Retro Television Network
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The RETRO TELEVISION NETWORK was launched in July 2005. Specialising in "classic" drama and comedy, it was originally designed to be broadcast "free" on the digital sub-channels of its affiliate host television stations.
It was re-branded as retro tv in 2013. In August 2014, it started screening Doctor Who.
DOCTOR WHO ON RETRO TV
- 4 August 2014: The station began airing William Hartnell stories, two episodes back to back per day (at 8:00 and 8:30pm), Monday to Friday.
- On Saturdays, four episodes from earlier stories are repeated at 6:00 to 8:00pm. For the entire run on Retro, two streams were in rotation: one stream in story order on weekends, another with a different Doctor on weekdays. And repeat ...
- All Hartnell and Troughton episodes have been VidFIREd. The Aztecs and The Dalek Invasion of Earth are skipped.
- 18 September 2014: The Patrick Troughton episodes begin (without The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Web of Fear or The Enemy of the World).
- 29 September 2014: The Jon Pertwee stories begin. Spearhead from Space is skipped. All stories appear in color; stories such as The Mind of Evil are the recolourised versions created for the BBC DVD releases.
- 31 October 2014: A sub-station called RTVN commences screening the same episodes as its parent, but from time to time it aired alternatives. RTVN was only available in some of the same regions.
- 15 December 2014: The Tom Baker stories begin.
- 8 April 2015: The run of Peter Davison stories begin.
- 25 May 2015: Colin Baker stories are added to the rotation.
- 18 June 2015: Sylvester McCoy stories debut.
- 28 June 2015: RTVN ceases screening separate schedules, and from 29 June airs the same as Retro TV. The channel subsequently closed down in 2019.
- From 14 July 2015 onwards, with the seven Doctors now in the mix, the two separate streams continue: one stream of stories playing daily, Monday to Saturday, and a different stream on Sundays only.
- As of early October 2020, the weekday stream was showing Peter Davison stories (season 20), while Sunday was Tom Baker (season 16, the Key to Time).
- From 19 November 2020, the screenings had cycled back to William Hartnell, with An Unearthly Child.
- January 2021: Jon Pertwee episodes each week-day, and William Hartnell (back again, after a run of Colin Baker) at the weekends.
- February - April 2021: More Pertwee, then Tom Baker stories weekdays, with Hartnell, Troughton, and Pertwees at the weekend.
- June 2021: Peter Davison on weekdays...
- July to end of 2021: The serials have cycled through Colin Baker, McCoy, Hartnell and back to Troughton, then Pertwee on weekdays...
- As 2022 begins, it's once again back to Peter Davison on the weekends, and Tom Baker weekdays... with the run taking a break in mid November 2022 during a run of Bakers.
- ... but the series returns in April 2023... but three months later, it's gone again - the final story to air for the time-being is Robot, with all four parts airing back-to-back on 2 July 2023. But it's back in December with the usual complete story every Saturday and Sunday, and a different cycle of episodes on weekdays, continuing into 2024...
Airdates
Full airdates for both channels are listed on the This Week in Doctor Who site:
