It’s Good Friday and that means two new-but-old episodes of Doctor Who are now available to stream on BBC iPlayer!
Yes, you can watch The Nightmare Begins and Devil’s Planet, the recently-discovered episodes of The Daleks’ Master Plan, right now — last screened in the UK in 1965. That’s a remarkable feeling: our chance to watch a First Doctor (William Hartnell) no one’s seen for some sixty years.
The episodes were found by Film is Fabulous!, a charitable trust working to preserve the bounties of collectors; the pair were found in a “ramshackle” collection of someone who passed away last year and who left their reels to the trust. It’s thanks to Film is Fabulous! that we can watch them now: they’ve been restored to their former glory and given back to the BBC under the condition that they’re made available on BBC iPlayer for all UK viewers to enjoy. Sadly, no physical release or availability abroad have been revealed, though we can’t see them overlooking such an opportunity for too long.
So what did you think of the episodes? We’re not doing a poll like we would with brand-new contemporary Doctor Who, but we do want to hear what you think. We want the comments section to be your sounding board — a chance to enthuse and critique something not seen since the 1960s.
What’s it like getting a fresh chance to watch the First Doctor again? How do Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) and Katarina (Adrienne Hill) fare? Were you up at 6am, ready to watch them as soon as possible, or are you more laidback, content to view them across the day or even over Easter weekend? Maybe you’ve not seen them yet and want to share your sense of anticipation. Head to the comments section below!
And keep an eye on the DWC as we’ll have reviews of the episodes coming very, very soon…
