Two classic episodes of Doctor Who – thought to be missing forever – have been returned to the BBC archive. Episode 3 of Galaxy 4 (starring William Hartnell) and Episode 2 of The Underwater Menace (starring Patrick Troughton) were purchased by film collector Terry Burnett at a village fete near Southampton in the early 80s.
Over 100 episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s still remain missing. The tapes were routinely wiped once the rights to repeat them had expired. It seems unfathomable to us today, but before the advent of DVDs and iPlayer, grainy black and white material was thought to no longer be of interest to the television audience. However, many film prints sold overseas have since been returned. These latest discoveries are the first complete episodes to have been located since 2004.
None of the four episodes of the 1965 adventure “Galaxy 4” were known to have survived, although a short extract had been retained.
Research has shown that the returned episodes originated from the ABC channel in Australia. In fact, the copy of The Underwater Menace is still missing a few short sections which were removed by the Australian censors upon its original transmission Down Under. Fresh scans of the missing material have been made by the National Archives of Australia and will be incorporated into the restored episodes ahead of a DVD release.
With thanks to the BBC.
