Difference between revisions of "Australia TX 1971-1975"

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=AUSTRALIAN TRANSMISSION HISTORY (Part Three) (1971-1975)=  
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=AUSTRALIAN TRANSMISSION HISTORY (Part Four) (1971-1975)=  
 
__NOTITLE__
 
__NOTITLE__
 
{{TOC right}}
 
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===Block 6: TROUGHTON / PERTWEE ---- '''March 1971 to January 1972'''===
 
===Block 6: TROUGHTON / PERTWEE ---- '''March 1971 to January 1972'''===
 
[[File:AAA22Aug71.JPG |right|thumb|350px|Jon Pertwee debuts in Perth, 22 August 1971]]  
 
[[File:AAA22Aug71.JPG |right|thumb|350px|Jon Pertwee debuts in Perth, 22 August 1971]]  
 +
[[File:PertweeJuly1971.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Jon Pertwee debuts in NSW; Canberra Times, 26 July 1971]]
 +
 
{| {{small-table}}
 
{| {{small-table}}
 
|-
 
|-
 
|'''First Run'''||'''{{YY}}----{{ZZ}}----{{AAA}}----{{BBB}}----{{CCC}}'''
 
|'''First Run'''||'''{{YY}}----{{ZZ}}----{{AAA}}----{{BBB}}----{{CCC}}'''
 
|-
 
|-
−
|'''Repeats'''||'''{{UU}}----{{VV}}----{{WW}}----{{XX}}----{{YY}}'''
+
|'''Repeats'''||'''{{RR}}----{{SS}}----{{TT}}----{{UU}}----{{VV}}----{{WW}}----{{XX}}----{{YY}}'''
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
The remaining two serials of the Second Doctor, and the first three of the Third aired back to back. The final serial of Pertwee's first season, {{DDD}}, had been given an "A" classification, and therefore did not screen. All episodes aired on Sundays across all regions, at 6.05pm or 5.50pm. PERTH and BRISBANE screened the same episodes. During this run, '''Doctor Who''' started in Northern Territory; the series was now screening in all eight regions. {{YY}} was on at 6.05pm, with {{ZZ}} at 5.30pm, and the other serials at those times, 5.44 or 5.55pm.
+
The remaining two serials of the Second Doctor, and the first three of the Third aired as one Block. The final serial of Pertwee's first season, {{DDD}}, had been given an "A" classification, and therefore did not screen.  
 +
 
 +
The ABC once again did not attempt to synchronise the debuts of the Block across any of the networks, and staggered screenings one week apart to enable the 16mm film print of each episode to be moved around the country and delivered to the next scheduled station in the chain. 
 +
 
 +
All episodes aired on Sundays across all regions, at 6.05pm or 5.50pm. {{YY}} was on at 6.05pm, with {{ZZ}} at 5.30pm, and the other serials at those times, 5.44pm or 5.55pm.  
 +
 
 +
During this run, '''Doctor Who''' started for the first time in Northern Territory; the series was now screening in all seven regions.  
 +
 
 +
 
 +
*'''MELBOURNE''': saw the new run from Sunday, '''21 March 1971'''. Jon Pertwee made his debut appearance in Australia on '''11 July 1971'''. The run came to a close on '''7 November 1971'''.
 +
**Midway through {{BBB}}, August school holiday weekday afternoon repeats of {{RR}} and {{UU}} played between '''23 August and 3 September 1971''', with {{UU}} parts four and five airing back to back.  
 +
**{{VV}} was repeated, between '''17 and 26 January 1972'''. This was the final airing of that serial in Australia.
 +
**School holiday repeats of {{WW}} were from '''16 to 19 May 1972''', ahead of the start of the next Block…
 +
 
  
−
*'''MELBOURNE''': The series resumed from '''21 March 1971'''. Jon Pertwee made his debut appearance in Australia on '''11 July 1971'''. Midway through {{BBB}}, August school holiday weekday afternoon repeats of {{RR}} and {{UU}} played between '''23 August and 3 September 1971''', with {{UU}} parts four and five airing back to back. The run came to a close on '''7 November 1971'''. Two months later, {{VV}} was repeated, between '''17 and 26 January 1972'''. This was presumably the final airing of that serial in Australia (any additional later regional screenings not withstanding).
+
*'''ADELAIDE''': commenced the run on Sunday, '''28 March 1971'''. South Australia viewers were introduced to the third Doctor on '''18 July 1971'''. The run came to a close on '''14 November 1971'''.
 +
**Part way through {{BBB}}, August school holiday weekday afternoon repeats of {{VV}} played between '''30 August and 8 September 1971'''.
 +
**{{YY}} was repeated during school holidays, from '''12 to 19 May 1972'''.
 +
**{{XX}} was also repeated, from '''28 August to 4 September 1972'''.
  
−
*'''ADELAIDE''': The run commenced Sunday, '''28 March 1971'''. South Australia viewers were introduced to the third Doctor on '''18 July 1971'''. Part way through {{BBB}}, August school holiday weekday afternoon repeats of {{VV}} played between '''30 August and 8 September 1971'''. The run came to a close on '''14 November 1971'''.
 
  
−
*'''SYDNEY''' and '''CANBERRA''': Synchronised screenings in both regions commenced Sunday, '''11 April 1971'''. Pertwee debuted on '''1 August 1971'''. There does not appear to have been any August holiday repeats. The run ended '''28 November 1971'''. '''30 and 31 December 1971''' saw weekday repeats of {{WW}} at 2.30–3.20pm and 2.50-3.15pm, respectively – two episodes were spliced together rather than airing uncut (the first time such a method was adopted by the ABC?) but with some artistic licence added in the form of a circular wipe transitioning between the paired episodes. Tuesday, '''11 January 1971''' saw the start of a run of repeats of {{XX}} and {{YY}}; there was no episode in SYDNEY on 3 January, so this run ended in CANBERRA on '''25 January 1972''' and in SYDNEY the following day.
+
*'''SYDNEY''': commenced screenings from Sunday, '''11 April 1971'''. Pertwee debuted on '''1 August 1971'''. The run ended '''28 November 1971'''.
 +
**There does not appear to have been any August holiday repeats.
 +
**'''30 and 31 December 1971''' saw weekday repeats of {{WW}} at 2.30–3.20pm and 2.50-3.15pm, respectively -- with two episodes spliced together rather than airing uncut (the first time such a method was adopted by the ABC?) but with some artistic licence added in the form of a unique circular wipe transitioning between the paired episodes.  
 +
**'''10 January to January 1972''' saw repeats of {{XX}} and {{YY}}.
 +
**{{ZZ}} was repeated during the school holidays, two episodes back to back across five days from '''8 to 12 May 1972''', as a lead-in to the start of Block 7…
  
−
*'''PERTH''' and '''BRISBANE''': Western Australia and Queensland were initially in sync for this run of 'dual' screenings, which started on Sunday, '''18 April 1971'''. Jon Pertwee debuted on '''8 August 1971''' in BRISBANE and '''22 August 1971''' in PERTH. There were no August 1971 repeats in BRISBANE. {{CCC}} concluded on '''5 December 1971''' in BRISBANE. Two weeks later, {{VV}} was repeated, weekday afternoons, between '''16 and 24 December 1971''' (with the last two episodes back to back on Christmas Eve).
 
  
−
(NOTE: We do not have any further transmission dates for PERTH beyond this point.)  
+
*'''BRISBANE''': began screenings on Sunday, '''18 April 1971'''. Jon Pertwee debuted on '''8 August 1971'''. {{CCC}} concluded the run on '''5 December 1971'''.
 +
**{{VV}} was repeated, weekday afternoons, between '''16 and 24 December 1971''' (with the last two episodes back to back on Christmas Eve).
 +
**School holiday repeats of {{WW}} ran from '''9 to 12 May 1972'''.
  
−
*'''HOBART''': This run began from Sunday, '''9 May 1971'''. Hobart repeated {{UU}} and {{VV}}, weekday afternoons between '''27 August and 14 September 1971'''. Pertwee debuted on '''29 August'''. There was a break of one week (no episode on 12 December); midway through {{CCC}} was a repeat of {{WW}}, from '''17 to 22 December 1971'''. The last episode of {{CCC}} was on '''2 January 1972'''. A repeat of {{XX}} aired weekdays, from '''14 to 21 January 1972'''.
 
