Difference between revisions of "Australia TX 1983-1985"

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=AUSTRALIAN TRANSMISSION HISTORY (Part Five) (1983-1985)=
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=AUSTRALIAN TRANSMISSION HISTORY (Part Seven) (1983-1985)=
 
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===Block 15: DAVISON ---– '''April 1983 to December 1983'''===
 
===Block 15: DAVISON ---– '''April 1983 to December 1983'''===
−
[[File:ABCC14Jun83.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Article about repeats of colour Pertwees; Courier Mail, Brisbane, 14 June 1983]]
 
 
{| {{small-table}}
 
{| {{small-table}}
 
|-   
 
|-   
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|'''Repeats'''||'''{{6A}}----{{6B}}----{{6C}}----{{KKK}}----{{PPP}}----{{QQQ}}----{{RRR}}----{{GGG}}----{{HHH}}----{{LLL}}----{{NNN}}----{{OOO}}----{{TTT}}----{{UUU}}----{{XXX}}----{{YYY}}----{{ZZZ}}---{{4A}}----{{4C}}----{{4B}}----{{4E}}----{{4D}}----{{4F}}----{{4H}}----{{4G}}----{{4J}}----{{4L}}----{{4M}}----{{4N}}----{{4Q}}----{{4R}}----{{4S}}'''
 
|'''Repeats'''||'''{{6A}}----{{6B}}----{{6C}}----{{KKK}}----{{PPP}}----{{QQQ}}----{{RRR}}----{{GGG}}----{{HHH}}----{{LLL}}----{{NNN}}----{{OOO}}----{{TTT}}----{{UUU}}----{{XXX}}----{{YYY}}----{{ZZZ}}---{{4A}}----{{4C}}----{{4B}}----{{4E}}----{{4D}}----{{4F}}----{{4H}}----{{4G}}----{{4J}}----{{4L}}----{{4M}}----{{4N}}----{{4Q}}----{{4R}}----{{4S}}'''
 
