Lost Doctor Who episodes have been found, but we might never get to see them

UPDATE: Since publishing this article, a Twitter account claims to have spoken to John Franklin who has debunked some of the claims in The Guardian's article, calling the piece a "misrepresentation of the conversation between myself and the journalist." For now, then, it seems like those Doctor Who episodes remain sadly missing. Original article follows...

Some rare, lost Doctor Who episodes have been discovered – but there's a catch.

Two episodes from the very first series of the beloved sci-fi show, first aired in the '60s, have been uncovered by what the Observer calls "amateur sleuths". The episodes star William Hartnell, the first Doctor, and one installment involves the Daleks.

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But, according to the report, the footage owners are unwilling to give the lost episodes to the BBC. But why are these owners so reluctant? Well, it seems to come down to the worry that the holders of lost footage will get into legal trouble for harboring property that has been taken from the BBC.

"The collectors involved are ex-employees and so are terrified," film collector John Franklin, who knows where the two lost episodes are, told the publication. "The rule was that you didn't take anything, even if it had been thrown out. But if you loved film and knew it would be important one day, what did you do? So what we need now is an amnesty."

Doctor Who's 60th anniversary is swiftly approaching, but – appropriately enough – only time will tell if those rare, lost episodes will make it to the BBC in time for the celebrations.

"We welcome members of the public contacting us regarding programmes they believe are lost archive recordings, and are happy to work with them to restore lost or missing programmes to the BBC archives," the BBC has said, though it remains to be seen if this will reassure collectors with missing footage.