Two Missing Doctor Who Episodes Found!

Two episodes of Doctor Who, thought to have been destroyed since 1978, have been returned to the BBC.

The episodes are Airlock the third part of the four part William Hartnell story Galaxy 4, and Part Two of the four part Patrick Troughton story: The Underwater Menace, of which one other episode exists.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_111211_01/Missing_Episodes_Recovered

The question fans are asking is, "When can I see these episodes?"

Some are calling for them to be aired on television. This is a mistake, in my opinion. When Tomb of the Cybermen was found in the early ninties, the new episodes were included in the syndication package being sold to North America. By the time the VHS came out, it had already aired and sales were dismal.

The biggest asset these episodes have is that they have not been seen by anyone. They need to be released on DVD simultaneously worldwide.

Since we know that the BBC is testing the waters of animating missing episodes with the already announced The Reign of Terror having its two missing episodes animated, this is a perfect time to test how willing fans are to purchase animations of stories that are less well regarded, like The Underwater Menace. Animating the two missing episodes of The Underwater Menace will give a great comparison to the success of The Reign of Terror, the existing four parts of which have previously been released on VHS.

If the sales indicate that the lost episode has truly increased sales of the release, then the same should be done for Galaxy 4, of which only 1/3 of an episode existed previously.

As of now, there is only one other animation on the schedule, and it is likely either the missing fourth episode of the four part The Tenth Planet, or the two missing episodes from the six part The Ice Warriors, neither of which has yet had a DVD release.

Hopefully sales will be good enough that further animations are deemed viable. The next likely targets being those stories already released on DVD with pieces missing: The Crusade (two of four missing), The Moonbase (two of four missing).

It may be too much to hope that these types of releases will sell well enough to be able to recoup the cost of animating more than two episodes per release, but if so, the following stories remain to be released in this way:

The Celestial Toymaker (3 of 4 missing)
The Myth Makers (4 of 4 missing)
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve (4 of 4 missing)
The Savages (4 of 4 missing)
The Smugglers (4 of 4 missing)
The Highlanders (4 of 4 missing)
The Macra Terror (4 of 4 missing)
The Faceless Ones (4 of 6 missing)
The Abominable Snowmen (5 of 6 missing)
The Enemy of the World (5 of 6 missing)
The Web of Fear (5 of 6 missing)
The Space Pirates (5 of 6 missing)
Power of the Daleks (6 of 6 missing)
The Evil of the Daleks (6 of 7 missing)
Fury From the Deep (6 of 6 missing)
Marco Polo (7 of 7 missing)
The Daleks' Master Plan (10 of 13 missing)