|}
 
|}
 +
[[File:DavisonLogies1983.JPG|thumb|right|300px|Davison was a guest presenter at the April 1983 Logie Awards (screen grab from Millennium Effect)]]
 +
 +
'''PETER DAVISON VISITS AUSTRALIA'''
 +
 +
The 20th anniversary special [[The Five Doctors]] went into production in late February 1983 (filming had commenced in March). The ABC provided some of the funding towards the production budget. 
 +
 +
Only a matter of days after the gruelling 20th Anniversary show at Longleat over the April 1983 Easter weekend, Peter Davison visited Australia for the first time from '''7 to 23 April 1983''' (his wife, Sandra Dickinson, joined him a few days after his arrival).
 +
 +
He was in Australia primarily to attend the 25th annual Australian '''[[wikipedia:Logie Awards of 1983|Logie Awards]]''', but also to do book signings at the department store chain '''Myer''' who were co-sponsoring the visit. (Myer's personnel insisted that only books purchased in-store could be signed; the fact that the novelisation of [[The Visitation]] was the only fifth Doctor book that had been released in Australia at that time didn't exactly help matters! Thankfully, the tenuously themed ''Peter Davison's Book of Monsters'', and ''Peter Davison's Book of Alien Planets'' were also available…)
 +
 +
Davison was also booked to partake in radio and television interviews. During the visit, the ABC Shop took the opportunity to plug the new '''Doctor Who Technical Manual''' book. (The ABC published its own edition of this, identified by the addition of the station's logo on the front cover and elsewhere.)
 +
 +
The actor arrived on his own at SYDNEY airport at 6.20am on Thursday, 7 April, then caught another flight to BRISBANE, where he stayed until 9 April. A quick side-trip to Tweed Heads in northern New South Wales was also made at this time. 
 +
 +
At each airport stop, the Australian airline had banners declaring that '''"DR. WHO FLIES WITH QANTAS"'''.
 +
 +
It was then back to SYDNEY on Sunday, 10 April to meet his wife who arrived on a flight early that morning. That afternoon the couple attended an event held by the '''Australian Doctor Who Fan Club'''. They remained in Sydney until 12 April. Peter appeared on the breakfast TV show '''Good Morning Australia'''; during the interview with David O'Brien, the actor (who was sporting a pair of dark sunglasses) was constantly interrupted and having his answers corrected by the Doctor!
 +
<!--
 +
{{YouTube table
 +
|1XAUV92bkQ0|'''Davison on Breakfast TV with David O'Brien'''
 +
}}
 +
{{clear}}
 +
-->
 +
 +
After a day off on Wednesday, 13 April, it was on to ADELAIDE (from 14-16 April), then PERTH (17-19) (Peter appeared in character as the Doctor on the local show '''Here in the West''') and finally MELBOURNE (20-22), where Peter was guest presenter at the Logies the evening of 22 April. (A planned fan event to be held in Melbourne was cancelled.)
 +
 +
The couple flew home after a somewhat exhausting trip on Saturday, 23 April, an experience not helped by the terrible attitude of the Myer's publicity representative who accompanied them, from eyewitness accounts a bossy woman who clearly didn't want to be working this assignment. 
 +
 +
(Soon after his return home, Peter was back at the BBC to film a new '''All Creatures Great and Small''' special - and then commenced rehearsals for his final series as the Doctor…)
 +
 +
 +
 +
'''VHS'''
 +
 +
The second of the two [[Peter Cushing]] Daleks films, '''"Dalek's Invasion Earth 2150 AD"''', was released for the first time on VHS and Betamax through Thorn EMI by '''April 1983''', predominantly for the Rental market. (Again, there was no legal requirement for the tapes to bear a classification rating.)
 +
 +
[[File:ABCC14Jun83.JPG|right|thumb|350px|Article about repeats of colour Pertwees; Courier Mail, Brisbane, 14 June 1983]]
 +
 +
 +
'''NEW EPISODES'''
 +
 +
*During Davison's visit, and ahead of season 20, a short run of REPEATS five days a week began from Monday, '''11 April 1983''' in '''SYDNEY''', '''ADELAIDE''', '''MELBOURNE''', '''PERTH''', and '''BRISBANE''', and a day later in '''HOBART'''; this run consisted of {{6A}}, {{6B}} and {{6C}}.
 +
*The week following Davison's departure from Australian shores, the first run of the fifth Doctor's second season commenced, from '''25 April 1983'''. HOBART was still one day 'behind' the rests. The season drew to a close on Tuesday, '''24 May 1983''', and the next day in Tasmania.
 +
 +
 +
'''REPEATS'''
 +
 +
*The following day, '''25 May 1983''', a further run of repeats commenced. This consisted of the available full PAL colour Jon Pertwee episodes, some of which had also recently been reissued for the [[United States]] market. {{AAA}} was not included in this deal. (As was noted in Part Six of this profile, the ABC had previously tried to secure NTSC colour Pertwee episodes from the USA in early 1980.) It was during the preparation stages for this new repeat run that the ABC discovered they still had the PAL tapes of {{QQQ}} that had been in storage at their Video Tape Bond Store since 1973. The run also included NTSC episodes of {{GGG}}, {{HHH}}, {{LLL}}, {{NNN}} and {{OOO}} (these were supplied to them directly from Lionheart in the USA; the tapes had been recovered from [[Canada]] a few years earlier), and these screened in colour in Australia for the very first time. (Note: since the ABC was able to transmit NTSC, the tapes supplied were not necessarily converted to PAL first; according to eye-witness reports the old Lionheart logo was still present at the end of the closing credits of various episodes of {{LLL}}.) The extended early edit of part two of {{PPP}} also aired again.
 +
 +
 +
'''JANET FIELDING GOES HOME…'''
 +
 +
Another cast member from the series was in Australia this year: Janet Fielding had been home in BRISBANE on holiday, but took time out to attend a fan club event in SYDNEY at noon on '''29 May 1983'''. She was there for only a couple of hours, before flying back to Brisbane that afternoon. (Two weeks later she was in London, to begin rehearsals for season 21…)
 +
 
[[File:ABCFiveDocs83.JPG|right|thumb|250px|The Robots of Death repeat (6.30pm), and The Five Doctors (7.30pm), 13 December 1983; Melbourne Age]]
 
[[File:ABCFiveDocs83.JPG|right|thumb|250px|The Robots of Death repeat (6.30pm), and The Five Doctors (7.30pm), 13 December 1983; Melbourne Age]]
  