  
−
*'''DARWIN''': While the rest of the country was watching - or about to watch - Jon Pertwee's first season, viewers in Northern Territory saw '''Doctor Who''' for the first time. Unable to play from the very beginning (the ABC no longer had the rights to screen anything more than two years old) the first serial to air from Darwin on Sunday, '''15 August 1971''', was {{RR}} (marking its final screening in Australia). This was followed by {{TT}}, with all subsequent serials in story order on a weekly basis until part ten of {{ZZ}}, on '''23 July 1972'''. After a short break, the series resumed on Thursday, '''10 August 1972''', with {{AAA}}, and the run ended with {{CCC}} part seven on '''7 December 1972'''. (Sometime prior to 1978, the ABC returned its prints of {{TT}} (and possibly along with other serials of the same season) to the BBC in London.)
+
*'''PERTH''': opened the run on Sunday, '''2 May 1971'''. Pertwee arrived on '''22 August 1971'''. The run concluded on '''19 December 1971'''.
 +
**Repeats of {{UU}} and {{XX}} aired from '''20 December to 31 December 1971''', with episodes of {{XX}} in pairs back to back. {{YY}} was rerun from '''14 to 21 January 1972'''.  
 +
**School holiday repeats of {{ZZ}} aired from '''15 to 26 May 1972''' ahead of the next Block…
  
 +
 +
*'''HOBART''': run began from Sunday, '''9 May 1971'''. Pertwee debuted on '''29 August''', and the run ended with the last episode of {{CCC}} on '''2 January 1972'''.
 +
**Hobart repeated {{UU}} and {{VV}}, weekday afternoons between '''27 August and 13 September 1971''' (with {{VV}} 7 and 8 back to back).
 +
**Midway through {{CCC}} was a repeat of {{WW}}, from '''17 to 22 December 1971'''.
 +
**A repeat of {{XX}} aired weekdays, from '''14 to 21 January 1972''', and {{YY}} reran during school holidays from '''9 to 16 May 1972'''. 
 +
 +
 +
*'''DARWIN''': While the rest of the country was watching -- or about to watch -- Jon Pertwee's first season, viewers in Northern Territory saw '''Doctor Who''' for the '''first time'''. Unable to play from the very beginning (the ABC no longer had the rights to screen anything more than two years old) the first serial to air -- from Sunday, '''15 August 1971''' -- was therefore {{RR}} (marking its final screening in Australia) followed by {{SS}} from the same season (also making its final broadcast in Australia). The rest of the Patrick Troughton episodes (season six) played over 1971 and into 1972…
 +
**There were no repeats in this region.
 +
 +
 +
*'''REMOTE MINING CENTRES''': It was during '''1971''' that the first set of video-taped recordings were supplied to the remote mining communities in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. The transmitter towers providing the radio and signals to these towns were owned by the mining companies themselves, and special licensing agreements were in place regarding delivery methods and the cost to bring programmes to these remote regions.
 +
[[File:ABCDampier1973.JPG|right|thumb|350px|TV listings from the Hamersley News (10 May 1973) record the same video-taped TV programmes being shown a week apart in the Pilbara region mining towns Dampier and Mount Tom Price; the untitled "Dr Who" is The Sea Devils]]
 +
*As noted on the [[Australia Stations|AUSTRALIA STATIONS]] page, four hours (later up to six) of continuous programing (because the video machines couldn't be stopped or paused) was recorded early evening six days each week (so not on Sundays), with a week's supply of tapes flown from '''PERTH''' up to Dampier, and then sent on to the towns in the Pilbara region of Western Australia (the tapes were then sent by train to those in the bicycling circuit, including Mount Tom Price and Newman), and from '''ADELAIDE''' to the island of Groote Eylandt in the north. Since '''Doctor Who''' aired on Sundays during 1971, it wouldn't have been recorded in '''PERTH''', but for other areas, their first exposure to '''Doctor Who''' may have been the final few Patrick Troughton stories that aired, then onto the Jon Pertwee era.
 +
*The mining town of Weipa in north Queensland did not get to see '''Doctor Who''' until 1973; their tapes were supplied from '''TOWNSVILLE''' (which was on the network link from BRISBANE), but since that station did not record programmes on Sundays, '''Doctor Who''' was again missed. 
 +
*The clipping here shows a listing for "Dr Who" (this as [[The Sea Devils]] part 2) in Dampier on 11 May 1973, then a week later at Mt Tom Price.
 +
*A co-axial cable running from PERTH to Port Hedland was in operation by late January 1974. Translators at Karratha and Dampier beamed the signals to some of the towns, bringing programmes "live" from Perth to that region. However, the Pilbara mining towns still relied on their regular weekly consignment of video tapes for a couple more years.
 +
 
  
 
'''AUDIO RECORDINGS'''
 
'''AUDIO RECORDINGS'''
  
−
Off-air audio recordings exist, made during one of the regional broadcasts of {{YY}}; over the closing credits, a voice-over announces "Doctor Who again next Sunday at five past six". It is believed these were recorded during transmission in Victoria.  
+
Off-air audio recordings exist, made during one of the regional broadcasts of {{YY}} - over the closing credits, a voice-over announces "Doctor Who again next Sunday at five past six". It is believed these were recorded during transmission in Victoria. (As before, it's possible these were recorded off the radio; radios equipped with a "TV Tuner" setting could receive the audio channel from ABC transmissions.)
  
  
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|'''Repeats'''||'''{{WW}}----{{XX}}----{{YY}}----{{ZZ}}----{{AAA}}----{{BBB}}----{{CCC}}----{{EEE}}----{{GGG}}----{{HHH}}----{{KKK}}----{{LLL}}----{{MMM}}----{{NNN}}----{{OOO}}----{{PPP}}----{{RRR}}----{{QQQ}}----{{SSS}}'''
 
|'''Repeats'''||'''{{WW}}----{{XX}}----{{YY}}----{{ZZ}}----{{AAA}}----{{BBB}}----{{CCC}}----{{EEE}}----{{GGG}}----{{HHH}}----{{KKK}}----{{LLL}}----{{MMM}}----{{NNN}}----{{OOO}}----{{PPP}}----{{RRR}}----{{QQQ}}----{{SSS}}'''
 
|}
 
|}
−
[[File:QLD18Jan73.JPG |right|thumb|350px|Queensland TV listings; The Seeds of Death ep 1,2 repeat (1.50pm), and first run Terror of the Autons ep 3 (6.30pm); Gympie Times, 18-19 January 1973]]
+
[[File:QLD18Jan73.JPG |right|thumb|350px|TV listings for ABWQ Wide Bay, Queensland; The Seeds of Death ep 1,2 repeat (1.50pm), and first run Terror of the Autons ep 3 (6.30pm); Gympie Times, 18-19 January 1973]]
  
−
The next new Jon Pertwee story, {{EEE}}, screened on its own, Fridays at 6.05pm or 6.30pm. The tenth season was played out of order, with {{PPP}} first, then {{RRR}} followed by {{QQQ}}. There was then a long break of over six months before the next set of new third Doctor episodes. Most regions aired repeats of Troughton episodes during this period. Serials {{FFF}}, {{JJJ}} and {{TTT}} were given "A" classifications, and therefore did not screen. These ratings may have been why there was a six month delay between {{EEE}} and {{GGG}}. {{LLL}} and {{MMM}} played in production order, rather than correct story order.  
+
Serials {{DDD}}, {{FFF}}, {{JJJ}} and {{TTT}} were given "A" classifications by the censors, and therefore did not screen.  
  
−
For the sake of simplicity, rather that treating {{EEE}} as a Block of its own, for this summary we have combined it with the Block of stories from the same season.  
+
The next new Jon Pertwee story, {{EEE}}, screened in some of the regions on its own, Fridays at 6.05pm or 6.30pm. For the sake of simplicity, rather than treating {{EEE}} as a separate single Block, for this summary we have combined it with the Block of stories from the same season.  
  
