Africa

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After it had exploited Doctor Who to countries in Australasia and Asia, the BBC turned its attention to its colonies and Commonwealth nations in Africa, selling William Hartnell stories to Nigeria, Rhodesia, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Mauritius and Sierra Leone all within the two year period, 1965 to 1967.

After that, the BBC then sold the newly-translated Arabic package of season 1 and 2 serials to the North African countries Tunisia, Morocco and Libya from 1967 to 1969, with the last of the Arabic Hartnell stories sold to Algeria in 1973.

Ethiopia was the final English-speaking African country to purchase any William Hartnell stories in the 1970s.

The BBC had only moderate success with selling colour stories to Africa in the late 1970s / early and late 1980s, with only Rhodesia and Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Swaziland, Seychelles, and Sierra Leone picking up Jon Pertwee and/or Tom Baker episodes. Only Swaziland and Seychelles are known to have aired Peter Davison serials. Baker and/or Davison episodes apparently also aired in Botswana and Burkina Faso, but no listings could be found.

Satellite channels such as BBC Prime were available in parts of north Africa in the mid 1990s.


Africa in Doctor Who

Non country specific references have featured in the following stories:

  • Africa was wiped out by the invading Daleks (The Dalek Invasion of Earth).
  • Birds from Africa were on board The Ark.
  • When the image of Mondas appears on the screen, Barclay sees what looks like Africa (The Tenth Planet).
  • There was an Ioniser Base in South Africa. Refugees were being sent to African Rehabilitation Centres (The Ice Warriors).
  • Scorby served as a mercenary in Africa and the Middle East (The Seeds of Doom).
  • Burton says he once hunted buffalo in Africa! (Delta and the Bannermen).
  • Redvers Fen Cooper spoke of Stanley and Livingstone, Oluti Forest pygmies, and "the interior". Mention is made of Tarzan and a N'Taba chief (Ghost Light).


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