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The BBC has finally (after months of rumours) confirmed the return of nine episodes of Doctor Who long believed lost after the BBC itself deleted much of the show’s 1960s episodes. The two stories concerned are The Enemy of the World (episodes 1,2, 4, 5 and 6) and The Web of Fear (episodes 2, 4, 5 & 6; episode 1 already exists and episode 3 remains missing, but has been recreated using stills and the soundtrack), both starring Patrick Troughton.

The nine missing episodes were among a set of 11 episodes discovered in a television relay station in Nigeria. The ‘remastered’ episodes are available on iTunes to download from Friday 11th October and will be released on DVD at a later date.

Phillip Morris, the director of Television International Enterprises Archive, unearthed the programmes by looking up the records of overseas shipments of tapes made by the BBC. Morris said: ‘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.’

Only episode 3 of The Enemy of the World—which co-stars Deborah Watling and Frazer Hines as companions Victoria and Jamie—remained in the archives, so the addition of the remaining five episodes completes the story.

Fiona Eastwood, director of consumer products, BBC Worldwide, said: ‘We are thrilled with the recent discovery of The Web of Fear and The Enemy of the World and we’re very happy to be launching re-mastered versions of these treasured episodes to fans as we celebrate the 50th year of Doctor Who.’

This discovery brings the list of remaining episodes down to 97, with speculation rife that these finds may have led to other lost episodes being uncovered.

The Enemy of the World will be released on DVD on 22 November; The Web of Fear will follow in early 2014.

Read our review of The Enemy of the World here.