−
*'''ADELAIDE''': Ahead of the new episodes, ADELAIDE reran {{YY}} between '''12 and 18 May 1972''' (with double episodes on two of the dates), then a weekday August school holiday re-run of the preceding story, {{XX}}, from '''28 August to 4 September 1972'''.
+
There was a six month delay between the debut screenings of {{EEE}} and {{GGG}}, probably on account of the "A" classification of {{FFF}}. {{LLL}} and {{MMM}} played in production order, rather than correct story order.  
−
*'''SYDNEY''' and '''CANBERRA''': Both regions were in sync for the weekday afternoon school holiday repeat of {{ZZ}} from '''8 to 12 May 1972''', with two episodes airing back to back each afternoon, at 2.10pm or 2.40pm. The evening of the same day that parts nine and ten of {{ZZ}} aired, the short run of {{EEE}} also commenced, and ended on '''2 June 1972'''. A repeat of {{AAA}} played during the 1972 August holidays, '''28 to 31 August 1972'''.  
 
  
−
(NOTE: We do not have any further transmission dates for CANBERRA beyond this point. For the most part, CANBERRA would usually be in sync with SYDNEY.)
+
When the tenth season aired, the stories played out of order, with {{PPP}} first, then {{RRR}}, followed by {{QQQ}}. There was then a long break of over six months before the next set of new third Doctor episodes. Most regions aired repeats of Troughton episodes during this period.
  
−
*'''BRISBANE''': From for the week of '''9 to 12 May 1972''', {{WW}} was repeated during school holidays.
+
The ABC had originally planned to hold over repeating the Season Ten Pertwees until after colour transmissions had commenced in early 1975. They had already received PAL video tapes of {{PPP}} (which had an extended edit of part 2) and {{QQQ}} (with a slightly different edit of part 5), with the rest to follow later. However, when it became apparent that they wouldn't be getting a complete set – since {{SSS}} part 3 had been wiped and {{TTT}} had been classified "A" and therefore couldn't be screened - the ABC put on hold acquiring any further colour tapes, and instead scheduled the repeat run to screen in black and white a year early. The PAL tapes of {{PPP}} and {{QQQ}} went into storage…
  
−
*'''HOBART''': {{YY}} was repeated weekdays during the school holidays, from '''9 to 17 May 1972'''. A week later, the Block of {{EEE}} commenced, from Friday, '''26 May 1972'''. This ended on '''16 June 1972'''. There is no clear record of a repeat of {{ZZ}} in HOBART; if it was re-run, it must have been during the August 1972 school holidays, possibly as an unscheduled and therefore unbilled replacement.
 
  
−
*'''MELBOURNE''': Following a school holiday repeat of {{WW}}, '''16 to 19 May 1972''', {{EEE}} commenced its short run, from '''19 May to 9 June 1972'''.
 
  
−
*'''DARWIN''': While {{EEE}} was screening in other regions, Darwin was still playing catch-up; by '''May 1972''' they had reached {{YY}}… On Thursday, '''7 December 1972''', DARWIN had reached the end of the first run of Jon Pertwee stories.  
+
*'''SYDNEY''': saw the start of the next Block of Pertwee episodes on Friday, '''12 May 1972''', the same day that repeats of {{ZZ}}9 and 10 aired (see above). The last episode aired '''2 June 1972'''.
 +
** A repeat of {{AAA}} played during the 1972 August holidays, '''28 to 31 August 1972'''.  
  
−
(NOTE: We do not have any details about the transmissions for DARWIN beyond this point. On 24 December 1974, Darwin was hit by the devastating [[wikipedia:Cyclone Tracy|Cyclone Tracy]]. It wasn't until February 1975 that television services were reinstated.)
 
  
−
*'''MELBOURNE''' and '''SYDNEY''' were the first to air {{GGG}}, from Friday, '''29 December 1972'''. The following week, the other regions began, with either {{EEE}} or {{GGG}}.
+
*'''MELBOURNE''': following a school holiday repeat of {{WW}} (see above), {{EEE}} commenced its short run, from '''19 May to 9 June 1972'''.  
−
*From '''18 to 25 January 1973''', {{XX}} was repeated in BRISBANE. In '''May 1973''', each region played the usual school holiday repeats, with {{BBB}} in SYDNEY, and {{YY}} in BRISBANE and MELBOURNE.
 
−
*From '''12 to 19 January 1973''', a weekday afternoon repeat of {{XX}} played in MELBOURNE between parts three and four of {{GGG}}. A re-run of {{YY}} was scheduled during the school holidays, from '''14 to 21 May 1973''' between {{KKK}} and {{LLL}}. As far as we can tell, this was the final screening of {{YY}} in Australia. There is no clear record that {{ZZ}} was repeated in MELBOURNE.
 
−
*The run ended in each region at different points: BRISBANE stopped on '''23 February 1973''' at the end of {{GGG}}; HOBART on '''9 March 1973''' at {{HHH}}. SYDNEY continued, running through to '''1 February 1974''' with part six of {{SSS}}. For the August / September 1973 school holidays, SYDNEY played repeats of {{CCC}} and {{EEE}}, from '''27 August to 10 September 1973''', and later {{GGG}} and {{HHH}} from '''6 to 17 May 1974''', then {{KKK}} to {{SSS}} from '''30 September to 12 December 1974'''.
 
−
*'''ADELAIDE''': The run of new Jon Pertwee episodes commenced Friday, '''5 January 1973''', starting with {{EEE}}, and ending on '''13 February 1974''', with {{SSS}}. Repeats of {{ZZ}}, {{AAA}}, {{BBB}}, {{CCC}} and {{EEE}} occurred at various points during the run of new episodes, during the January 1973, May 1973 and May 1974 school holidays. Then, from ''14 October''' to '''12 December 1974''', repeats of {{GGG}} (in production order) to {{OOO}} aired. From '''2 January 1975''' to '''29 January 1975''', was the last run of black and white repeats, {{PPP}} to {{SSS}}.
 
−
*'''BRISBANE''': The run resumed from '''27 April 1973''', with {{HHH}}, followed by repeats of {{YY}} from '''7 to 14 May 1973''' and {{ZZ}} from '''13 to 24 August 1973''', coming to an end on '''19 April 1974'''. {{AAA}} and {{BBB}} were then repeated from '''6 to 17 May 1974'''. Weekday afternoon repeats of {{EEE}} to {{PPP}} played from '''14 October to 12 December 1974''', then {{RRR}} to {{SSS}} from '''2 to 23 January 1975'''.  
 
  
−
*'''HOBART''': The Pertwee series continued from '''11 May 1973''' with {{KKK}}, and ended on '''29 March 1974''' at {{SSS}}. A repeat of {{BBB}} played from '''5 to 14 February 1974'''. {{HHH}} to {{PPP}} were repeated from '''7 October to 25 November 1973''', and {{RRR}}, {{QQQ}}, {{SSS}} and {{GGG}} in that order from '''2 January to 5 February 1975'''.
 
