Doctor Who USA Tour

Doctor Who USA Tour

The Doctor Who USA Tour Bus leaves Elstree Studios, UK, to begin its voyage to the US...

1986:

• 8 May 1986: With BBC One Controller, Michael Grade at its inauguration, the Doctor Who USA Tour "bus" sets off from Washington DC, with Peter Davison on board, to begin its two-year, multi-city tour (two cities per week). It is hoped that all 181 markets where Doctor Who is screened across America will be visited. Tom Baker, Colin Baker, Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, and Patrick Troughton all take part at various legs of the journey during the first year.
  • May to September 1986: On its first leg within New England, the tour visits (in no particular order) New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, with Peter Davison in attendance.
    • 13-28 September 1986: The Tour heads south, visiting (in no particular order) Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington DC, then north west, to Illinois. (The two Bakers travelled together during September, attending various Whovent 86 conventions along the way.)
    • 4 October 1986: Colin Baker and Patrick Troughton travel on to Minnesota
      • USA TOUR in MINNESOTA, October 1986 1
      • USA TOUR in MINNESOTA, October 1986 2
    • 5 October 1986: The tour reaches Madison, Wisconsin, again with Colin Baker and Patrick Troughton.

Wisconsin State Journal, Sept. 14, 1986

• • October to December 1986: The Tour moves south through Tennessee, and down towards Florida. (Pertwee falls ill; he is accompanied by Paul Darrow and Michael Keating from Blakes 7 for part of the journey.)

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1987:

Live from Atlanta, 7 March 1987

• By early 1987, the Tour has been renamed the Doctor Who Celebration & Tour 87-88.
  • February 1987: The bus reaches Florida.
    • 8 February 1987: The bus stops in Tampa, Florida, with Peter Davison.
    • 21-21 February 1987: The Tour comes to DisneyWorld in Orlando, Florida, with Jon Pertwee.
    • 22-28 February 1987: The bus heads northwards again: Pertwee makes stops in Louisiana, and Birmingham, Alabama, before heading to Georgia later the same day.
      • USA TOUR in ALABAMA, 28 February 1987
    • 28 February 1987: That evening, at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia, Pertwee is joined by new Doctor Sylvester McCoy, and producer John Nathan-Turner. McCoy is interviewed by Eric Luskin.
    • 7 March 1987: Footage from Pertwee's visit aired with the Live from Atlanta TV "Special".
  • March 1987: The Tour heads north east.
    • 26-27 March 1987: Anthony Ainley and Janet Fielding call in at Baltimore, Maryland.
    • 4-5 July 1987: Heading north west, the Tour stops again at Chicago. (There are no guests during this leg of the tour.)
    • 1 August 1987: Westbound, the Tour arrives in Iowa, with Janet Fielding.

• • August to September 1987: The bus heads north west, stopping in Washington state.
    • 9 September 1987: His work on season 24 completed, Sylvester McCoy returns, and the bus travels south, and arrives in Los Angeles, California.
    • 3 October 1987: Jon Pertwee visits San Jose, California.
  • October 1987: Heading east again, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado (Denver), Texas are visited.
  • November 1987: The Tour stops in Oklahoma.
    • 5-6 December 1987: The Tour reaches Jackson, Mississippi.

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1988:

• 1988: The Tour once again heads north.
  • Early 1988: The Tour takes Sylvester McCoy to Urbana, Illinois.
  • Eventually, the bus heads towards the east coast again, where, after two years on the road, and having visited some 180+ locations, the Tour comes to an end.
  • The bus itself is eventually returned to the UK - and left to rot in a junkyard...

General Coverage of the Tour (External links)

• USA TOUR 1986 PHOTOS 1
• USA TOUR 1986 PHOTOS 2
• USA TOUR 1986 PHOTOS 3
• USA TOUR OVERVIEW - and the sad fate of the Bus...

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CLIP: USA TOUR in IOWA 1 August 1987