Doctor Who in the United States and Canada
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British science fiction television series Doctor Who debuted on North American television in January 1965 on CBC.
History
The beginning
Doctor Who had an early Canadian connection. The series was conceived by Canadian expatriate Sydney Newman while he was the BBC's Head of Drama. The series may have been inspired by a short-lived segment (canceled because parents complained that it was "too frightening" for their children) on the Canadian version of Howdy Doody. The segment featured a character surprisingly similar to the Doctor, a puppet called Mr. X who traveled through time and space in his "Whatsis Box" teaching children about history. Newman oversaw this series while working as head of programming for the CBC.[1][2] Newman maintained a guiding influence over Doctor Who until he left the BBC in 1967 and was in talks with the BBC in 1986, when the show was foundering, to reformat the show and take the role of executive producer.[3]
The series made its North American premiere in January 1965 on CBC with the broadcast of William Hartnell's first 26 episodes, fourteen months following their first airing on the BBC.[4] The CBC did not renew the program and it would not reappear on the network for 40 years.
The 1970s: Doctor Who sold to the United States
The BBC series was originally sold to television stations in the United States in 1972, with
In 1978,
Return to Canada: TVOntario and CPN
In Canada,
Meanwhile, in other parts of Canada, Doctor Who became accessible again in the late 1970s as cable television provided many areas with
1980s
In the mid-1980s, as more stations began to show the existing 1960s episodes, Lionheart (the program's American distributor in the 1980s) dispensed with the older Time-Life tapes containing the Howard Da Silva narrations. Lionheart also offered stations the choice between the standard 25-minute episodes, or a longer version that some stations termed Whovies. These "omnibus editions", or, "movie versions" as they were also known, edited multi-part serials into a single, feature-length film, by cutting out the opening and closing credits, as well as the recap of the
Success of the program in America was sealed by personal appearances of cast members and production staff at science fiction conventions, and by the national airing on PBS of the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors two days before the BBC. In November 1983, on the weekend after the airing of The Five Doctors, four actors who played the Doctor (Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison and Tom Baker) and many of those who played the Doctor's companions over the series' first two decades on television appeared at a standing-room-only event in Chicago, the start of a Thanksgiving Day weekend celebration that continues annually[9] (Chicago TARDIS).
In 1986, BBC Enterprises organised the Doctor Who USA Tour, a two-year travelling exhibition of props and memorabilia from the program, showcased in a 48-foot trailer decorated with alien landscapes from the show, police box entrances, and a mock-up of the TARDIS interior. Many tour stops included guest appearances from cast members.
The statewide PBS chain New Jersey Network was enthusiastic on the series, scheduling pre-1970 serials as well as being the first to broadcast the new season of the program in 1985.[citation needed] NJN staff member Eric Luskin hosted and produced three documentaries on the series, the latter a "behind the scenes" look at the production of the 25th anniversary story Silver Nemesis.
On 22 November 1987, during a broadcast of the serial
Once the series ceased production in 1989, the number of stations carrying Doctor Who naturally dropped, although the program's popularity had been waning in the United States for some years. As most stations were in the practice of purchasing the omnibus "movie versions" of the series rather than the fourteen episodes produced annually in its last four years, stations only received four feature-length stories each January.
Meanwhile, Iowa Public Television (IPTV), the statewide PBS network for the state of Iowa, saw increased interest in Doctor Who, which was aired on a Friday late-night science fiction marathon alongside Red Dwarf and other British science fiction pieces. IPTV is the only television network (or station, or channel) in the world to have aired Doctor Who virtually continuously from its introduction in 1974 until the present. This totals 35 out of 40 years as of 2014, due to one break of about five years between 1979 and 1984, with other breaks of only a few months or weeks.[13]
Proposed Nelvana animated series
In 1990, following the cancellation of the live action series, the BBC approached the Canadian animation house Nelvana to propose an animated continuation of the show. The cartoon series was to feature an unspecified Doctor incorporating elements of various BBC series Doctors and was not to be oriented to an audience younger than that of the live action series but was intended to be a continuation of the cancelled series but in animated form in order to save costs but with design elements that would promote merchandise sales.[14]
According to Nelvana's Ted Bastien: "We went through a lot of development on it, then we were scripting and storyboarding it and about 4 scripts had been written. It happened really fast".[14]
Concept art was prepared depicting several possible versions of the Doctor modelled on actors such as
The series would have been Nelvana's biggest show to date, however, according to Bastien, "it was pulled out from under us" after a British animation studio told the BBC that it could do what Nelvana intended for a much lower price.[14] The project did not proceed further and no pilot was produced.[15][16][17]
Later years
1996 television movie
National awareness of Doctor Who temporarily increased when the
At the same time, Fox was also broadcasting the dimension-hopping science fiction series Sliders which was facing its own struggles for renewal following average to middling ratings.[18] Coincidentally, Sliders was owned by Universal Pictures, but when it came to supporting one series or another, the studio predictably backed the one that it wholly owned rather than the one for which it was merely a co-production partner. As a result, when the new Fall schedule was announced, Doctor Who was not on the list.[citation needed] Universal did try to find Doctor Who a home on another broadcast or cable network, but were unsuccessful by the time their relationship expired with the BBC on 31 December 1997.
The TV movie was the first time a Doctor Who adventure was broadcast across the United States at the same time.
The movie was filmed in
Later syndication of the original series
The first Canadian cable network to air Doctor Who was
The original Hartnell and Troughton-era episodes aired daily on the Canadian science-fiction channel Space (now known as CTV Sci-Fi Channel) following the channel's launch in late 1997; however the black and white episodes did not attract the hoped for viewership and were dropped after a year.
In the 1990s, fewer PBS stations carried Doctor Who, although a few continued to broadcast the series. In the mid-1990s WXEL in West Palm Beach, Florida aired several episodes never before broadcast in America.
By the early 2000s, only a small percentage of the 1980s-era tally of PBS stations still carried the program. In late 2004, the BBC began to stop sending any more episodes to PBS stations and not to renew current contracts as they expired. According to a report by the BBC, this was due to negotiations with commercial U.S. networks to broadcast the new series of Doctor Who. This meant that PBS stations had only their in-house libraries of Doctor Who stories to draw on, and several public television stations stopped broadcasting the programme altogether. By early 2006, only
On 19 December 2006 it was announced that
The classic series ran on the Canadian digital channel BBC Kids from 2001 until 2010 showing episodes from Jon Pertwee through Sylvester McCoy.
American digital broadcast network
The new series
2005–06: Series 1
In 2005, media reports suggested that the
Initially, the Region 1 DVD release announced for 14 February 2006 was limited to Canada, with the US release delayed until a broadcaster could be found. When none seemed forthcoming, BBC Worldwide announced that the US DVD release would be available at the same time as the Canadian one.[21] In the interim, however, Series 1 was picked up by Sci Fi, so while the Canadian DVD release went ahead as scheduled the US DVD release was pushed back to 4 July 2006.[22][23] Series 1 began airing on Sci Fi on 17 March 2006.[24]
In the Sci Fi Channel's broadcasts of Series 1, the episodes (which appear to run off the same master tapes used in Canada) were edited for time, and for added commercial breaks, although the cuts made for US broadcast appear to differ from those made for Canadian television. With commercials, the total runtime per episode is one hour. In addition, the "Next Time" trailers are edited out in favour of original Sci Fi teasers run on the right two-thirds of the screen while the original credits are "crushed" to the left.