  
 +
*'''HOBART''': commenced {{EEE}} from Friday, '''26 May 1972'''. This ended on '''16 June 1972'''.
 +
 +
 +
*'''PERTH''': saw {{EEE}} from Friday, '''2 June 1972''' to '''23 June 1972'''. **Two months later, {{VV}} was rerun weekdays, from '''28 August to 6 September 1972'''.
 +
 +
 +
*'''ADELAIDE''': viewers saw {{EEE}} from Friday, '''5 January''' to '''26 January 1973'''.
 +
**Troughton's final story {{ZZ}} was repeated weekdays, from '''12 to 25 January 1973''', followed by {{AAA}} from '''26 January to 1 February 1973'''.
 +
 +
 +
*'''BRISBANE''': viewers also saw {{EEE}} from Friday, '''5 January''' to '''26 January 1973'''.
 +
**Repeats of {{XX}} aired at the same time, weekdays, from '''18 to 25 January 1973'''.
 +
 +
 +
*'''DARWIN''': had regular weekly screenings on Sundays, and was quickly catching up with the rest of the country, airing all the remaining Troughton serials. The Jon Pertwee episodes commenced on '''10 September 1972'''.
 +
 +
 +
With {{EEE}} having played on its own in most regions, the next Block of serials included the remaining Season Eight stories, then all of Season Nine through to the end of Season Ten.
 +
 +
For the first time in a few years, the ABC went back to making Video Tape copies of some stories in order to have two sets of episodes in circulation: for {{GGG}} and {{HHH}} the ABC had a single set of 16mm film prints used by SYDNEY, HOBART, ADELAIDE and DARWIN, while a single set of '''Video Tape''' copies of those two serials were used by MELBOURNE, PERTH and BRISBANE.
 +
 +
{| {{small-table}}
 +
|-
 +
|rowspan="2"|'''{{GGG}}''' / '''{{HHH}}'''||'''Film'''||SYDNEY ----> HOBART ---->  ADELAIDE ----> DARWIN
 +
|-
 +
||'''VTR'''||MELBOURNE ----> PERTH ----> BRISBANE
 +
|-
 +
|}
 +
 +
 +
*'''SYDNEY''': commenced the run with {{GGG}} on Friday, '''29 December 1972''', transmitting from the 16mm film prints. The run concluded with {{SSS}}6 on '''1 February 1974'''.
 +
**During the May school holidays, {{BBB}} was repeated from '''11 to 21 May 1973'''.
 +
**The August school holidays saw {{CCC}} and {{EEE}} repeated from '''27 August to 10 September 1973'''.
 +
**From '''6 May 1974''', the repeat run of {{GGG}} to {{SSS}} commenced, coming to an end (with breaks along the way) on '''12 December 1974'''.
 +
 +
 +
*'''CANBERRA''': When SYDNEY started to repeat season eight five days a week from Monday, '''30 September 1974''', '''CANBERRA''' and its translator station '''ABSN-0''' in '''Bega-Cooma''' was already airing a local programme called "Prism" on Mondays in the 6.30pm timeslot that '''Doctor Who''' occupied. Since they could only screen '''Doctor Who''' four days a week, they had a completely different schedule of repeat episodes: while the rest of NSW watched repeats of {{KKK}} to {{OOO}} five days a week, CANBERRA and ABSN skipped ahead and instead aired {{MMM}}, {{NNN}}, {{OOO}} followed by {{KKK}} four days a week during the same period. ({{LLL}} was skipped completely.) CANBERRA and ABSN "caught up" with SYDNEY, and was able to re-join the network with its repeat of {{PPP}}1 on '''5 November 1974'''.
 +
 +
 +
*'''MELBOURNE''': also commenced the run with {{GGG}}, from Friday, '''29 December 1972''', transmitting {{GGG}} and {{HHH}} from Video Tape copies. With a short break for seven weeks after {{HHH}}6, Season Nine commenced from Friday, '''20 April 1973''' and the series ran on a weekly basis (with a couple of pre-emptions along the way) until {{SSS}}6 on '''15 March 1974'''. A series of rolling power cuts due to industrial strike action in Melbourne meant that {{LLL}}6 did not play on '''22 June 1973''', so it was aired back to back with {{MMM}}1 the following week.
 +
**There were weekday afternoon repeats of {{XX}} between '''12 and 19 January 1973'''.
 +
**{{YY}} was repeated weekdays afternoons between '''14 and 21 May 1973'''.
 +
**For some reason, {{ZZ}} was never repeated in Victoria. (There have been rumours that the 'repeat' ''may have'' been used when the entire serial aired as an unadvertised "stand-by" replacement when weekend afternoon cricket was rained-out. However, with a total running time of just over four hours, it's unlikely that the schedulers would have ear-marked such a lengthy programme as "stand-by" filler. Such material was chosen specifically so it could be dropped mid-broadcast in the event that the cricket was able to resume; it was not sensible or standard practice to have something as long as {{ZZ}} as a back-up even when the entire scheduled cricket coverage was dropped.)
 +
**From '''13 May 1974''' to '''24 May 1974''' was a weekday repeat of {{AAA}} and {{BBB}} (with parts 6 and 7 shown back to back on Friday '''24 May'''). There was no repeat of {{CCC}}. A longer run of weekday repeats commenced from Monday, '''30 September 1974''' with {{EEE}} through until '''20 January 1975''' with {{SSS}} 6. (As was always the case, {{PPP}} and {{RRR}} were shown in the wrong order.)
 +
 +
 +
*'''PERTH''': aired the new run, starting with {{GGG}} (transmitted from Video Tape) from Friday, '''5 January 1973'''. {SSS}}6 aired '''15 February 1974'''.
 +
**{{AAA}} was repeated weekdays, from '''12 to 17 August 1973'''.
 +
**In May, {{BBB}} was aired again, from '''15 to 23 May 1973'''.
 +
**{{EEE}} was repeated from '''5 to 8 February 1974'''.
 +
**{{CCC}} and {{GGG}} were repeated in '''May 1974''', with parts thee and four of the latter airing back to back on '''24 May'''.
 +
**Weekday repeats of all serials from {{KKK}} through to {{SSS}} (screening in production order) commenced '''11 October 1974''' and ended '''9 December 1974''', with a very much out of sequence showing of {{HHH}} from '''10 to 17 December 1974'''.   
 +
 +
 +
*'''HOBART''': also commenced the run with {{GGG}} (from film) from Friday, '''5 January 1973'''. There was a nine week break between {{HHH}} and {{KKK}}, which commenced on Friday, '''11 May 1973'''. {{SSS}} brought the run to a conclusion on '''29 March 1974'''.
 +
**Tasmanians saw repeats of {{ZZ}} and {{AAA}} together, from '''24 January to 13 February 1973'''.
 +
**{{BBB}} was aired again in the afternoons, from '''5 to 14 February 1974'''.
 +
**It is unknown when (or if) {{CCC}} and {{EEE}} were repeated in HOBART, but if so, they would have aired in May. A repeat of Pertwee episodes, running from {{HHH}} to {{SSS}}, concluded with a very much out of sequence {{GGG}} aired (with a few breaks along the way) from '''7 October 1974''' to '''5 February 1975'''. This belated screening of {{GGG}} was '''the last black and white broadcast''' of '''Doctor Who''' in Australia until 1984…
 +
 +
 +
*'''ADELAIDE''': as noted above, {{EEE}} opened the new run, and this was followed immediately by {{GGG}} on '''2 February 1973'''. There was a short five week break before {{HHH}} started (on '''30 March 1973'''), and the run continued on a weekly basis until '''22 March 1974''' with the conclusion to {{SSS}}.
 +
**There was a repeat of {{BBB}} during the school holidays, '''7 to 15 May 1973'''. These repeats were not available in Mount Gambier, which aired alternative programming.
 +
**Repeats of {{CCC}} through {{SSS}} occurred (with some long breaks) between '''6 May 1974''' to '''29 January 1975'''. {{SSS}} 6 was the last black and white episode of '''Doctor Who''' to air in Adelaide in the 1970s...
 +
 +
 +
[[File:Longreach1975.JPG|right|thumb|450px|Stations on the Rockhampton feed aired a different set of episodes to the rest of Queensland from October 1974 to mid-January 1975 (here it's Day of the Daleks 4 and The Sea Devils 1); Longreach Leader, 3 January 1975]]
 +
*'''BRISBANE''': also aired {{GGG}} from Friday, '''2 February 1973''' (from Video tape). After a nine week break, the run resumed with {{HHH}} on '''27 April 1973'''. {{SSS}}6 brought the run to an end on '''19 April 1974'''.
 +
**The stations with relays attached to '''ROCKHAMPTON''' and '''TOWNSVILLE''' played sports between 6pm and 6.30pm; rather than missing them entirely, they either screened those '''Doctor Who''' episodes earlier the same day or on a different day of the week (using the set of VTs held at BRISBANE). The exact dates and times for these time-shifts are not known.
 +
**The May school holidays had {{YY}} as a repeat, weekdays from '''7 to 14 May 1973'''.
 +
**In August, all ten episodes of {{ZZ}} aired again, weekdays from '''13 to 24 August 1973'''.
 +
**The Pertwee repeat run starting with {{AAA}} commenced from Monday, '''6 May 1974''', through to '''17 May 1974''' when parts 6 and 7 of {{BBB}} aired together. 
 +
**After a five month gap, the weekday repeats resumed, with {{EEE}} from Monday, '''14 October'''.
 +
**The '''ROCKHAMPTON''' feed (which included stations such as Longreach; see newspaper from that town at right) was airing regional programmes at 6pm, so it didn't play this repeat run of '''Doctor Who''' to begin with. It wasn't until Monday, '''18 November 1974''' that it picked up its own separate repeat run, starting with {{EEE}}, while the rest of Queensland was watching {{MMM}}. And since there was alternative programming at 6pm on Thursdays, the ROCKHAMPTON stations only saw the series four days per week. They got up to {{HHH}} 6 on Tuesday, '''10 December 1974''' before taking a break over Christmas / New Year; the rest of Queensland went to the end of {{PPP}} on Thursday, '''12 December''' before also taking a break over the same period.
 +
**The Pertwee repeats resumed on Thursday, '''2 January 1975''': BRISBANE began with {{RRR}} part 1, while ROCKHAMPTON and its affiliate stations (now five days per week) saw {{KKK}} 1 that same day. On Wednesday, '''8 January 1975''', BRISBANE started {{QQQ}} 1 and ROCKHAMPTON began {{LLL}} 1. However, northern viewers only got to see the first three episodes of the Sea Devils adventure, because starting from Monday the following week ('''13 January''') ROCKHAMPTON re-joined the BRISBANE feed which was screening {{QQQ}} 4, meaning viewers on the northern feed completely skipped over the run of episodes spanning {{LLL}} 4 to {{QQQ}} 3.
 +
***NOTE: There is a remote possibility that the TV listings in the ''Longreach Leader'' from which our airdates information came was incorrect, and the seven episodes that aired on that station from '''2 to 10 January 1975''' were actually back to being synched with BRISBANE – i.e. it was {{RRR}} 1-4 and not {{KKK}} 1-4 that aired, and {{QQQ}} 1-3 instead of the listed {{LLL}} 1-3. 
 +
**The BRISBANE repeats concluded with {{SSS}} 6 on Thursday, '''23 January 1975'''. These were the final black and white episodes to air in that state in the 1970s...
 +
 +
 +
*'''DARWIN''': was now playing Jon Pertwee episodes, and had all but caught up with the other regions. However that position soon changed when the DARWIN airings came to an end with {{GGG}}4 on '''4 March 1973'''.
 +
*At some point during '''1974''', '''Doctor Who''' resumed in DARWIN, starting with {{HHH}}, followed by {{KKK}}, {{LLL}}, {{MMM}}, {{NNN}} and {{OOO}}. We have not been able to determine the exact airdates for these, but the transmission of {{OOO}} episode 3 on Sunday, '''22 December 1974''' was the last known episode of '''Doctor Who''' to be broadcast from DARWIN for quite some time…
 +
**On the evening of '''24 December 1974''', DARWIN was hit by the devastating [[wikipedia:Cyclone Tracy|Cyclone Tracy]] which destroyed much of the city. Although the ABC's TV studio survived, the transmission towers and cables were severely damaged and put out of action. Some limited television coverage was re-established soon after the event, but only for the use of emergency services. 
 +
**Television services were back online in parts of the region by '''3 February 1975''', with the Northern Territory transmitters that were still-functioning receiving signals now being relayed from the BRISBANE network. Alice Springs, however, could not be linked to this feed, and instead received a weekly batch of off-air video-taped programmes recorded in ADELAIDE.
 +
**The remaining Pertwee episodes ({{PPP}}, {{RRR}}, {{QQQ}} and {{SSS}}) had probably been scheduled to air in DARWIN immediately after {{OOO}}, but it's unknown whether the films were already held at the station at the time of the cyclone, or if they had been due to arrive later. As far as can be determined, those four Pertwee stories were never broadcast as first runs in Northern Territory.
 
[[File:Persp290574.JPG|right|thumb|300px|Perspective – "'C' for Computer" – 29 May 1974, 8.50pm (Sydney)]]
 
[[File:Persp290574.JPG|right|thumb|300px|Perspective – "'C' for Computer" – 29 May 1974, 8.50pm (Sydney)]]
 +
 +
 +
*'''REMOTE MINING CENTRES''': These communities continued to receive weekly consignments of programmes video-taped from PERTH, ADELAIDE or TOWNSVILLE; the tapes of each Jon Pertwee episode took up to four weeks to be bicycled around then returned to the origin point for recording the next batch of programmes. The method of distributing and transmitting from video tapes changed with the arrival of colour in 1975 -– see below.
  
  
 
'''PERSPECTIVE – "'C' FOR COMPUTER"'''
 
'''PERSPECTIVE – "'C' FOR COMPUTER"'''
  
−
As noted in Block 3, it was during this run on '''29 May 1974''', at 8.50pm on the ABC, that the '''"'C' for Computer"''' episode of '''"Perspective"''' screened. This segment featured several clips that had been taken from {{EE}} parts four and five, which indicates that the ABC had retained those episodes until at least 1974. (The film prints of the serial were apparently returned to the BBC in mid-1975.)
+
As noted in Block 3, it was during this run on '''29 May 1974''', at 8.50pm on the ABC, that the '''"'C' for Computer"''' episode of '''"Perspective"''' screened. This segment featured several clips of the production line of Daleks that had been taken from {{EE}} parts four and five, which indicates that the ABC had retained those episodes until at least 1974. (The film prints of the serial were returned to the BBC in June 1975.)
  
  
 
'''SUMMARY'''
 
'''SUMMARY'''
−
* The repeats during this run marked the final appearance of Patrick Troughton on the ABC – he had been seen on Australian screens for a period spanning just over six years, from July 1967 to August 1973.
+
* The repeats during this run marked the final appearance of Patrick Troughton on the ABC – he had been seen on Australian screens for a period spanning just over six years, from July 1967 to August 1973. They also marked the last time the ABC aired '''Doctor Who''' only in black and white…
−
 
+
{{clear}}
  
  
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|}
 
|}
  
−
Serial {{WWW}} had been classified "A" by the censors, and did not screen. For reasons that are not clear, {{ZZZ}} was received nearly a year after the rest of the season, and was held over to 1976.  
+
The ABC had conducted colour transmission tests during the last quarter of 1974, but these tests were isolated to mid-afternoon slots. The tests continued through until March 1975, which was when full colour broadcasts commenced.
 +
 
 +
The ABC commenced '''colour''' transmissions across all its networks from Saturday, '''1 March 1975''', although many viewers still saw the series on black and white television sets. (Even by 1977, still less than 50% of the population owned a colour television receiver.)
 +
 
 +
Episodes were now being supplied by the BBC on PAL colour Video Tape instead of 16mm film, but the ABC still chose not to make multiple copies in order to fully synchronise all the networks, and apart from MELBOURNE and HOBART, which aired the same episodes, the other stations still had staggered airdates.
 +
 
 +
Serial {{WWW}} had not been purchased because part one was only available in black and white. For reasons that are not clear, {{ZZZ}} wasn't purchased until nearly a year after the rest of the season, and was therefore held over until early 1976 so it could play immediately ahead of Tom Baker's debut as the fourth Doctor.
 +
 
 +
Colour episodes of '''Doctor Who''' commenced from March 1975, weekly on Fridays evenings at 6.30pm in all regions: 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
*'''SYDNEY''': The new run opened on Friday, '''7 March 1975''', and ended on '''6 June 1975'''.
 +
 
 +
 +
*'''MELBOURNE''' and '''HOBART''': The new run (the latter from duplicated VT copies) opened on Friday, '''14 March 1975''', and ended on '''13 June 1975''' in the former, but a week later on '''20 June 1975''' in the latter (no episode aired on 13 June). 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
*'''PERTH''': The new run opened on Saturday, '''15 March 1975''', and concluded on '''14 June 1975'''.
 +
**The chain of repeater stations bouncing the Perth signals to the more remote inner regions of north Western Australia were yet to be converted to transmit a colour signal, so instead, video-taped recordings of colour programmes were flown from PERTH to the station at Port Hedland (which had been converted for colour), and broadcast from there. By the end of the 1970s, the full network of stations in Western Australia were converted to carry a colour signal.
 +
 +
 
 +
*'''ADELAIDE''': The new run played from Friday, '''4 April 1975''' to '''4 July 1975'''. (As noted above, Alice Springs in Northern Territory now received weekly consignments of taped copies of ADELAIDE's broadcasts.)
  
−
The ABC commenced '''colour''' transmissions from Saturday, '''1 March 1975''' (although some of the smaller regional stations probably still transmitted in black and white, in which case they would have broadcast off 16mm film rather than colour video tapes). However, the majority of the population still watched the series in black and white. (Even by 1977, still less than 50% of the population owned a colour television receiver.)
 
  
−
Synchronised broadcasts across regions were by now becoming more frequent, so the number of regional variances was decreasing. Colour episodes of '''Doctor Who''' commenced from March 1975, Fridays evenings at 6.30pm.
+
*'''BRISBANE''': The new run opened on Friday, '''11 April 1975''', and ended on '''18 June 1975''' (there was no episode on 25 April). (As noted above, the central parts of Northern Territory and DARWIN were effectively part of the BRISBANE network, and thus we no longer list NT separately.)
  
