Rare photos of a lost Doctor Who TV series that fans thought had been exterminated have sold at auction for almost £7,000.

The collection of 21 colour images were taken during the filming of The Power Of The Daleks, which was broadcast by the BBC in six weekly episodes in November and December 1966.

The master tapes of all the episodes were erased in the late 1960s while the copies kept for foreign sales on 16mm film were destroyed in 1974. This meant the only images of the has been limited to stills photographs.

The images belonged to the late Doctor Who set designer Derek Dodd and were sold from his estate with London-based auction house Rosebery’s.

One image shows the Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton, stood around a console with Janley (Pamela Anne Davey) and Ben Jackson (Michael Craze).

There are also photos of a dreaded Dalek and snaps of set locations including prison cells and ‘Rocket Equipment Ship One’.

The images are particularly significant as the episodes were broadcast in black in white, so they provide a different picture of the action.

The photos were expected to fetch £1,200, but sparked fervent interest among Doctor Who fans and achieved a hammer price of £5,200.

Extra fees took the overall figure paid by the successful bidder to £6,760.

The master tapes of all the episodes were erased in the late 1960s while the copies kept for foreign sales on 16mm film were destroyed in 1974. This meant the only images of the has been limited to stills photographs of the set, including the Dalek. One image shows the Doctor, (right) played by Patrick Troughton, stood around a console with his companions Janley (Pamela Anne Davey) and Ben Jackson (Michael Craze)

The images belonged to the late Doctor Who set designer Derek Dodd and were sold from his estate with London-based auction house Rosebery’s. They show the large set, including ‘Rocket Equipment Ship One’

Mark Longley, a specialist and general valuer at Rosebery’s, said: ‘The master tapes of all six episodes were erased in the late 1960s, while the copies kept for foreign sales on 16mm film were destroyed in 1974.

‘Their destruction meant that the only information to survive on the series was limited to stills photography and films made by fans when the programmes were broadcast.

‘This group of transparencies were interesting to Dr Who collectors because they showed colour records of the set for the Power of the Daleks, and ultimately showed how vivid the colours were on set, when in fact the programme was filmed and broadcast in black and white.

‘Also included in the lot were exposure negatives which show an element of the process of making a programme and the technical choices of lighting, and I am aware when talking to keen collectors this was of high interest to the technically minded connoisseur.’

The Power of the Daleks was particularly important because it was the first time the Doctor regenerated, from the first actor that played him, William Hartnell, to Troughton, the second Doctor.

In 2016 the BBC released animated reconstructions of the missing episodes.