VIDEO CLIPS:

The Battle of Godfrey's Cottage

Operation Kilt

The treasure hunt for missing gems of the BBC programme archives has struck gold - two long-lost episodes of Dad’s Army.

Producer and co-writer David Croft never quite gave up hope of finding any of the five missing episodes of the well loved comedy, and this week’s donation restores The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage and Operation Kilt to the BBC after more than 30 years.

The black and white treasures turned up in a heap of rusting film cans given to the BBC this week by a Hertfordshire man who wishes to remain anonymous. He was prompted to come forward by the Treasure Hunt.

The 1969 episodes are complete and in remarkably good condition given their age and the poor state of containers. They have now been conserved and transferred to digital formats for permanent storage.

David Croft said: "This is excellent news. I always wanted my shows to be kept, but in those days video tapes were usually re-used, and that’s what happened to five episodes from series two. For years I have tried to work out how to get them back and I even did a television appeal a few years ago. It’s been a long time, but I always knew they would turn up some day. Dad’s Army is still finding new fans among younger viewers, and I think the public will be as happy as I am if they get a chance to see these two episodes."

Head of BBC Information & Archives Paul Fiander said: "This is a smashing discovery. It’s all we hoped for and more. People have been looking for these missing Dad’s Army episodes for years - there’s even a book about them. These two can now be conserved and transferred to digital formats to be preserved for future generations. Let’s see what else we can find."

The 19 film cans were pulled out of a skip at Elstree film studios in the 1970s by someone who was working there. Elstree studios were not BBC buildings at the time, but have since become the home of BBC’s EastEnders, Holby City and Top Of The Pops. One of the missing Dad’s Army cans contained a card which read: "Return to David Croft." Apparently the man who found them kept them for many years before his daughter insisted he must throw them out. He passed them on for safekeeping to a friend, who was the one who spotted this year’s appeal and came forward. Both men are now in their 80s.

BBC archivists are sifting through offers of other radio and television material made by the public and former programme makers since the hunt began. The programmes they need are those from before 1980 when home video and cassette recorders came into use.

Anyone who wants more details about this treasure hunt or to offer any programmes should contact the BBC website or call 0208 576 9501.

Dad’s Army ran for eighty episodes between 1968 to 1977, including specials. The hilarious exploits of the Walmington-on-Sea platoon of the wartime Home Guard was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft. They starred Arthur Lowe as Captain George Mainwaring (catchphrase: "Stupid boy"), John Le Mesurier as Sgt Arthur Wilson and Clive Dunn as Lieutenant Corporal Jack Jones ("Don’t panic!").

Other favourite characters were gloomy Private James Frazer, played by John Laurie, the spiv Private Joe Walker played by James Beck, doddery Private Charles Godfrey, played by Arnold Ridley and Ian Lavender as Private Frank Pike, the baby of the platoon. Bill Pertwee played ARP Warden William Hodges and Janet Davies played Mrs Mavis Pike.

Episode synopses:

Operation Kilt (1 March 1969). The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard take on Captain Ogilvie and his crack Highland Regiment in night manoeuvres, and see them off thanks to Sgt Wilson’s Trojan Horse and a pantomime cow.

The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage (8 March 1969). The church bells ring out with the signal for the start of the German invasion, and the platoon abandons a trip to the pictures to take up their battle stations - at the Novelty Rock Emporium and Godfrey’s cottage.