−
*Peter Davison visited Australia from '''7 to 23 April 1983''', to participate as a guest presenter of the annual Australian television industry [[wikipedia:Logie Awards of 1983|Logie Awards]], held in Melbourne, and to undertake promotional signings.
+
 
−
*During his visit, and ahead of season 20, a short run of repeats five days a week began from Monday, '''11 April 1983''' in '''SYDNEY''', '''ADELAIDE''', '''MELBOURNE''', '''PERTH''', and '''BRISBANE''', and a day later in '''HOBART'''; this run consisted of {{6A}}, {{6B}} and {{6C}}. The following week, Peter Davison's second season commenced, from '''25 April 1983'''.  The season drew to a close on Tuesday, '''24 May 1983'''.  
+
On '''1 July 1983''', the '''AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING COMMISSION''' changed its name to the '''AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION'''.  
−
*The following day, a further run of repeats. This consisted of the colour Jon Pertwee episodes, some of which had also recently been reissued for the [[United States]] market. It was during the preparation stages for this repeats run that the ABC discovered they still had the PAL tapes of {{QQQ}} that had been in storage at their Bond Store since 1973. The run also included NTSC to PAL conversions of {{GGG}}, {{HHH}}, {{LLL}}, {{NNN}} and {{OOO}} (which had been recovered from [[Canada]] a few years earlier) screening in colour in Australia for the very first time. The extended early edit of part two of {{PPP}} may also have aired.
+
 
−
*On '''1 July 1983''', the '''Australian Broadcasting Commission''' changed its name to the '''Australian Broadcasting Corporation'''.
+
 
−
*After the Pertwees, came yet another run of "G" rated Tom Bakers, starting with {{4A}} (from Friday, '''2 September 1983''') and with all stories screening '''for the first time in the correct story order!''' (As was usual, the "A" rated {{4K}} and {{4P}} were skipped.)
+
'''MORE REPEATS'''
−
*On '''15 November 1983''', '''MELBOURNE''' and '''BRISBANE''' pre-empted the series in favour of an hour of '''The Goodies'''.  
+
 
−
*On Tuesday, '''13 December 1983''', the 20th Anniversary Special [[The Five Doctors]] ({{6K}}) aired at 7.30 to 9.00pm. However a severe electrical storm in New South Wales blacked-out much of Sydney, interrupting the broadcast.  
+
*After the colour Pertwees, came yet another run of "G" rated Tom Baker repeats, starting with {{4A}} (from Friday, '''2 September 1983''') and with all stories screening '''for the first time in the correct story order!''' (As was usual, the "A" rated {{4K}} and {{4P}} were skipped.)
 +
*On '''15 November 1983''', '''MELBOURNE''' and '''BRISBANE''' pre-empted the series in favour of an hour of the comedy series, '''The Goodies'''.  
 +
 
 +
 
 +
'''THE FIVE DOCTORS'''
 +
 
 +
*On Tuesday, '''13 December 1983''', the 20th Anniversary Special [[The Five Doctors]] aired at 7.30 to 9.00pm. However a severe electrical storm in New South Wales blacked-out much of SYDNEY, interrupting the broadcast.  
 
*The repeat season concluded with part six of {{4S}}, which ended a few days prior to Christmas, on '''23 December 1983'''.  
 
*The repeat season concluded with part six of {{4S}}, which ended a few days prior to Christmas, on '''23 December 1983'''.  
−
 
+
{{clear}}
  
 
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|}
 
[[File:4Vrpt170284.JPG|right|thumb|350px|"Dr Who (Rpt)" 6.05-6.54pm (Horror of Fang Rock, parts one and two, 17 February 1984 (Sydney)]]
 
[[File:4Vrpt170284.JPG|right|thumb|350px|"Dr Who (Rpt)" 6.05-6.54pm (Horror of Fang Rock, parts one and two, 17 February 1984 (Sydney)]]
−
*On Sunday, '''8 January 1984''' (in MELBOURNE, and possibly other cities), the US show-biz news programme '''Entertainment This Week''' (on channel 10) featured coverage of the '''Doctor Who - The Ultimate Celebration''' convention held in Chicago the weekend of 26-27 November 1983.  
+
 
 +
'''REPEATS'''
 +
 
 +
*On Sunday, '''8 January 1984''' in MELBOURNE, the US show-biz news programme '''Entertainment This Week''' (on channel 10) featured coverage of the '''Doctor Who - The Ultimate Celebration''' convention held in Chicago the weekend of 26-27 November 1983. (The dates on which this episode of '''ETW''' screened in other regions is unknown.)
 
