Missing Doctor Who Episodes Found!

I know that anyone interested in the missing episodes has already read about the missing Doctor Who episodes that have been found and were announced today.

So let’s cut to the chase, the BBC officially announced today that 9 previously missing episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s had not only been recovered, but have already been digitally re-mastered.  In addition to that, at the writing of this article the episodes are already available for download from iTunes!

Credit: BBC Worldwide

The episodes specifically recovered are from 2 Patrick Troughton (The 2nd Doctor) stories.  The Enemy of the World is a six episode story.  Episodes 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 have been returned to the BBC archives, completing the entire story.  The Enemy of the World is scheduled for a DVD release in the UK on November 25th.  Episodes 2, 4, 5, and 6 of The Web of Fear have been returned, leaving only episode 3 missing from this six part story.  The restoration team has created a reconstruction of episode 3 using the original soundtrack and still images from the original episode.  The Web of Fear is slated to be released in the UK On February 24th 2014.

Credit: BBC Worldwide

No North American dates have been announced for the DVD releases, but they have been fairly close to the UK releases, so I suspect they will be within a month or so of the UK dates.  As soon as they show up on Amazon, they will be in my pre-order list.

I have seen the trailers the BBC has released for these stories, and I have to say the video quality looks amazing.  The Doctor Who Restoration Team has done a phenomenal job, as always, digitally re-mastering these episodes.

Credit: BBC Worldwide

I don’t know about you, but as far as I am concerned Christmas has come early this year!  Ever since I was 8 years old and first discovered that there were missing episodes of Doctor Who I have wanted to see these stories, especially The Web of Fear as it is the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney as Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart better known as The Brigadier, but in this story only held the rank of Colonel.  Plus Yeti!

Credit: BBC Worldwide

Then we have The Enemy of the World, where Patrick Troughton not only plays The Doctor, but the main villain Ramon Salamander.  This is often considered to be Troughton’s best performance, and I’ve only ever been able to hear it, as the soundtracks have been available for years.  Now I will be able to actually see Troughton’s performance.

Credit: BBC Worldwide

This is the 50th Anniversary Year for Doctor Who, and it is good to be a fan!  And a huge thanks goes out to Phillip Morris and  T.I.E.A. for all their amazing work in recovering these lost episodes.

So now, check out the trailers for these classic Stories.

The Enemy of the World: Trailer

The Web of Fear: Trailer