The initial Sci Fi Channel broadcasts of Series 1 attained an average Nielsen Rating of 1.3, representing 1.5 million viewers in total.[25] Although these ratings were less than those reached by Sci Fi's original series Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, they reflect a 44% increase in ratings and a 56% increase in viewership over the same timeslot in the second quarter of 2005, as well as increases of 56% and 57% in two key demographics.[25][26]
2006–08: Series 2-4
"The Christmas Invasion" aired on the Sci Fi Channel on 29 September 2006, along with the first episode of Series 2, New Earth.[27] They were subsequently followed by the rest of season two, which completed airing on 22 December 2006. The second series did not fare quite as well in the ratings, averaging a 1.05 household Nielsen rating.[28]
The third season began airing on the Sci Fi Channel on 6 July 2007.[29] The first two episodes of season three, "The Runaway Bride" and "Smith and Jones", earned 0.9 Nielsen ratings. Later episode "The Lazarus Experiment" earned a 0.8 rating, but the last two episodes and of the season, "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords" both earned 1.0 ratings. The third season averaged 1.3 million viewers.[30]
The Sci Fi Channel began airing season four on 18 April 2008.[33] The season four premiere episode, "Voyage of the Damned", earned a 1.1 rating and captured 1.48 million viewers, making it the best-rated season premiere since the pilot and the episode with the most viewers since 2006.[34] The season finale, broadcast in a special 90-minute time slot, earned a 1.0 rating and 1.26 million viewers. Season four as a whole was rated 25% higher than season three in household ratings, and 17% higher in number of viewers.[35]
The cable/satellite network
2008–10: First set of specials and Series 5
The CBC did not broadcast either the 2007 Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned or the 2008 follow-up, The Next Doctor and did not broadcast the 2009–2010 specials. After airing the 2009–2010 specials BBC America also acquired the American television rights to the 5th season in 2009.[40] BBC America began airing this season on 17 April 2010.
Series five was aired on the Canadian cable channel
Space also began airing Doctor Who specials in 2009. The Next Doctor aired on 14 March 2009 and Planet of the Dead aired on 25 July 2009, Waters of Mars aired later in the year and "The End of Time" two-parter aired 2 January 2010.[41][42] BBC America aired these two specials on 27 June 2009[43] and on 26 July 2009.[44] respectively. Space aired Voyage of the Damned in April 2010.[42]
BBC America's airing of The Waters of Mars on 19 December 2009 earned the channel 1.1 million views, its highest ever prime-time ratings to that date.[45] Part one of "The End of Time" aired on 26 December 2009 with part two airing 2 January 2010.[46]
The Sarah Jane Adventures aired on the Canadian digital channel BBC Kids.
BBC America aired A Christmas Carol on Christmas Day, 2010, making this the first episode of the revived series to be aired in North America on the same day as in the UK.
2011: Series 6
The first part of the
2019: HBO Max
In 2019, the BBC announced that
2023: Disney+
On 25 October 2022, it was announced that beginning in 2023, future episodes of Doctor Who would no longer air on BBC America and will instead stream on Disney+ in the U.S.,[48] and in Canada.[49]
Fandom
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2016) |
Initially, the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, the British Doctor Who fan club, had North American chapters but by the early 1980s decided to divest themselves of international components for administrative reasons. As a result, national fan organisations sprang up in North America, including the North American Doctor Who Appreciation Society (which took over from DWAS), the Doctor Who Fan Club of America (which organised regional weekend events with actors headlining the event), the Friends of Doctor Who, and the Canada-based Doctor Who Information Network (which was originally a DWAS chapter). Most of these organisations folded by the 1990s (Friends of Doctor Who lasting to the end of that decade) although the Doctor Who Information Network still continues (celebrating its 33rd anniversary in 2013) and is now the longest-running Doctor Who fan club in North America.
