Where does a lifelong fan of Doctor Who even begin to describe the thrill of anticipation before watching two old but new episodes of my favourite programme on a bank holiday afternoon?
Turning up sixty years after their original broadcast, two episodes of the twelve-part Doctor Who story, The Daleks’ Master Plan are available to stream in the UK from 3rd April. Statistically the least likely episodes from series’ black & white golden age to be found, they were widely believed by experts and pundits alike to be gone forever. Now these miracles on reel are on the BBC iPlayer, released within a month of the finds being announced. By any metric, this is historic.
How does one savor this historic occasion? There’s no established protocol for watching returned missing episodes for the first time, given how rare such discoveries are and how much the media distribution landscape has evolved over the years.
Back in 1992, when all four episodes of the Patrick Troughton classic, The Tomb of the Cybermen, were found in Hong Kong, former series producer John Nathan-Turner (who was involved in BBC VHS releases at the time) ensured a quick release on BBC Video. The release was a huge success, topping the video sales charts for the week it came out. The news of this unexpected turn of events helped keep the cancelled series alive in the hearts of the British public.
When the first episode of the four-part William Hartnell story The Crusades was returned to the BBC archive in 1999, it was released on video before the end of the year, along with The Space Museum, in a lavish box set.
Upon the return of episode two of The Daleks’ Master Plan to the archive, a three-disc compilation of all surviving clips and episodes from otherwise missing stories was already being prepared for DVD. The newly recovered episode “Day of Armageddon” was added to the running order and released shortly after.
In 2011, two missing episodes were returned to the BBC by a collector who found episode 3 of the four-part serial Galaxy 4 and the second episode of Patrick Troughton’s third outing as the Doctor, The Underwater Menace episode 2.
The episode, known as “Airlock,” featuring William Hartnell’s Doctor, was included on DVD as a bonus disc with the re-released Season One story The Aztecs. Along with the original soundtrack, telesnaps, and extant clips, a severely edited but rather nifty reconstruction of everything that occurred before and after the third episode provided a muted but satisfactory viewing experience. However, The Underwater Menace episode two found its way to DVD approximately four years after its return to the BBC. Released alongside the long-held third episode of the serial, the lacklustre reconstruction of the missing episodes made the overdue release the low point of the now stuttering, but still highly-regarded Doctor Who DVD range
Fans without a high-speed internet connection in 2013, like myself, were unable to enjoy the biggest recovery of lost Doctor Who since the shock discovery of The Tomb of the Cybermen in 1992. All episodes of the six-part Patrick Troughton story, The Enemy of the World, including the five recovered by treasure-hunter Phillip Morris, were uploaded to iTunes along with four newly recovered episodes of the following serial, The Web of Fear.
The Enemy of the World was rushed onto DVD within two months, released after the 50th-anniversary celebration weekend on November 25, 2013. Fans who were unable to watch the episodes online had to wait until the following February to see the recovered episodes of The Web of Fear. Like Enemy, these were ‘no-frills’ entries into the DVD range, completely devoid of extras, marketed as the stuff of dreams on a shiny disc and they sold like hotcakes.
This brings us to the recent recovery announced by Film is Fabulous. The well-worded announcement, the professional clarification that came a few days later, surprising actor Peter Purves with the news, and organizing a special screening of the episodes for April 4th has been as swift as it is refreshing. This laudable approach has made fans feel part of this recovery in a way they never have before. The episodes released on the BBC iPlayer allows every UK viewer, for whom these episodes were originally made, the chance to see and enjoy them for the first time in sixty years. It is rather harsh for fans outside the territory who do not have access to the UK-only iPlayer.
Never before has newly recovered Doctor Who been so quickly and freely available. Fans believe a precedent for any future recoveries has now been set and stand an excellent chance of being uploaded to the BBC’s streaming service. However, it may be wise to consider the nature of this specific recovery before thinking about precedents.
