Two classic episodes of Doctor Who starring William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton have surfaced from a village fete

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

It is a feat of time travel of which the Doctor would be proud. Two classic episodes of Doctor Who that were thought to have been lost for ever have been returned to the BBC.

The two episodes from 1965 and 1967, which star William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton, have been unearthed three decades after they were unsuspectingly purchased at a village fete.

More than 100 instalments of the BBC1 show are still missing because the BBC did not start routinely archiving its shows until 1978.

The discovery of the "lost" two episodes was revealed at the Missing Believed Wiped event at the British Film Institute on Sunday.

Airlock, the second of a four-part story called Galaxy Four, was originally broadcast in 1965.

The doctor, played by Hartnell, is joined by Peter Purves and Maureen O'Brien in a story about a race of cloned females, the Drahvins, which also features an appearance by tiny robots called the Chumblies.

The second rediscovered episode was part of The Underwater Menace, aired in 1967. It features Troughton in his third appearance as the doctor doing battle with a mad scientist attempting to restore Atlantis.

The episodes were found in the private collection of former TV engineer Terry Burnett, who bought them at a school fete in Hampshire in the 1980s but did not realise they were officially "lost".

Other missing gems discovered at the BFI event included a comedy sketch starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and a Dennis Potter play, Emergency Ward 9.

Doctor Who writer and actor Mark Gatiss said: "Christmas has come early for Doctor Who fans everywhere. It's always wonderful when a missing episode turns up but it's been years since the last one so to have two is just brilliant.

"Add to that a proper bit of action from the legendary Chumblies (and the horrifying Rills!) plus the utterly mesmeric Patrick Troughton on great form. Well, what more could we all ask for?"

The copies of the missing episodes are understood to have originated from Australian TV channel ABC.

They will be released on DVD next year.

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