I was lost but now I’m found

No, not a sermon on coins or sheep, but the utterly awesome news that some lost Doctor Who episodes have been found and are going to be released this week.

In what looks set to be the best 50th birthday present fans could imagine, missing episodes of Doctor Who will be made available for sale to the public this week.

BBC Worldwide will put the previously lost episodes from different stories – both believed to be from the Patrick Troughton era – for sale on digital platforms such as iTunes from Wednesday, RadioTimes.com understands.

They are believed to originate from a haul discovered in Africa and have been digitally remastered for sale, although exact details remain sketchy.

A BBC Worldwide spokesman refused to officially confirm the discovery or the “speculation” around further missing episodes.

It is understood that other episodes have also been found, although it is not yet known whether these will be made available.

Even in the Mirror is in on the act.

Rumours that up to 100 old episodes have been recovered have circulated for months.

In June it was claimed a company called Television International Enterprises Archives had found up to 90 episodes in Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile this weekend the Sunday People reported the episodes had been unearthed at the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency.

A BBC spokesman played down the reports that more than 100 of the old episodes had been found.

However, when asked if there were some episodes to announce this week, he admitted: “There is a connection.”

If this is all true then I’m going to be absolutely cock-a-hoop this week. Well I will be as soon as I work out what being cock-a-hoop actually means.

Anyway, it’s a ridiculously good reason to play this isn’t it?