It seems like there are a never ending parade of missing Doctor Who episodes that are rumored to be suddenly found, and then hopes are dashed when rumors prove untrue. This time, however, all signs point to it being the real deal.

The Mirror first broke the story, which given past, dubious credibility, might have fans raising eyebrows. Their story was then verified by more reliable sources such as The Radio Times and BBC4 Radio.

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New Doctor Who fans may not be aware that several episodes from the 1st through 3rd Doctor have been “lost” for decades. To save room, the BBC in the late 1960s decided to pitch old episodes from a variety of programs.

In fairness to the BBC, the concept of the re-run and residuals had not yet been born. T.V. was often scoffed at as a substandard media, and few understood the historical value of what was being ditched. In fact, one of the notable items to hit the trash was an early performance of The Beatles on a U.K. program similar to the U.S. Tonight Show.

In any case, over the years episodes have been “found” just about everyplace imaginable. Camera operators took tapes home with them and stored them in their attics. Storage rooms of BBC stations across the British colonial empire from Canada to Australia were discovered to have missing episodes buried in long forgotten closets. As these episodes were discovered, the BBC restored and remastered these episodes and made them available for home entertainment.

Now, the proverbial mother-load has finally been discovered in, of all places, Ethiopia. According to The Mirror:

Doctor Who expert Stuart Kelly revealed news of the discovery at the Wigtown Book Festival in Scotland last week. When contacted by the Sunday People he said: “I was told by a friend that the ­episodes have been found in Ethiopia. The BBC is ­negotiating to get them back right now. I really can’t say any more than that.”

The Radio Times is stating that these episodes are now going to be available as early as Wednesday in iTunes:

BBC Worldwide will put the previously lost episodes from different stories – both believed to be from the Patrick Troughton era – for sale on digital platforms such as iTunes from Wednesday, RadioTimes.com understands. They are believed to originate from a haul discovered in Africa and have been digitally remastered for sale, although exact details remain sketchy.

For relatively new to Doctor Who fans, this haul will be interesting. Reigning Doctor Matt Smith has often stated that much of his inspiration for the roles came from 2nd Doctor, Patrick Troughton. To see more of Troughton’s work after so many years will indeed be a treat.

Noted Doctor Who superfan Ian Levine, who personally tracked down a plethora of “lost episodes” prior, had this to say via his Twitter account.

Unlike other false alarms, all sources are seeming to verify the story this time. With any luck, fans’ hopes will not be dashed again!

Would you like to see the missing episodes?