Actor William Hartnell in a scene from the sci-fi TV show "Doctor Who". Long-lost episodes featuring Hartness were discovered in Ethiopia.
A GROUP of diehard Doctor Who fans has discovered more than 100 long-lost episodes of the popular BBC program gathering dust in Africa.
The episodes from the 1960s, which feature the first two doctors William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton, were feared vanished after the British broadcaster sold a stack of its old tapes and lost or wiped the originals.
But after months of sleuthing the tapes have turned up at the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency, which purchased them years ago, according to the UK’s Daily Mirror newspaper.
Insiders say the BBC, which still owns the copyright on the episodes, could make a fortune by digitally remastering the tapes and releasing them on DVD.
If the tapes are returned in time the BBC hopes to announce the news during celebrations to mark Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary next month, the Mirror reports.
British actor Peter Capaldi was named the twelfth Time Lord earlier this year. He takes over from Matt Smith in December.
