BBC reveals nine missing Doctor Who episodes
The BBC has revealed that nine missing Doctor Who episodes thought lost forever have been unearthed in a Nigerian TV studio.
It is thought to be the largest haul of missing episodes madein the last three decades and includes a number of Patrick Troughton stories from the 60s including most of fan favourite ‘The Web of Fear’.
Other episodes to emerge from the trove include all six parts of The Enemy of the World.
Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss said of the discovery: “It's thrilling. Every single avenue seemed to have been exhausted, every now and then something turns up - but to have two virtually complete stories out of the blue is absolutely incredible."
Philip Morris, director of Television International Enterprises Archive, who discovered the tapes, said: “"The tapes had been left gathering dust in a storeroom at a television relay station in Nigeria. I remember wiping the dust off the masking tape on the canisters and my heart missed a beat as I saw the words, Doctor Who. When I read the story code I realised I'd found something pretty special."
Fortunately they had been kept in the optimum condition."
The latest discovery reduces the number of missing Doctor Who episodes from 106 to 97.