−
*'''SYDNEY''' and '''CANBERRA''': The new run opened on Friday, '''7 March 1975''', and ended on '''6 June 1975'''.  (NOTE: We have no further airdates for CANBERRA beyond this point.)
 
−
*'''MELBOURNE''' and '''HOBART''': The new run opened on Friday, '''14 March 1975''', and ended on '''13 June 1975''' in the former, but a week later on '''20 June 1975''' in the latter (no episode aired 13 June). 
 
−
*'''PERTH''': The new run opened on Saturday, '''15 March 1975'''; we do not know the end date. (NOTE: We have no further airdates for PERTH beyond this date.}
 
−
*'''ADELAIDE''': The new run played from Friday, '''4 April 1975''' to '''4 July 1975'''.
 
−
*'''BRISBANE''': The new run opened on Friday, '''11 April 1975''', and ended on '''18 June 1975''' (there was no episode on 25 April).
 
  
−
Unlike previous years, there were no school holiday repeats in May, August/September or December 1975.
+
*Unlike previous years, there were '''no school holiday repeats''' in May, August/September or December 1975 on any of the networks.
  
  
−
*'''CONTINUED: [[Australia TX 1976-1982|1976-1982]]'''
+
*'''CONTINUED: [[Australia TX 1976-1978|1976-1978]]'''
  
  
−
{{Aus air nav}}
+
{{Aus date nav}}
 
{{Aus tx nav}}
 
{{Aus tx nav}}
 
{{Blank lines|2}}
 
{{Blank lines|2}}

Latest revision as of 23:11, 11 January 2025

AUSTRALIAN TRANSMISSION HISTORY (Part Four) (1971-1975)

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Block 6: TROUGHTON / PERTWEE ---- March 1971 to January 1972

Jon Pertwee debuts in Perth, 22 August 1971
Jon Pertwee debuts in NSW; Canberra Times, 26 July 1971
First Run YY----ZZ----AAA----BBB----CCC
Repeats RR----SS----TT----UU----VV----WW----XX----YY

The remaining two serials of the Second Doctor, and the first three of the Third aired as one Block. The final serial of Pertwee's first season, DDD, had been given an "A" classification, and therefore did not screen.

The ABC once again did not attempt to synchronise the debuts of the Block across any of the networks, and staggered screenings one week apart to enable the 16mm film print of each episode to be moved around the country and delivered to the next scheduled station in the chain.

All episodes aired on Sundays across all regions, at 6.05pm or 5.50pm. YY was on at 6.05pm, with ZZ at 5.30pm, and the other serials at those times, 5.44pm or 5.55pm.

During this run, Doctor Who started for the first time in Northern Territory; the series was now screening in all seven regions.


  • MELBOURNE: saw the new run from Sunday, 21 March 1971. Jon Pertwee made his debut appearance in Australia on 11 July 1971. The run came to a close on 7 November 1971.
    • Midway through BBB, August school holiday weekday afternoon repeats of RR and UU played between 23 August and 3 September 1971, with UU parts four and five airing back to back.
    • VV was repeated, between 17 and 26 January 1972. This was the final airing of that serial in Australia.
    • School holiday repeats of WW were from 16 to 19 May 1972, ahead of the start of the next Block…


  • ADELAIDE: commenced the run on Sunday, 28 March 1971. South Australia viewers were introduced to the third Doctor on 18 July 1971. The run came to a close on 14 November 1971.
    • Part way through BBB, August school holiday weekday afternoon repeats of VV played between 30 August and 8 September 1971.
    • YY was repeated during school holidays, from 12 to 19 May 1972.
    • XX was also repeated, from 28 August to 4 September 1972.


  • SYDNEY: commenced screenings from Sunday, 11 April 1971. Pertwee debuted on 1 August 1971. The run ended 28 November 1971.
    • There does not appear to have been any August holiday repeats.
    • 30 and 31 December 1971 saw weekday repeats of WW at 2.30–3.20pm and 2.50-3.15pm, respectively -- with two episodes spliced together rather than airing uncut (the first time such a method was adopted by the ABC?) but with some artistic licence added in the form of a unique circular wipe transitioning between the paired episodes.
    • 10 January to January 1972 saw repeats of XX and YY.
    • ZZ was repeated during the school holidays, two episodes back to back across five days from 8 to 12 May 1972, as a lead-in to the start of Block 7…


  • BRISBANE: began screenings on Sunday, 18 April 1971. Jon Pertwee debuted on 8 August 1971. CCC concluded the run on 5 December 1971.
    • VV was repeated, weekday afternoons, between 16 and 24 December 1971 (with the last two episodes back to back on Christmas Eve).
    • School holiday repeats of WW ran from 9 to 12 May 1972.


  • PERTH: opened the run on Sunday, 2 May 1971. Pertwee arrived on 22 August 1971. The run concluded on 19 December 1971.
    • Repeats of UU and XX aired from 20 December to 31 December 1971, with episodes of XX in pairs back to back. YY was rerun from 14 to 21 January 1972.
    • School holiday repeats of ZZ aired from 15 to 26 May 1972 ahead of the next Block…


  • HOBART: run began from Sunday, 9 May 1971. Pertwee debuted on 29 August, and the run ended with the last episode of CCC on 2 January 1972.
    • Hobart repeated UU and VV, weekday afternoons between 27 August and 13 September 1971 (with VV 7 and 8 back to back).
    • Midway through CCC was a repeat of WW, from 17 to 22 December 1971.
    • A repeat of XX aired weekdays, from 14 to 21 January 1972, and YY reran during school holidays from 9 to 16 May 1972.


  • DARWIN: While the rest of the country was watching -- or about to watch -- Jon Pertwee's first season, viewers in Northern Territory saw Doctor Who for the first time. Unable to play from the very beginning (the ABC no longer had the rights to screen anything more than two years old) the first serial to air -- from Sunday, 15 August 1971 -- was therefore RR (marking its final screening in Australia) followed by SS from the same season (also making its final broadcast in Australia). The rest of the Patrick Troughton episodes (season six) played over 1971 and into 1972…
    • There were no repeats in this region.


  • REMOTE MINING CENTRES: It was during 1971 that the first set of video-taped recordings were supplied to the remote mining communities in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. The transmitter towers providing the radio and signals to these towns were owned by the mining companies themselves, and special licensing agreements were in place regarding delivery methods and the cost to bring programmes to these remote regions.
TV listings from the Hamersley News (10 May 1973) record the same video-taped TV programmes being shown a week apart in the Pilbara region mining towns Dampier and Mount Tom Price; the untitled "Dr Who" is The Sea Devils
  • As noted on the AUSTRALIA STATIONS page, four hours (later up to six) of continuous programing (because the video machines couldn't be stopped or paused) was recorded early evening six days each week (so not on Sundays), with a week's supply of tapes flown from PERTH up to Dampier, and then sent on to the towns in the Pilbara region of Western Australia (the tapes were then sent by train to those in the bicycling circuit, including Mount Tom Price and Newman), and from ADELAIDE to the island of Groote Eylandt in the north. Since Doctor Who aired on Sundays during 1971, it wouldn't have been recorded in PERTH, but for other areas, their first exposure to Doctor Who may have been the final few Patrick Troughton stories that aired, then onto the Jon Pertwee era.
  • The mining town of Weipa in north Queensland did not get to see Doctor Who until 1973; their tapes were supplied from TOWNSVILLE (which was on the network link from BRISBANE), but since that station did not record programmes on Sundays, Doctor Who was again missed.
  • The clipping here shows a listing for "Dr Who" (this as The Sea Devils part 2) in Dampier on 11 May 1973, then a week later at Mt Tom Price.
  • A co-axial cable running from PERTH to Port Hedland was in operation by late January 1974. Translators at Karratha and Dampier beamed the signals to some of the towns, bringing programmes "live" from Perth to that region. However, the Pilbara mining towns still relied on their regular weekly consignment of video tapes for a couple more years.


AUDIO RECORDINGS

Off-air audio recordings exist, made during one of the regional broadcasts of YY - over the closing credits, a voice-over announces "Doctor Who again next Sunday at five past six". It is believed these were recorded during transmission in Victoria. (As before, it's possible these were recorded off the radio; radios equipped with a "TV Tuner" setting could receive the audio channel from ABC transmissions.)


