IT’S TIME TO CEL-E-BRATE! CEL-E-BRATE! CEL-E-BRATE! CEL-E-BRATE!!!!! 😀

Well, this was nice to wake up to on a Friday morning! 😀 We’ve had the news that two episodes of a classic ‘Doctor Who’ story from the 1960s – ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ have been found. And they’re going to be shown on BBC iPlayer over the Easter weekend!!!!!! 😀

For those who don’t know, ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ was originally shown on BBC TV from 1965 to 1966. It was a 12-part story by Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner, and it was directed by Douglas Camfield. The epic story starred William Hartnell as the First Doctor.

He was joined by Peter Purves as Steven Taylor along with Adrienne Hill as Katarina, Nicholas Courtney as Bret Vyon and Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom. Kevin Stoney played the story’s villain Mavic Chen, and he teamed up with the Daleks to conquer the universe.

Before the recovery of the latest two episodes of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’, there were only three episodes of the story in existence. This included the second, fifth and tenth episodes. 😐 We had to make do with the TV soundtrack on audio for the entire experience.

Now we have the first and third episodes of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ back with us in the BBC Archives. I’m so over the moon about this. ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ is one of my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ stories with William Hartnell. I’m glad we can get to see more of it.

Going through my mind, I realised, “Wow! We’ll have more William Hartnell to enjoy! We’ll have more Peter Purves! We’ll have more Nicholas Courtney as Bret Vyon! We’ll have more of Katarina! We’ll have more of Mavic Chen! And of course, we’ll have more Daleks!”

I also realised that the third episode ends on a dramatic cliffhanger for Katarina. So, it’ll be pretty tense to watch the third episode, knowing that something terrible will happen to Katarina, having checked out the entire ‘Daleks’ Master Plan’ TV soundtrack on audio CD.

Below is a video released by the official ‘Doctor Who’ YouTube channel that provides a preview of what’s to come when the first and third episodes of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ are released on BBC iPlayer over Easter. It’s amazing to see this footage I haven’t seen before! 🙂

Enjoy!

As it’s the first and third episodes that have been found recently, there’s no new footage of Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom nor of Peter Butterworth as the Monk, as they appear much later in the story. But hey, it’s terrific we get to have the first and third episodes back intact.

And because we have the second episode to see in the story, it means we can see the first three episodes of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ all in a row and in one go. That should be something very exciting to look forward to when it comes seeing the episodes over Easter.

I must admit, this wasn’t the new ‘Doctor Who’ Easter Special I was expecting. 😀 Apparently, the first and third episodes of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ will be made available on the 4th of April, which is Easter Saturday. I’m very excited about seeing these episodes over the Easter weekend.

I’m also not sure how other parts of the world are going to be able to view these episodes when they become available, since BBC iPlayer is exclusive to the UK. I’m sure a way will be found, as ‘Doctor Who’ fans in other parts of the world will be determined to see these episodes.

Anyway, this is very good news for ‘Doctor Who’ fans! I’m so pleased that the first and third episodes of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ have been found recently. Whether this means a DVD or a Blu-ray release of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ is on its way, I honestly don’t know.

It depends on whether the remaining missing episodes of the 12-part epic will be animated. Maybe they will be, who’s to say? Regardless, I’m hoping to enjoy the first three episodes via BBC iPlayer and the remaining episodes via CD and BBC iPlayer over Easter.

Stay tuned for a quick review on the first and third episodes of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ by me when Easter comes in April. I’m looking forward to finding out what the actual first and third episodes of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ will be like compared to first hearing them on audio.

I leave you now with this BBC Breakfast Report item about ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ featuring Peter Purves and Toby Hadoke.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading and watching!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