Local fan groups also developed, some disbanding when the series ended production, others which are still running; among those still in operation are The Whoosier Network (Indiana, celebrating its 29th anniversary in 2013), the North East Wisconsin Friends of The Doctor (NEWFOD), the Prydonians of Prynceton (New Jersey), the Guardians of Gallifrey (Central Florida), Tardis Repairs Inc. (aka TRI, Southern Florida), Doctor Who New York and the Gallifreyan Embassy of Long Island (New York), the Atlanta Gallifreyans (Georgia), The Earthbound TimeLords (Wauwatosa, WI), The Milwaukee Time Lords (Milwaukee, WI) and the Time Meddlers of Los Angeles (California). Other prominent fan groups have included the Unearthly Children (Pennsylvania), Friends of the Time Lord and UNIT (Massachusetts), T.A.R.D.I.S. (Arizona), the Legion of Rassilon (Northern California), Emerald City Androgums (Washington state), Motor City TARDIS (Michigan), the St. Louis CIA (Missouri), Space City Time Lords and the International House of Daleks (Texas) and the Chronicles of Who (Illinois). Many others have existed over the years. [50]
Fan support of the 'Classic' series, while not as pronounced as in its heyday in the 1980s, has continued in light of the current revival of the program, with a huge resurgence in mainstream popularity that reached its peak at the height of Matt Smith's tenure as the Doctor. As of 2016, many annual fan-run events occur in America that are exclusively devoted to both 'generations' of the series: the popular Gallifrey One (which has been running annually since 1990) which takes place in February in the Los Angeles area; Chicago TARDIS (begun in 2000) taking place in late November; Hurricane Who (begun in 2009) taking place in Orlando; the Sci Fi Sea Cruise which runs out of different ports annually to destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean; and such newer events as Long Island Who (New York), Regeneration Who (Maryland), WhoFestDFW (Texas), ConKasterborous (Alabama), Time Eddy (Kansas), Console Room (Minnesota), TimeGate (Georgia) and Anglicon (Washington state). In recent years, many major comic book/media events such as the very popular San Diego Comic Con and other local comic events, plus trade shows such as Wizard World and DragonCon, have featured top-billed Doctor Who actors as guest stars. Other local events, including those promoted by the Meetup.com website, have spawned local fan gatherings, including the Tampa Time Lord Fest in Florida and the "Galliday" themed event at Disneyland in southern California.[51]
Many expressions of fan interest have moved online exclusively. Though the series is a product of the United Kingdom, North American support for the program online has been as fervent and, in some cases, more prominent. Shaun Lyon's Outpost Gallifrey website, statistically the most popular fan-created Doctor Who website in the series' history, originated out of Los Angeles and supported its extremely popular discussion forum community. While Outpost Gallifrey closed during the summer of 2009, it was succeeded by the Gallifrey Base discussion forum, based in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Siobhan Morgan's "The Doctor Who Homepage," one of the earliest Doctor Who information pages and still a widely regarded portal site, is based in Illinois. Shannon Patrick Sullivan's "Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel)" and Dominique Boies' "The Doctor Who Guide," both popular Doctor Who reference sites, are based out of Newfoundland and Ontario, Canada, respectively. More recently, the Doctor Who pages of scifi.com, the website of the Sci Fi Channel (which broadcasts the new series episodes) attracts hundreds of fans to its own forum community. Dozens of other popular Doctor Who web pages continue to thrive, and the earlier UseNET newsgroup rec.arts.drwho – a central source of Doctor Who discussion during the 1980s and 90s – still attracts fans.
In the late 2000s, new media developments led to several worldwide internet radio and podcast broadcasts. A variety of popular podcasts from both the United States and Canada serves the population; most notable is the Radio Free Skaro podcast (originating in Edmonton, Alberta and Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada), with countless others available for direct download on various websites as well as through sources such as iTunes.
See also
- Doctor Who DVD releases, including North America (Region 1) releases
- Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion
References
- ISBN 1-55285-146-X
- ^ Bunch, Adam (26 November 2013). "The Torontonian roots of Doctor Who — the Canadian behind the legendary TV show". Spacing Toronto. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ISBN 0-7535-0128-7.