Though the recent find is incredibly exciting, they are two episodes of a serial comprising 12 installments in total (sometimes 13, sometimes 11… it’s complicated) and join three previously recovered episodes to give a total tally of five. Fifty percent of the story is still missing. Commercial exploitation in this context isn’t viable for a number of reasons; the serial’s incomplete status disqualifies it from a stand-alone physical release like the vast majority of Doctor Who stories. Though the episodes feature the series’ most enduring villains, the Daleks, the recoveries amount to little more than a curiosity for mainstream viewers and many fans of modern-day Who due to the age of the material. Audiences today are intolerant of black & white films or programs, arguing that the lack of colour erects a barrier to enjoyment. Besides uploading it with great fanfare to iPlayer or broadcasting it as part of some Who celebrations on BBC4, there’s not much the BBC can do with it.
With all the conditions and caveats in mind, this may actually be a one-off, a once-in-a-lifetime experience that may never happen again. Even if more lost episodes return, the circumstances regarding the length of this particular serial, the second longest in the ‘classic’ run of the show, might make it unique. Without a doubt, this is something to savor. So, how will you be enjoying this incredibly exciting time, this moment in history?
Here’s how I’m doing it:
Mission to the Unknown
In 1965, the upcoming epic, The Dalek Master Plan was trailed four weeks in advance by a one-off episode in which the Doctor, his companions and the TARDIS do not appear. The Daleks feature throughout in perhaps their scariest outing yet because, for once, there Doctor isn’t there to save the day.
Andrew Ireland and a team from University of Lancaster received blessing from the BBC and the estate of Terry Nation (creator of the Daleks) to recreate the episode in every detail. Made available online in 2019, the team were able to make a faithful recreation, without having to cast new actors in the role of the Doctor and his companions (because they didn’t appear in the original). I’d like to see it again (if it’s still online) but the original soundtrack is very effective too.
Hot Cross buns with melted butter will provide sustenance to be ready for
The Dalek Master Plan Episode 1: The Nightmare Begins
I tremble when I think of this episode. I’ve heard it on audio, seen the LC recon (top job it is too) and read John Peel’s novelisation for Target books. I know what to expect, and at the same time I don’t. I expect to be slack-jawed and foaming at the mouth for most of the twenty-five minutes it’s on.
Episode 2: Day of Armageddon
Episode two was recovered in 2004 (or was it 2003? The episodes I’m writing about are now online, so I dare not fact-check in case I find spoilers!) I’ve seen this half a dozen times since it was recovered, and I will probably be hungry, so I’ll take the opportunity to eat some food while it’s on. Fish finger sandwiches, probably.
Episode 3: Devil’s Planet
Episode three, now in the archive, makes watching the preceding Day of Armageddon essential. To be able to continue the story without resorting to the soundtrack or reconstruction will be quite surreal at first. I anticipate more heavy mouth breathing during the next 25 minutes, with breath getting caught in my throat on multiple occasions.
Episode 4: The Traitors
It will be sad to be back in the land of sound for episode 4, but though it may be bittersweet, there is real hope for more recoveries in the future, and the existence of episode five makes this exciting installment in the story worth the non-visual detour. Bananas and custard at the ready.
Episode 5: Counter Plot
The jelly babies will be opened for episode five, but this might be where my DMP watch-through stops or pauses for 24 hours. The conclusion of the sixth episode presents a more natural jumping-off point for the story than the fifth, which is held in the BBC archives and, like Day of Armageddon, is available on the iPlayer, but I suspect exhaustion will have set in by now.
That’s how I’m going to do it. Here it is at-a-glance:
Trailer: Mission to the Unknown (Remake / soundtrack)
Episode 1 The Nightmare Begins (iPlayer)
Episode 2 Day if Armageddon (iPlayer)
Episode 3 Devil’s Planet (iPlayer)
Episode 4 The Traitors (Soundtrack)
Episode 5 Counter Plot (iPlayer)
I will write a follow-up to this article in a few day’s time to let you know how my watch-through went and review the episodes in full. Until then, I hope you – wherever you are – enjoy this historic occasion.
Follow the link to learn more about Film is Fabulous
Copyright Martin Gregory 2026
Martin Gregory is a writer based in the United Kingdom with no links to any of the companies or persons named in this article
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this is excellent news for dr who fans
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