*On Sunday, '''22 January 1984''', at 4.30pm, a special "repeat" screening of [[The Five Doctors]] was played in SYDNEY only, to make up for the interrupted 13 December 1983 transmission.  
 
*On Sunday, '''22 January 1984''', at 4.30pm, a special "repeat" screening of [[The Five Doctors]] was played in SYDNEY only, to make up for the interrupted 13 December 1983 transmission.  
 
*From Friday, '''17 February 1984''', further Tom Baker repeats aired, five days a week; these were the first three stories from season 15. ({{4V}} parts one and two aired back to back.)
 
*From Friday, '''17 February 1984''', further Tom Baker repeats aired, five days a week; these were the first three stories from season 15. ({{4V}} parts one and two aired back to back.)
−
*Season 21 commenced on Monday, '''5 March 1984''', a unique occasion in which Australia aired new episodes while the same season was still being broadcast in the UK. Because of this, and the fact that the episodes were airing five nights a week, the ABC caught up with the UK screenings very quickly. On-screen announcements the week of 19 March stated that the scheduled story ({{6P}}) could not be shown due to "transport difficulties"! It was necessary to squeeze in some repeats, with {{6H}} and {{6J}} replaying between {{6N}} and {{6P}}, from '''19 to 26 March 1984'''.
+
 
−
*Peter Davison's final adventure was held up due to censorship issues; the serial was pulled from the schedules while it could be evaluated by the censors. To fill the gap, a further run of repeats was scheduled: {{5N}} to {{5X}}, then a jump to {{6F}} to {{6G}}, from '''6 April 1984''' to '''18 June 1984'''. ({{6A}}, {{6B}} and {{6C}} were skipped because they had been repeated in April 1983; for some reason {{6E}} and {{6D}} were not repeated.)  
+
 
 +
'''THE CELESTIAL TOYMAKER: THE FINAL TEST'''
 +
 
 +
The fourth episode of the missing William Hartnell story [[The Celestial Toymaker]] was discovered at the ABC's Film Library in late 1983 / early 1984, and was returned to the BBC by '''15 February 1984'''. (The ABC's Bond Store was to become surplus to requirements once the ABC's ability to censor in-house came into effect by the end of the year. The Bond Store and Film / VT library were subsequently combined into a single storage facility.)
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
'''NEW EPISODES'''
 +
 
 +
*Season 21 commenced on Monday, '''5 March 1984''', a unique occasion in which Australia aired new episodes while the same season was still being broadcast in the UK. Because of this, and the fact that the episodes were airing five nights a week, the ABC caught up with the UK screenings very quickly. On-screen announcements the week of '''19 March''' stated that the next scheduled story ({{6P}}) could not be shown due to "transport difficulties"! (In fact, Part 2 of {{6P}} in its original 45 minute edit had only been viewed by the censor four days earlier (on 15 March); the so-called "transport" problem was likely a cover story!) To fill the gap, it was necessary to squeeze in some repeats, with {{6H}} and {{6J}} replaying between {{6N}} and {{6P}}, from '''19 to 26 March 1984'''.
 +
*Peter Davison's final adventure was held up due to censorship issues; the serial was pulled from the schedules while it could be evaluated (then re-evaluated, then re-re-evaluated…) by the censors. To fill the gap, a further run of repeats was scheduled: {{5N}} to {{5X}}, then a jump to {{6F}} to {{6G}}, from '''6 April 1984''' to '''18 June 1984'''. ({{6A}}, {{6B}} and {{6C}} were skipped because they had been repeated in April 1983; for some reason {{6E}} and {{6D}} were skipped and have '''never''' been repeated.)  
 
*A heavily cut {{6R}} finally made it to the screens from Tuesday, '''19 June 1984'''.  
 
