Lost 'Doctor Who' Episodes Have Been Found
Image Source: TARDIS Wiki
Doctor Who fans should get excited. Two lost episode reels from the original series were found in a person's collection! These reels were part of a larger collection donated after the collector passed away. From lost paintings to unreleased Mozart compositions, a wide variety of lost media can be found in private collections. The charity that received them is Film is Fabulous!, and the episodes are currently being restored. The restored version of these episodes will be released on April 5, 2026, on the BBC iPlayer.
These episodes were from Season Three of Doctor Who, specifically episodes one and three of the serial "The Dalek’s Master Plan", which ran from 1965 to 1966. This serial was not well-received by Australian and New Zealand censors, making it a hard sell to other markets. In the end, the destruction order was given for existing reels due to the difficulty selling as well as the fact that it was in black and white during the transition to color television, making it less marketable.
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Image Source: TARDIS Wiki
Professor of cinema and history Justin Smith explained how these rare films are usually found and why this find is particularly significant (via The BBC), “We travel all over the country to recover film collections from private hands. A lot of the films had suffered water damage, and the cans had corroded. These are gems in what was an eclectic and ramshackle collection, a lot of which hadn't been looked after as well as the Doctor Who had.” The origin of the film reels prior to their arrival in this unnamed collector's hands is unknown and likely will not be uncovered. Professor Smith closed his statement, "The collector did recognise what he had, but how he acquired them has been lost to time.”
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