The BBC announced that the two lost episodes of Doctor Who have a release date. These episodes, starring William Hartnell as the original Doctor, are from the show’s third season and originally broadcast in 1965.
The restored episodes ‘The Nightmare Begins’ and ‘Devil’s Planet’ from the classic serial The Daleks’ Master Plan will be available on BBC iPlayer starting at 6am on April 3rd.
These episodes were found in a private collection by the Film Is Fabulous! charity.
Both episodes were written by Terry Nation, the creator of Davros and the Daleks, and feature one of the Daleks’ first appearances.
“The Nightmare Begins” first appeared on television on November 13, 1965, and “Devil’s Planet” followed two weeks after. The missing episode, “Day of Armageddon,” wasn’t found until 2004.
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Joining William Hartnell, Peter Purves plays Steven Taylor, The Doctor’s companion, and Adrienne Hill appears as Katarina. Nicholas Courtney and Kevin Stoney round out the cast as Bret Vyon and Mavic Chen, respectively.
Purves recently saw the restored episodes and was completely amazed, telling BBC News he’d “never been so astonished.” He jokingly added that he still hasn’t forgotten the BBC losing the original recordings and would appreciate some royalties if they were to be rebroadcast.
The actor expressed his relief and joy at discovering these two lost episodes, adding that many of his past performances are still missing, which he finds deeply upsetting.
Sue Malden, who used to choose programs for the BBC archives, recently told Radio Times how thrilling it is that more episodes of Doctor Who are being discovered. She says people often ask her if she thinks there are still lost episodes out there.
It’s a shift from initially believing something was the final version – like saying, ‘I think this is the last one’ – to realizing there are likely more copies out there, because they were all recorded. And then, suddenly, those extra copies appear.
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Doctor Who is broadcast on BBC One in the UK and Disney+ internationally. Fans in the UK can stream classic episodes on BBC iPlayer.
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2026-04-01 02:20