Whovians, this one’s for you. The recently recovered episodes of The Daleks’ Master Plan are heading back to Leicester’s Phoenix Cinema and Art Centre for a special big-screen screening on Saturday August 15, 2026.
Fans of classic Doctor Who will have the chance to watch the first three episodes of the legendary 1965 serial, including Day of Armageddon, on the big screen. But the event is more than just a rare screening. It’s also a fascinating deep dive into television history.
A series of discussion panels will accompany the screening, featuring experts and industry veterans with first-hand experience of the BBC’s golden age of television production.
Following Day of Armageddon, a panel hosted by Tim Burrows will welcome John Franklin, trustee of Film is Fabulous!, alongside special guest Robert Maynard, a former BBC editor whose career spanned some of British television’s most memorable productions.
Maynard began his career in the film and television industry in 1972 with Gateway Films, where he worked alongside renowned cinematographer Bryan Langley, best known for films including Reach for the Sky starring Kenneth More. Two years later he joined the BBC at Ealing Studios as an assistant film editor, contributing to a wide variety of television programmes.
As an editor, Maynard collaborated with special effects supervisor Matt Irvine on both Doctor Who and cult sci-fi favourite Blake’s 7. He also worked with acclaimed British director Roy Boulting on Joan Hickson’s Miss Marple adaptation The Moving Finger.
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Later, as a BBC post-production manager, Maynard helped pioneer the transition from traditional film editing to digital workflows, leading teams that developed new methods of editing with systems including Avid, Final Cut Pro and Lightworks.
Beyond his BBC work, Maynard partnered with the late editor Keith Wilton to produce more than 30 DVDs and Blu-rays exploring film history and film collecting, with their final release arriving in 2019.
During the panel discussion, he will offer a behind-the-scenes insight into his BBC career, covering technical processes such as telerecording and cutting copies, as well as reflecting on the importance of television preservation, a subject that remains especially significant for Doctor Who fans given the programme’s long history of missing episodes.
- Tickets cost £20 and you can book them HERE