*A heavily cut {{6R}} finally made it to the screens from Tuesday, '''19 June 1984'''.  
−
*'''Colin Baker''''s debut story aired from '''25 to 28 June 1984''', bringing the Block to a conclusion.
+
*'''Colin Baker''''s debut story aired from '''25 to 28 June 1984''', bringing Block 16 to a conclusion.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
'''JOHN NATHAN-TURNER VISITS'''
 +
 
 +
Nathan-Turner went to Australia in '''April 1984'''. He visited the ABC (part 4 of [[The Celestial Toymaker]] had recently been discovered there – see above – and he went with an eye to finding more!), and was guest at a one-day Fan Cub event in SYDNEY on '''25 April'''.  
  
  
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===Block 17: PERTWEE ---– '''October 1984 to January 1985'''===
 
===Block 17: PERTWEE ---– '''October 1984 to January 1985'''===
 
[[File:K9Co241284.JPG|right|thumb|350px|K9 and Company, 24 December 1984 (Sydney)]]
 
[[File:K9Co241284.JPG|right|thumb|350px|K9 and Company, 24 December 1984 (Sydney)]]
 +
[[File:ABCK91984.JPG|right|thumb|350px|Listing for K9 and Company, 24 December 1984 (Melbourne)]]
 
{| {{small-table}}
 
{| {{small-table}}
 
|-
 
|-
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|}
  
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*Four months after Colin Baker's debut had ended, a short run of five Jon Pertwee stories aired, five days a week, from Monday, '''1 October 1984'''.  
+
*Four months after Colin Baker's debut had ended, a short repeat run of five Jon Pertwee stories aired, five days a week, from Monday, '''1 October 1984'''.  
−
**Unusually, this run included two black and white serials, {{BBB}} and {{EEE}}, neither of which had been seen since their last appearance in 1974.  
+
*First was another repeat of {{AAA}}. For this screening (or possibly the later repeat in 1986? – see next page) the closing credits to Part One (and possibly other episodes as well?) were tinted green. It's not known if this was a fault on the film print or the VT transfer, or was merely a transmission glitch.
−
**'''CLIPS: ABC narration SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE repeat 1984'''
+
*Unusually, this run included two black and white serials, {{BBB}} and {{EEE}}, neither of which had been seen since their last appearance in 1974.  
−
**'''CLIPS: ABC narration DOCTOR WHO AND THE SILURIANS repeat 5 and 9 OCTOBER 1984'''
+
<!--{{YouTube table
 +
|iy42QKaMvKM|'''ABC narration SPEARHEAD repeat 1984'''
 +
|OkMY71P1Czs|'''Green Credits on SPEARHEAD ep 1'''
 +
}}
 +
{{YouTube table
 +
|BaxuCzqAC0k|'''ABC narration SILURIANS ep1 repeat 5 October 1984'''
 +
|DVAKh1FSH48|'''ABC narration SILURIANS ep 2 repeat 9 October 1984'''
 +
}}
 +
{{clear}}
 +
-->
 +
*Also repeated but this time screening for the first time in '''colour''' was {{MMM}}. The NTSC tapes had been recovered from [[Canada]] in 1981, and the restored serial had just recently aired in the UK as part of the 1982 '''"Doctor Who and the Monsters"''' series; the tapes supplied to the ABC were therefore NTSC to PAL conversions.
 +
*{{TTT}} was repeated (apparently it was included in this block in order to explain the change-over from Jo Grant to Sarah Jane Smith!) followed by the first-ever screening of {{WWW}}, albeit in its modified five-episode format – from Monday '''5 to 9 November 1984'''.
 +
*On '''Christmas Eve 1984''', the spin-off [[K9 and Company]] aired, from 6.05 to 6.54pm.
 +
*All the regions except for '''HOBART''' enjoyed a repeat screening of [[The Five Doctors]] on Saturday, '''12 January 1985''' in a very late slot. TV listings show it as 10.40pm in SYDNEY and MELBOURNE, and 11.10pm in ADELAIDE, one half hour 'later' due to the time-shift between those states.
 +
 
  
−
{{YouTube|id=iy42QKaMvKM|float=left}}
+
'''VHS'''
−
{{YouTube|id=BaxuCzqAC0k|float=left}}
 
−
{{YouTube|id=DVAKh1FSH48|float=left}}
 
−
{{clear}}
 
  
−
*Also screening for the first time in colour was {{MMM}} (the NTSC tapes had been recovered from [[Canada]] in 1981, and the serial had recently aired in the UK in 1982.) {{TTT}} was repeated (apparently scheduled in order to explain the change of companion!) followed by the first-ever screening of {{WWW}}, albeit in its modified five-episode format – from Monday '''5 to 9 November 1984'''.
+
By '''December 1983''', Polygram Australia had released {{4D}} on VHS and Betamax. (See our main [[Australia|Profile page]] for more about the distribution of tapes in Australia.)
−
*On Christmas Eve 1984, the spin-off [[K9 and Company]] aired, from 6.05 to 6.54pm.
 
