“Christmas has come early for Doctor Who fans. Expect us to tweet some very – no REALLY exciting news in just a couple of hours’ time ...”

Last night in a series of tweets, the BBC’s official Doctor Who Twitter account sent word to fans that two long-thought lost 60s episodes of the show have been recovered.

“Two previously missing episodes of 1960s Doctor Who returned to BBC. Galaxy Four pt 3 & The Underwater Menace pt 2. Details soon.”

“Galaxy Four,” part three (of a multi-part story arc) is a William Hartnell-starring episode from 1965, while “The Underwater Menace” part two, was aired in 1967 and starred Patrick Troughton as the second incarnation of the Doctor.

Both episodes had been thought to be lost—the BBC infamously did not archive its programs until 1978—but were found in the vaults of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

According to The Telegraph, League of Gentleman actor/writer Mark Gatiss, who has both written and starred in Doctor Who episodes, added:

“Christmas has come early for Doctor Who fans everywhere. It’s always wonderful when a missing episode turns up but it’s been years since the last one so to have two is just brilliant. Add to that a proper bit of action from the legendary Chumblies (and the horrifying Rills!) plus the utterly mesmeric Patrick Troughton on great form. Well, what more could we all ask for?”

How about a clip of Patrick Troughton from “The Underwater Menace”? (More here)