Block 7: PERTWEE ---- May 1972 to February 1975

First Run EEE /// GGG----HHH----KKK----LLL----MMM----NNN----OOO----PPP----RRR----QQQ----SSS
Repeats WW----XX----YY----ZZ----AAA----BBB----CCC----EEE----GGG----HHH----KKK----LLL----MMM----NNN----OOO----PPP----RRR----QQQ----SSS
TV listings for ABWQ Wide Bay, Queensland; The Seeds of Death ep 1,2 repeat (1.50pm), and first run Terror of the Autons ep 3 (6.30pm); Gympie Times, 18-19 January 1973

Serials DDD, FFF, JJJ and TTT were given "A" classifications by the censors, and therefore did not screen.

The next new Jon Pertwee story, EEE, screened in some of the regions on its own, Fridays at 6.05pm or 6.30pm. For the sake of simplicity, rather than treating EEE as a separate single Block, for this summary we have combined it with the Block of stories from the same season.

There was a six month delay between the debut screenings of EEE and GGG, probably on account of the "A" classification of FFF. LLL and MMM played in production order, rather than correct story order.

When the tenth season aired, the stories played out of order, with PPP first, then RRR, followed by QQQ. There was then a long break of over six months before the next set of new third Doctor episodes. Most regions aired repeats of Troughton episodes during this period.

The ABC had originally planned to hold over repeating the Season Ten Pertwees until after colour transmissions had commenced in early 1975. They had already received PAL video tapes of PPP (which had an extended edit of part 2) and QQQ (with a slightly different edit of part 5), with the rest to follow later. However, when it became apparent that they wouldn't be getting a complete set – since SSS part 3 had been wiped and TTT had been classified "A" and therefore couldn't be screened - the ABC put on hold acquiring any further colour tapes, and instead scheduled the repeat run to screen in black and white a year early. The PAL tapes of PPP and QQQ went into storage…


  • SYDNEY: saw the start of the next Block of Pertwee episodes on Friday, 12 May 1972, the same day that repeats of ZZ9 and 10 aired (see above). The last episode aired 2 June 1972.
    • A repeat of AAA played during the 1972 August holidays, 28 to 31 August 1972.


  • MELBOURNE: following a school holiday repeat of WW (see above), EEE commenced its short run, from 19 May to 9 June 1972.


  • HOBART: commenced EEE from Friday, 26 May 1972. This ended on 16 June 1972.


  • PERTH: saw EEE from Friday, 2 June 1972 to 23 June 1972. **Two months later, VV was rerun weekdays, from 28 August to 6 September 1972.


  • ADELAIDE: viewers saw EEE from Friday, 5 January to 26 January 1973.
    • Troughton's final story ZZ was repeated weekdays, from 12 to 25 January 1973, followed by AAA from 26 January to 1 February 1973.


  • BRISBANE: viewers also saw EEE from Friday, 5 January to 26 January 1973.
    • Repeats of XX aired at the same time, weekdays, from 18 to 25 January 1973.


  • DARWIN: had regular weekly screenings on Sundays, and was quickly catching up with the rest of the country, airing all the remaining Troughton serials. The Jon Pertwee episodes commenced on 10 September 1972.


With EEE having played on its own in most regions, the next Block of serials included the remaining Season Eight stories, then all of Season Nine through to the end of Season Ten.

For the first time in a few years, the ABC went back to making Video Tape copies of some stories in order to have two sets of episodes in circulation: for GGG and HHH the ABC had a single set of 16mm film prints used by SYDNEY, HOBART, ADELAIDE and DARWIN, while a single set of Video Tape copies of those two serials were used by MELBOURNE, PERTH and BRISBANE.

GGG / HHH Film SYDNEY ----> HOBART ----> ADELAIDE ----> DARWIN
VTR MELBOURNE ----> PERTH ----> BRISBANE


  • SYDNEY: commenced the run with GGG on Friday, 29 December 1972, transmitting from the 16mm film prints. The run concluded with SSS6 on 1 February 1974.
    • During the May school holidays, BBB was repeated from 11 to 21 May 1973.
    • The August school holidays saw CCC and EEE repeated from 27 August to 10 September 1973.
    • From 6 May 1974, the repeat run of GGG to SSS commenced, coming to an end (with breaks along the way) on 12 December 1974.


  • CANBERRA: When SYDNEY started to repeat season eight five days a week from Monday, 30 September 1974, CANBERRA and its translator station ABSN-0 in Bega-Cooma was already airing a local programme called "Prism" on Mondays in the 6.30pm timeslot that Doctor Who occupied. Since they could only screen Doctor Who four days a week, they had a completely different schedule of repeat episodes: while the rest of NSW watched repeats of KKK to OOO five days a week, CANBERRA and ABSN skipped ahead and instead aired MMM, NNN, OOO followed by KKK four days a week during the same period. (LLL was skipped completely.) CANBERRA and ABSN "caught up" with SYDNEY, and was able to re-join the network with its repeat of PPP1 on 5 November 1974.


  • MELBOURNE: also commenced the run with GGG, from Friday, 29 December 1972, transmitting GGG and HHH from Video Tape copies. With a short break for seven weeks after HHH6, Season Nine commenced from Friday, 20 April 1973 and the series ran on a weekly basis (with a couple of pre-emptions along the way) until SSS6 on 15 March 1974. A series of rolling power cuts due to industrial strike action in Melbourne meant that LLL6 did not play on 22 June 1973, so it was aired back to back with MMM1 the following week.
    • There were weekday afternoon repeats of XX between 12 and 19 January 1973.
    • YY was repeated weekdays afternoons between 14 and 21 May 1973.
    • For some reason, ZZ was never repeated in Victoria. (There have been rumours that the 'repeat' may have been used when the entire serial aired as an unadvertised "stand-by" replacement when weekend afternoon cricket was rained-out. However, with a total running time of just over four hours, it's unlikely that the schedulers would have ear-marked such a lengthy programme as "stand-by" filler. Such material was chosen specifically so it could be dropped mid-broadcast in the event that the cricket was able to resume; it was not sensible or standard practice to have something as long as ZZ as a back-up even when the entire scheduled cricket coverage was dropped.)
    • From 13 May 1974 to 24 May 1974 was a weekday repeat of AAA and BBB (with parts 6 and 7 shown back to back on Friday 24 May). There was no repeat of CCC. A longer run of weekday repeats commenced from Monday, 30 September 1974 with EEE through until 20 January 1975 with SSS 6. (As was always the case, PPP and RRR were shown in the wrong order.)


  • PERTH: aired the new run, starting with GGG (transmitted from Video Tape) from Friday, 5 January 1973. {SSS}}6 aired 15 February 1974.
    • AAA was repeated weekdays, from 12 to 17 August 1973.
    • In May, BBB was aired again, from 15 to 23 May 1973.
    • EEE was repeated from 5 to 8 February 1974.
    • CCC and GGG were repeated in May 1974, with parts thee and four of the latter airing back to back on 24 May.
    • Weekday repeats of all serials from KKK through to SSS (screening in production order) commenced 11 October 1974 and ended 9 December 1974, with a very much out of sequence showing of HHH from 10 to 17 December 1974.


  • HOBART: also commenced the run with GGG (from film) from Friday, 5 January 1973. There was a nine week break between HHH and KKK, which commenced on Friday, 11 May 1973. SSS brought the run to a conclusion on 29 March 1974.
    • Tasmanians saw repeats of ZZ and AAA together, from 24 January to 13 February 1973.
    • BBB was aired again in the afternoons, from 5 to 14 February 1974.
    • It is unknown when (or if) CCC and EEE were repeated in HOBART, but if so, they would have aired in May. A repeat of Pertwee episodes, running from HHH to SSS, concluded with a very much out of sequence GGG aired (with a few breaks along the way) from 7 October 1974 to 5 February 1975. This belated screening of GGG was the last black and white broadcast of Doctor Who in Australia until 1984…


  • ADELAIDE: as noted above, EEE opened the new run, and this was followed immediately by GGG on 2 February 1973. There was a short five week break before HHH started (on 30 March 1973), and the run continued on a weekly basis until 22 March 1974 with the conclusion to SSS.
    • There was a repeat of BBB during the school holidays, 7 to 15 May 1973. These repeats were not available in Mount Gambier, which aired alternative programming.
    • Repeats of CCC through SSS occurred (with some long breaks) between 6 May 1974 to 29 January 1975. SSS 6 was the last black and white episode of Doctor Who to air in Adelaide in the 1970s...