−
*'''SYDNEY''', '''BRISBANE''', '''ADELAIDE''', '''MELBOUNRE''' (and other regions?) viewers enjoyed a repeat screening of [[The Five Doctors]] on Saturday, '''12 January 1985''', at the very late hour of 10.40pm.  
 
  
  
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{{Aus air nav}}
 
 
{{Aus tx nav}}
 
{{Aus tx nav}}
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{{Aus date nav}}
 
{{Blank lines|2}}
 
{{Blank lines|2}}
 
==Links==
 
==Links==

Latest revision as of 21:49, 13 January 2025

AUSTRALIAN TRANSMISSION HISTORY (Part Seven) (1983-1985)

blank line
blank line

Block 15: DAVISON ---– April 1983 to December 1983

First Run 6E----6D----6F----6G----6H----6J----6K
Repeats 6A----6B----6C----KKK----PPP----QQQ----RRR----GGG----HHH----LLL----NNN----OOO----TTT----UUU----XXX----YYY----ZZZ---4A----4C----4B----4E----4D----4F----4H----4G----4J----4L----4M----4N----4Q----4R----4S
Davison was a guest presenter at the April 1983 Logie Awards (screen grab from Millennium Effect)

PETER DAVISON VISITS AUSTRALIA

The 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors went into production in late February 1983 (filming had commenced in March). The ABC provided some of the funding towards the production budget.

Only a matter of days after the gruelling 20th Anniversary show at Longleat over the April 1983 Easter weekend, Peter Davison visited Australia for the first time from 7 to 23 April 1983 (his wife, Sandra Dickinson, joined him a few days after his arrival).

He was in Australia primarily to attend the 25th annual Australian Logie Awards, but also to do book signings at the department store chain Myer who were co-sponsoring the visit. (Myer's personnel insisted that only books purchased in-store could be signed; the fact that the novelisation of The Visitation was the only fifth Doctor book that had been released in Australia at that time didn't exactly help matters! Thankfully, the tenuously themed Peter Davison's Book of Monsters, and Peter Davison's Book of Alien Planets were also available…)

Davison was also booked to partake in radio and television interviews. During the visit, the ABC Shop took the opportunity to plug the new Doctor Who Technical Manual book. (The ABC published its own edition of this, identified by the addition of the station's logo on the front cover and elsewhere.)

The actor arrived on his own at SYDNEY airport at 6.20am on Thursday, 7 April, then caught another flight to BRISBANE, where he stayed until 9 April. A quick side-trip to Tweed Heads in northern New South Wales was also made at this time.

At each airport stop, the Australian airline had banners declaring that "DR. WHO FLIES WITH QANTAS".

It was then back to SYDNEY on Sunday, 10 April to meet his wife who arrived on a flight early that morning. That afternoon the couple attended an event held by the Australian Doctor Who Fan Club. They remained in Sydney until 12 April. Peter appeared on the breakfast TV show Good Morning Australia; during the interview with David O'Brien, the actor (who was sporting a pair of dark sunglasses) was constantly interrupted and having his answers corrected by the Doctor!

After a day off on Wednesday, 13 April, it was on to ADELAIDE (from 14-16 April), then PERTH (17-19) (Peter appeared in character as the Doctor on the local show Here in the West) and finally MELBOURNE (20-22), where Peter was guest presenter at the Logies the evening of 22 April. (A planned fan event to be held in Melbourne was cancelled.)

The couple flew home after a somewhat exhausting trip on Saturday, 23 April, an experience not helped by the terrible attitude of the Myer's publicity representative who accompanied them, from eyewitness accounts a bossy woman who clearly didn't want to be working this assignment.

