United States--1973-1977

• If reports of William Hartnell serials screening in Ensenada (and Tijuana?) in 1972 and/or 1973 are true (see our profile on Mexico), this would be the first time since 1965 that episodes of the first Doctor were available in the US, albeit only watched by those who spoke Spanish!
• 1973: Time-Life continues to promote the series, with print ads in industry magazines, such as Broadcasting.

Time Life Films ad, 26 March 1973 - Dr Who in the bottom row, second square

Time Life Films ad, 30 April 1973

Alan Enterprises Inc Advert, Dr Who and the Daleks / Daleks Invasion of Earth 2150AD, June 1973

• 1973: The two Peter Cushing movies are made available to television broadcasters by Alan Enterprises Inc.

• May 1976: Famous Monsters of Filmland (issue #126, cover dated July 1976) features "The Funtastic Adventures of DR. WHO", an overview of the series that was currently in syndication. (The article liberally pulls its facts and interviews from the 1972 Pan Books / Piccolo edition of The Making of Doctor Who.)

• 1976-1977: Off-air home recordings are taken of Doctor Who and the Silurians, The Ambassadors of Death, Terror of the Autons and The Daemons, which prove their value in later years...
• 1977: Harmony Books / Crown Publishers Inc publish Fantastic Television by Gary Gerani with Paul H Schulman. The "hopelessly lowbrow" series Doctor Who is given a two-page spread. It mentions that "Time-Life has up for offer 13 color Who adventures made in 1970 (sic) and starring John Pertwee (sic) for TV syndication in the US"; Tom Baker features in two photographs.
• In his final year as producer, Philip Hinchcliffe has discussions with BBC management about selling the series to the States. But management decrees that the sale of the Pertwee serials was not that successful...
• Indeed, by the end of 1977, only 16 markets within the US had purchased the package of 72 Pertwee episodes - and only a few of them actually screened all the episodes; the majority drop the series mid-run:
  • Pennsylvania (x2)
  • Florida (x3)
  • Arizona (x2)
  • Washington DC
  • California (x2)
  • Alaska
  • Iowa
  • Nebraska
  • Illinois
  • Massachusetts
  • New York
  • as well as US territory Guam

Fantastic Television, 1977

note Deborah Watling as the Invisible Man's daughter