Who saw the Doctor filming on location?

They want to hear from anyone who may have witnessed a ten-part story that was filmed in West Sussex and across the county boundary in East Sussex back in 1969 and shown later that year.

The War Games starred Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor, with Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury as his companions, Jamie and Zoe. It was Troughton's last story in the title role before he handed over the Time Lord's police box and sonic screwdriver to Jon Pertwee.

Locations used were duplicates of areas where wars were being fought in different periods of Earth's history, set up on an unnamed planet as part of a plan by aliens to create a super-army to conquer the galaxy.

Among them were an American Civil War zone, a Roman zone and a First World War zone.

Now the story is being spruced up to be released on DVD and the hunt is on to find extra features to accompany it.

Richard Bignell, producer of the featurettes, said: "For a number of years now, the BBC have been regularly releasing the old Doctor Who stories on DVD and in charge of producing them is a dedicated team of restoration experts, researchers and producers.

"As well as restoring the episodes themselves using modern equipment and techniques, we also put together a substantial set of extra material for each release, scouring the archives looking for deleted scenes, producing documentaries looking at how the stories were made, interviewing the people behind them and so on.

"But we're always on the look-out for unique and previously unseen material as well.

"As the original series of Doctor Who was produced at the BBC in London, many stories featured exterior filming in various locations around the southern counties, and of course when a popular programme like Doctor Who visited an area it would often generate a lot of public interest, with crowds of people turning up to watch the filming in progress, and from the local press reports of the time we know that happened with The War Games.

"The fascinating thing is that sometimes those people would also take along with them their cameras and capture their own visual record of the event, either in still photographs or cine film."

He said: "Over the past few years, following appeals, we've had a number of successes in tracking down some wonderful photographic and 8mm film material taken by members of the public showing the production of these old stories, which we've been able to feature on the DVDs, and we're hoping that readers of the West Sussex Gazette may be able to turn up some treasures as well."

The team are only looking to borrow the material, which will be copied and transferred by the BBC. The originals will then be returned as soon as possible.

If any material is used, the person who lent it will get an on-screen credit and a free copy of the DVD when it is released, which will probably be next year, 40 years after the adventure originally aired.

Filming for the story took place at the Underhill Lane bridlepath in Clayton on March 28 and 30, 1969 and High Park Farm, Ditchling Road, Stanmer, on March 31. They both doubled for areas in the American Civil War zone.

Locations also used '“ in March and April '“ were the Sheepcote rubbish tip in Wilson Avenue, Brighton; Seven Sisters Country Park at Exceat, Seaford; Birling Manor Farm at East Dean; and a lane in West Dean, all in East Sussex.

The War Games aired between April 19 and June 21, 1969 and was the last Doctor Who story to be made in black and white.

Mr Bignell said: "People who may have seen the filming back in 1969 have no doubt moved several times over the years, and that means that they may well have moved over into West Sussex by now."

Earlier this year, the Gazette ran an in-depth feature about the locations used in West Sussex over the years for the hit BBC sci-fi series. Click here to read it.

Mr Bignell said: "Although we're currently producing a DVD of The War Games, we're interested in any photographic material that people might have taken of the programme being filmed in West Sussex over the years."

There are also other gems from the show's past that the team are keen to track down, such as first Doctor actor William Hartnell's appearance on Desert Island Discs.

"We're after anything of interest that people may have stashed away," said Mr Bignell.

"If people were fans of the programme back in the 1960s and '70s, they may have been audio-recording Doctor Who-related material from the television and radio on reel-to-reel machines, so perhaps someone has the Hartnell Desert Island Discs or items from Junior Points of View or such like.

"Perhaps people actually worked on the programme or at the BBC and kept little mementos, etc."

If anyone has anything of interest, they can get in touch with Mr Bignell at [email protected] or by post at 11 Buxton Close, Chatham, Kent, ME5 8UP.