(Soon after his return home, Peter was back at the BBC to film a new All Creatures Great and Small special - and then commenced rehearsals for his final series as the Doctor…)


VHS

The second of the two Peter Cushing Daleks films, "Dalek's Invasion Earth 2150 AD", was released for the first time on VHS and Betamax through Thorn EMI by April 1983, predominantly for the Rental market. (Again, there was no legal requirement for the tapes to bear a classification rating.)

Article about repeats of colour Pertwees; Courier Mail, Brisbane, 14 June 1983


NEW EPISODES

  • During Davison's visit, and ahead of season 20, a short run of REPEATS five days a week began from Monday, 11 April 1983 in SYDNEY, ADELAIDE, MELBOURNE, PERTH, and BRISBANE, and a day later in HOBART; this run consisted of 6A, 6B and 6C.
  • The week following Davison's departure from Australian shores, the first run of the fifth Doctor's second season commenced, from 25 April 1983. HOBART was still one day 'behind' the rests. The season drew to a close on Tuesday, 24 May 1983, and the next day in Tasmania.


REPEATS

  • The following day, 25 May 1983, a further run of repeats commenced. This consisted of the available full PAL colour Jon Pertwee episodes, some of which had also recently been reissued for the United States market. AAA was not included in this deal. (As was noted in Part Six of this profile, the ABC had previously tried to secure NTSC colour Pertwee episodes from the USA in early 1980.) It was during the preparation stages for this new repeat run that the ABC discovered they still had the PAL tapes of QQQ that had been in storage at their Video Tape Bond Store since 1973. The run also included NTSC episodes of GGG, HHH, LLL, NNN and OOO (these were supplied to them directly from Lionheart in the USA; the tapes had been recovered from Canada a few years earlier), and these screened in colour in Australia for the very first time. (Note: since the ABC was able to transmit NTSC, the tapes supplied were not necessarily converted to PAL first; according to eye-witness reports the old Lionheart logo was still present at the end of the closing credits of various episodes of LLL.) The extended early edit of part two of PPP also aired again.


JANET FIELDING GOES HOME…

Another cast member from the series was in Australia this year: Janet Fielding had been home in BRISBANE on holiday, but took time out to attend a fan club event in SYDNEY at noon on 29 May 1983. She was there for only a couple of hours, before flying back to Brisbane that afternoon. (Two weeks later she was in London, to begin rehearsals for season 21…)

The Robots of Death repeat (6.30pm), and The Five Doctors (7.30pm), 13 December 1983; Melbourne Age


On 1 July 1983, the AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING COMMISSION changed its name to the AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION.


MORE REPEATS

  • After the colour Pertwees, came yet another run of "G" rated Tom Baker repeats, starting with 4A (from Friday, 2 September 1983) and with all stories screening for the first time in the correct story order! (As was usual, the "A" rated 4K and 4P were skipped.)
  • On 15 November 1983, MELBOURNE and BRISBANE pre-empted the series in favour of an hour of the comedy series, The Goodies.


THE FIVE DOCTORS

  • On Tuesday, 13 December 1983, the 20th Anniversary Special The Five Doctors aired at 7.30 to 9.00pm. However a severe electrical storm in New South Wales blacked-out much of SYDNEY, interrupting the broadcast.
  • The repeat season concluded with part six of 4S, which ended a few days prior to Christmas, on 23 December 1983.


Block 16: DAVISON / C BAKER ---– January 1984 to June 1984

First Run 6L----6M----6N----6P----6Q----6R----6S
Repeats 6K----4V----4T----4X----6H----6J----5N----5Q----5R----5P----5S----5T----5V----5Z----5W----5Y----5X----6F----6G
"Dr Who (Rpt)" 6.05-6.54pm (Horror of Fang Rock, parts one and two, 17 February 1984 (Sydney)

REPEATS

  • On Sunday, 8 January 1984 in MELBOURNE, the US show-biz news programme Entertainment This Week (on channel 10) featured coverage of the Doctor Who - The Ultimate Celebration convention held in Chicago the weekend of 26-27 November 1983. (The dates on which this episode of ETW screened in other regions is unknown.)
  • On Sunday, 22 January 1984, at 4.30pm, a special "repeat" screening of The Five Doctors was played in SYDNEY only, to make up for the interrupted 13 December 1983 transmission.
  • From Friday, 17 February 1984, further Tom Baker repeats aired, five days a week; these were the first three stories from season 15. (4V parts one and two aired back to back.)


