Lost Doctor Who episodes from the Daleks' Master Plan discovered

Two missing Doctor Who episodes resurfaced after a late collector donated what the BBC described as a "ramshackle collection of vintage films" to Leicester charitable trust Film is Fabulous (FIF). Most of the reels were said to be "water-damaged" and "corroded," but the Doctor Who prints were, by comparison, in pristine condition.

"The collector did recognize what he had, but how he acquired them has been lost to time," Justin Smith, chair of trustees at FIF, said. The recovered episodes, "The Nightmare Begins" and "Devil’s Planet," are the first two parts of the 12-part Daleks' Master Plan arc, the series' longest ongoing storyline and one the BBC has described as "too violent" for international broadcast.

Written by Terry Nation, the episodes follow William Hartnell's Doctor and his companion Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) as they battle Daleks plotting to conquer the solar system and tear apart the fabric of time. The episode between them, "Day of Armageddon," was found in 2004.

doctor who, daleks, lost episodes, master plan, leicester, fif, justin smith, william hartnell, peter purves, terry nation