- ^ Hill, Steven Warren (2017), Red White and Who: The Story of Doctor Who in America, Cockeysville,MD: ATB Publishing, p. 23-24
- ^ a b "Robert J. Sawyer: Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Science Fiction Writer". sfwriter.com.
- ^ "Judith Merril 1923–1997". Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
- ^ Judith Merril
- ^ "That time when Doctor Who educated Ontario" by Ed Conroy, BlogTO (3 September 2012)
- ^ "Reviewed: Doctor Who's 20th Anniversary – At Last, The 1983 Show". The Doctor Who Companion. 13 October 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
- ^ Camper, John (27 November 1987). "Powerful Video Prankster c-c-c-could become Max Jailroom" (reprint). Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 8 September 2006.
- ^ Spychalski, Thomas. "Doctor Who and the Video Pirate". Doctor Who in America/Worldwide. Retrieved 8 September 2006.
- ^ "Max Headroom WTTW Pirating Incident - 11/22/87 (Subtitled)". WTTW Chicago. 22 November 1987. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2016 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Why does Iowa like Doctor Who so much?". New Statesman. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "That time when Doctor Who was reborn in Toronto". BlogTO. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
- ISBN 0-426-20499-9.
- ^ Bailey, Shaun (Producer); Kalangis, Johnny (Director) (2004). The Planet of the Doctor, Part 6: Doctor Who & Culture II (QuickTime or Windows Media) (Documentary). Toronto: CBC Television. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
- ^ "Planet of the Doctor". CBC Television. Archived from the original on 1 December 2005. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
- ^ Nollinger, Mark (7 December 1996). "Still Sliding Despite a Bumpy Ride". TV Guide.com. reprinted at Sliders fansite. Retrieved 14 June 2006.
- ^ "Azureus Announces Content Agreement with BBC Worldwide". Business Wire. 19 December 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2006.
- ^ "BBC moves to file-sharing sites". BBC News. BBC. 20 December 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2006.
- ^ "DVD for the USA". BBC. 30 November 2005. Retrieved 14 June 2006.
- ^ "Doctor Who checks into SCI FI". BBC. 12 January 2006. Archived from the original on 27 May 2006. Retrieved 14 June 2006.
- ^ "SCI FI To Air New Doctor Who". Sci Fi Channel. 13 January 2006. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 14 June 2006.
- ^ March 2006&feed_req[dead link]
- ^ a b "Who Boosts SCI FI Ratings". Sci Fi Channel. 13 June 2006. Archived from the original on 3 July 2006. Retrieved 14 June 2006.
- ^ "Ratings rise for SCI FI Friday season finales". GateWorld. 28 March 2006. Archived from the original on 19 May 2006. Retrieved 14 June 2006.
- ^ "SCI FI Gets Who Season Two". SciFi.com. Sci Fi. 10 August 2006. Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 10 August 2006.
- ^ "Breaking News – Mixed Results for USA, Sci Fi Winter Launches". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved 23 January 2007.
- ^ "Sci Fi Channel Unveils Its Biggest Summer Yet With New Original Series And Returning Hits". nbcumv.com. Retrieved 27 April 2007.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "DOCTOR WHO SEASON FOUR AND THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES COMING TO SCI FI CHANNEL IN APRIL". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
- ^ CBC: No News Yet on Series 4 Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Doctor Who Information Network, accessed 1 May 2008
- ^ "Welcome to DWIN: the Doctor Who Information Network!". www.dwin.org. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011.
- ^ "Doctor Who". SCIFI.COM. Archived from the original on 6 April 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
- ^ "Breaking News – 'DOCTOR WHO' RETURNS TO SCI FI WITH BEST SEASON PREMIERE SINCE SEASON 1". TheFutonCritic.com.
- ^ "Breaking News - Sci Fi's 'Doctor Who' Season Finale Ends with Double Digit Growth | TheFutonCritic.com". www.thefutoncritic.com.
