, told the Associated Press.

“In some ways, finding Doctor Who’s lost talent is the holy grail of classic TV discoveries.”

Peter Purves, who played doctor’s assistant Stephen Taylor for 46 parts of the show, was invited to the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester under false pretenses to watch the two episodes. “My body has never tasted anything like this,” he said.

Purvis, 87, told the BBC: “Twenty-seven of my children are still missing, but I’m happy that two of them have been found. It’s a bit sad, but it’s great that some of them have turned up.”

It leaves 95 episodes missing from the long-running series that debuted in 1963.

This is the first discovery since 2013, when nine missing episodes of Doctor Who were found in the warehouse of a television broadcast station in Nigeria.

The newly recovered rings form part of a 12-part story, many of which are still missing.

“We know there are other rings out there. We don’t know where they are or who got them — otherwise we’d be knocking on doors,” Smith said.

“But, yes, I think there are more. The only question is when and where they will be revealed.”

A special screening of the two episodes organized by Film Is Fabulous!, with Purves as guest star, will take place in London on 4 April, the same day the restored episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer.

Noreen Adams, Director of the BBC Archives, said: “The BBC Archives are working to restore the original recordings and update them for broadcast quality, ensuring fans can have a little extra fun with Easter eggs next April.”

Doctor Who ran from 1963 to 1989 and was revived in 2005. The most recent series, starring Ncuti Gatwa as the protagonist, aired in 2025.

The show will return to screen at Christmas with a special episode written by Russell T Davies. The series is scheduled to return with an unidentified actor in the main role.