Stations on the Rockhampton feed aired a different set of episodes to the rest of Queensland from October 1974 to mid-January 1975 (here it's Day of the Daleks 4 and The Sea Devils 1); Longreach Leader, 3 January 1975
  • BRISBANE: also aired GGG from Friday, 2 February 1973 (from Video tape). After a nine week break, the run resumed with HHH on 27 April 1973. SSS6 brought the run to an end on 19 April 1974.
    • The stations with relays attached to ROCKHAMPTON and TOWNSVILLE played sports between 6pm and 6.30pm; rather than missing them entirely, they either screened those Doctor Who episodes earlier the same day or on a different day of the week (using the set of VTs held at BRISBANE). The exact dates and times for these time-shifts are not known.
    • The May school holidays had YY as a repeat, weekdays from 7 to 14 May 1973.
    • In August, all ten episodes of ZZ aired again, weekdays from 13 to 24 August 1973.
    • The Pertwee repeat run starting with AAA commenced from Monday, 6 May 1974, through to 17 May 1974 when parts 6 and 7 of BBB aired together.
    • After a five month gap, the weekday repeats resumed, with EEE from Monday, 14 October.
    • The ROCKHAMPTON feed (which included stations such as Longreach; see newspaper from that town at right) was airing regional programmes at 6pm, so it didn't play this repeat run of Doctor Who to begin with. It wasn't until Monday, 18 November 1974 that it picked up its own separate repeat run, starting with EEE, while the rest of Queensland was watching MMM. And since there was alternative programming at 6pm on Thursdays, the ROCKHAMPTON stations only saw the series four days per week. They got up to HHH 6 on Tuesday, 10 December 1974 before taking a break over Christmas / New Year; the rest of Queensland went to the end of PPP on Thursday, 12 December before also taking a break over the same period.
    • The Pertwee repeats resumed on Thursday, 2 January 1975: BRISBANE began with RRR part 1, while ROCKHAMPTON and its affiliate stations (now five days per week) saw KKK 1 that same day. On Wednesday, 8 January 1975, BRISBANE started QQQ 1 and ROCKHAMPTON began LLL 1. However, northern viewers only got to see the first three episodes of the Sea Devils adventure, because starting from Monday the following week (13 January) ROCKHAMPTON re-joined the BRISBANE feed which was screening QQQ 4, meaning viewers on the northern feed completely skipped over the run of episodes spanning LLL 4 to QQQ 3.
      • NOTE: There is a remote possibility that the TV listings in the Longreach Leader from which our airdates information came was incorrect, and the seven episodes that aired on that station from 2 to 10 January 1975 were actually back to being synched with BRISBANE – i.e. it was RRR 1-4 and not KKK 1-4 that aired, and QQQ 1-3 instead of the listed LLL 1-3.
    • The BRISBANE repeats concluded with SSS 6 on Thursday, 23 January 1975. These were the final black and white episodes to air in that state in the 1970s...


  • DARWIN: was now playing Jon Pertwee episodes, and had all but caught up with the other regions. However that position soon changed when the DARWIN airings came to an end with GGG4 on 4 March 1973.
  • At some point during 1974, Doctor Who resumed in DARWIN, starting with HHH, followed by KKK, LLL, MMM, NNN and OOO. We have not been able to determine the exact airdates for these, but the transmission of OOO episode 3 on Sunday, 22 December 1974 was the last known episode of Doctor Who to be broadcast from DARWIN for quite some time…
    • On the evening of 24 December 1974, DARWIN was hit by the devastating Cyclone Tracy which destroyed much of the city. Although the ABC's TV studio survived, the transmission towers and cables were severely damaged and put out of action. Some limited television coverage was re-established soon after the event, but only for the use of emergency services.
    • Television services were back online in parts of the region by 3 February 1975, with the Northern Territory transmitters that were still-functioning receiving signals now being relayed from the BRISBANE network. Alice Springs, however, could not be linked to this feed, and instead received a weekly batch of off-air video-taped programmes recorded in ADELAIDE.
    • The remaining Pertwee episodes (PPP, RRR, QQQ and SSS) had probably been scheduled to air in DARWIN immediately after OOO, but it's unknown whether the films were already held at the station at the time of the cyclone, or if they had been due to arrive later. As far as can be determined, those four Pertwee stories were never broadcast as first runs in Northern Territory.
Perspective – "'C' for Computer" – 29 May 1974, 8.50pm (Sydney)


  • REMOTE MINING CENTRES: These communities continued to receive weekly consignments of programmes video-taped from PERTH, ADELAIDE or TOWNSVILLE; the tapes of each Jon Pertwee episode took up to four weeks to be bicycled around then returned to the origin point for recording the next batch of programmes. The method of distributing and transmitting from video tapes changed with the arrival of colour in 1975 -– see below.


PERSPECTIVE – "'C' FOR COMPUTER"

As noted in Block 3, it was during this run on 29 May 1974, at 8.50pm on the ABC, that the "'C' for Computer" episode of "Perspective" screened. This segment featured several clips of the production line of Daleks that had been taken from EE parts four and five, which indicates that the ABC had retained those episodes until at least 1974. (The film prints of the serial were returned to the BBC in June 1975.)


SUMMARY

  • The repeats during this run marked the final appearance of Patrick Troughton on the ABC – he had been seen on Australian screens for a period spanning just over six years, from July 1967 to August 1973. They also marked the last time the ABC aired Doctor Who only in black and white…


Block 8: PERTWEE ---- March 1975 to July 1975

Listing for The Time Warrior, Melbourne, 14 March 1975
First Run UUU----XXX----YYY

The ABC had conducted colour transmission tests during the last quarter of 1974, but these tests were isolated to mid-afternoon slots. The tests continued through until March 1975, which was when full colour broadcasts commenced.

The ABC commenced colour transmissions across all its networks from Saturday, 1 March 1975, although many viewers still saw the series on black and white television sets. (Even by 1977, still less than 50% of the population owned a colour television receiver.)

Episodes were now being supplied by the BBC on PAL colour Video Tape instead of 16mm film, but the ABC still chose not to make multiple copies in order to fully synchronise all the networks, and apart from MELBOURNE and HOBART, which aired the same episodes, the other stations still had staggered airdates.

Serial WWW had not been purchased because part one was only available in black and white. For reasons that are not clear, ZZZ wasn't purchased until nearly a year after the rest of the season, and was therefore held over until early 1976 so it could play immediately ahead of Tom Baker's debut as the fourth Doctor.

Colour episodes of Doctor Who commenced from March 1975, weekly on Fridays evenings at 6.30pm in all regions:


  • SYDNEY: The new run opened on Friday, 7 March 1975, and ended on 6 June 1975.


  • MELBOURNE and HOBART: The new run (the latter from duplicated VT copies) opened on Friday, 14 March 1975, and ended on 13 June 1975 in the former, but a week later on 20 June 1975 in the latter (no episode aired on 13 June).


  • PERTH: The new run opened on Saturday, 15 March 1975, and concluded on 14 June 1975.
    • The chain of repeater stations bouncing the Perth signals to the more remote inner regions of north Western Australia were yet to be converted to transmit a colour signal, so instead, video-taped recordings of colour programmes were flown from PERTH to the station at Port Hedland (which had been converted for colour), and broadcast from there. By the end of the 1970s, the full network of stations in Western Australia were converted to carry a colour signal.


  • ADELAIDE: The new run played from Friday, 4 April 1975 to 4 July 1975. (As noted above, Alice Springs in Northern Territory now received weekly consignments of taped copies of ADELAIDE's broadcasts.)


  • BRISBANE: The new run opened on Friday, 11 April 1975, and ended on 18 June 1975 (there was no episode on 25 April). (As noted above, the central parts of Northern Territory and DARWIN were effectively part of the BRISBANE network, and thus we no longer list NT separately.)


  • Unlike previous years, there were no school holiday repeats in May, August/September or December 1975 on any of the networks.



Airdates in Australia
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Key: BOLD = first airing | ITALICS = repeat
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