Lost Doctor Who and Daleks episodes to be released after six decades

EntertainmentMovie
13 Mar 2026 • 4:06 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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  • Two long-missing episodes from the third season of the BBC's science-fiction series Doctor Who have been recovered over six decades after their original broadcast.
  • The recovered episodes, “The Nightmare Begins” (episode one) and “Devil's Planet” (episode three), are part of the 12-episode “The Daleks’ Master Plan” arc, featuring the First Doctor, William Hartnell.
  • This marks the first confirmed discovery of lost Doctor Who episodes since 2013 and ends the longest gap in the series' history without recovered instalments.
  • The episodes were found by Film is Fabulous!, a charitable trust, while cataloguing a deceased collector’s donated archive, and have been restored by BBC Archives for release on BBC iPlayer this Easter.
  • Actor Peter Purves, who played the Doctor's companion Steven Taylor, expressed an emotional reaction to the rediscovery, joking about royalties after watching the restored episodes.

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