THE CELESTIAL TOYMAKER: THE FINAL TEST

The fourth episode of the missing William Hartnell story The Celestial Toymaker was discovered at the ABC's Film Library in late 1983 / early 1984, and was returned to the BBC by 15 February 1984. (The ABC's Bond Store was to become surplus to requirements once the ABC's ability to censor in-house came into effect by the end of the year. The Bond Store and Film / VT library were subsequently combined into a single storage facility.)


NEW EPISODES

  • Season 21 commenced on Monday, 5 March 1984, a unique occasion in which Australia aired new episodes while the same season was still being broadcast in the UK. Because of this, and the fact that the episodes were airing five nights a week, the ABC caught up with the UK screenings very quickly. On-screen announcements the week of 19 March stated that the next scheduled story (6P) could not be shown due to "transport difficulties"! (In fact, Part 2 of 6P in its original 45 minute edit had only been viewed by the censor four days earlier (on 15 March); the so-called "transport" problem was likely a cover story!) To fill the gap, it was necessary to squeeze in some repeats, with 6H and 6J replaying between 6N and 6P, from 19 to 26 March 1984.
  • Peter Davison's final adventure was held up due to censorship issues; the serial was pulled from the schedules while it could be evaluated (then re-evaluated, then re-re-evaluated…) by the censors. To fill the gap, a further run of repeats was scheduled: 5N to 5X, then a jump to 6F to 6G, from 6 April 1984 to 18 June 1984. (6A, 6B and 6C were skipped because they had been repeated in April 1983; for some reason 6E and 6D were skipped and have never been repeated.)
  • A heavily cut 6R finally made it to the screens from Tuesday, 19 June 1984.
  • Colin Baker's debut story aired from 25 to 28 June 1984, bringing Block 16 to a conclusion.


JOHN NATHAN-TURNER VISITS

Nathan-Turner went to Australia in April 1984. He visited the ABC (part 4 of The Celestial Toymaker had recently been discovered there – see above – and he went with an eye to finding more!), and was guest at a one-day Fan Cub event in SYDNEY on 25 April.


Block 17: PERTWEE ---– October 1984 to January 1985

K9 and Company, 24 December 1984 (Sydney)
Listing for K9 and Company, 24 December 1984 (Melbourne)
First Run WWW----K9 and Company
Repeats AAA----BBB----EEE----MMM----TTT----6K
  • Four months after Colin Baker's debut had ended, a short repeat run of five Jon Pertwee stories aired, five days a week, from Monday, 1 October 1984.
  • First was another repeat of AAA. For this screening (or possibly the later repeat in 1986? – see next page) the closing credits to Part One (and possibly other episodes as well?) were tinted green. It's not known if this was a fault on the film print or the VT transfer, or was merely a transmission glitch.
  • Unusually, this run included two black and white serials, BBB and EEE, neither of which had been seen since their last appearance in 1974.
  • Also repeated but this time screening for the first time in colour was MMM. The NTSC tapes had been recovered from Canada in 1981, and the restored serial had just recently aired in the UK as part of the 1982 "Doctor Who and the Monsters" series; the tapes supplied to the ABC were therefore NTSC to PAL conversions.
  • TTT was repeated (apparently it was included in this block in order to explain the change-over from Jo Grant to Sarah Jane Smith!) followed by the first-ever screening of WWW, albeit in its modified five-episode format – from Monday 5 to 9 November 1984.
  • On Christmas Eve 1984, the spin-off K9 and Company aired, from 6.05 to 6.54pm.
  • All the regions except for HOBART enjoyed a repeat screening of The Five Doctors on Saturday, 12 January 1985 in a very late slot. TV listings show it as 10.40pm in SYDNEY and MELBOURNE, and 11.10pm in ADELAIDE, one half hour 'later' due to the time-shift between those states.


VHS

By December 1983, Polygram Australia had released 4D on VHS and Betamax. (See our main Profile page for more about the distribution of tapes in Australia.)



Airdates in Australia
1965-66 | 1966-67 | 1967-71 | 1971-75 | 1976-78 | 1979-82 | 1983-85 | 1985-90 | 1991-2002 | 2003-(2020s)
Key: BOLD = first airing | ITALICS = repeat
Table of Repeats | ABC's Regional Stations
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Links

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