- ^ Benjamin F., Elliot (19 December 2006). "US PBS Station Gets New Who". gallifreyone.com. Outpost Gallifrey. Retrieved 28 December 2006.
- ^ "NEW DOCTOR WHO SERIES COMING TO CET". WCET. 22 December 2006. Archived from the original on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2006.
- ^ Benjamin F., Elliot (20 February 2007). "40 PBS Stations Airing Eccleston DW Episodes So Far". News. Outpost Gallifrey. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
- ^ "Program Information". KERA-TV.com. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
- ^ "TV Episode Guides, Reviews, Videos, Wikis & TV Show Previews - IGN" – via www.ign.com.
- ^ Doctor Who specials abound, Toronto Sun, 18 December 2009
- ^ a b "BBC Worldwide and Space Wrap Up Sci-Fi". channelcanada.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
- ^ Thielman, Sam (27 May 2009). "'Doctor Who' returns to BBC America". Variety. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
- ^ "BBC AMERICA HD Launches 20 July with a Special Sci-Fi Week". channels.isp.netscape.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
- ^ "Doctor Who achieves record US audience", The Guardian, 23 December 2009
- ^ "Boxing Day is 'Doctor Who' Tennant finale day on BBC AMERICA - Monsters and Critics". Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
- ^ "Is There a Doctor in the House?" (Press release). BBC Studios. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ Ritman, Alex (25 October 2022). "'Doctor Who' Heading to Disney+ in Landmark Streaming Deal". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- ^ "Disney+ to become Canadian streaming home of Doctor Who in 2023". 25 October 2022.
- ^ Hill, Steven Warren (2017), Red White and Who: The Story of Doctor Who in America, Cockeysville,MD: ATB Publishing, p. 635-641
- ^ Hill, Steven Warren (2017), Red White and Who: The Story of Doctor Who in America, Cockeysville,MD: ATB Publishing, p. 553-552
External links
TVOntario clips
- TVOntario Dr. Jim Dator 1977, Jim Dator hosted extro to an episode of the Doctor Who story Planet of the Spiders (1977)
- TVOntario Jim Dator Farewell 1977 Dator's final Doctor Who extro. (1977)
- TVOntario Dr. Who Judith Merril 1978 1978 Judith Merril extro to an episode of Terror of the Zygons (1978)
- TVOntario More Judith Merril 1978 Judith Merril extro to another episode of the same series (1978)
General Sites
- Doctor Who at SYFY.COM
- Doctor Who Archived 15 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine on BBC America
- Outpost Gallifrey
- The Doctor Who Home Page (Nitro 9)
- The Doctor Who Guide
- "This Week in Doctor Who", weekly listing of Doctor Who airings worldwide
- List of US Doctor Who Conventions
- Doctor Who airdates in the US
- Doctor Who airdates in Canada
- Conventions
- Gallifrey One (February, Los Angeles, CA)
- Chicago TARDIS (November, Chicago, IL)
- New England Fan Experience, formerly United Fan Con (November, Boston area, MA)
- L.I. Who (Long Island, NY)
- Sci Fi Sea Cruise
- TimeGate (May, Atlanta, GA)
- Hurricane Who (Orlando, FL; begins October 2009)
- Anglicon (Seattle, WA; returns June 2015)
- Fan Organizations
- Legion of Rassilon (Northern California)
- Doctor Who Information Network (DWIN) (Canada)
- Prydonians of Prynceton (New Jersey)
- Time Meddlers of Los Angeles (California)
- Gallifreyan Embassy of Long Island (New York)
- Doctor Who New York (New York)
- Guardians of Gallifrey (Florida)
- Atlanta Gallifreyans Georgia
- Emerald City Androgums Seattle, WA
- Earthbound TimeLords Wauwatosa, WI
- Milwaukee Time Lords Milwaukee, WI
- Webcasts