Doctor Who USA Tour

For a more detailed summary of the various tour stops, dates, the guests travelling on the bus and admission prices, visit our DEDICATED PAGE HERE. For newspaper clippings, visit the Doctor Who Cuttings Archive.

1986

May 8

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

Controller of BBC One, Michael Grade, and Peter Davison appear at the inauguration, as the Doctor Who USA Tour trailer "bus" sets off from Washington DC to begin its two-year, multi-city journey...

It is hoped that most of the markets where Doctor Who is screened in America will be visited; some reports cite as many as 181 cities, while others state 185 - although it's clear that the actual number of stops made in the two-year period fell well short of that ambitious target.

Some of the city visits also coincide with organised conventions and other fan events.

• Interviews with Grade and BBC representative Brian Sloman appear in Starlog 113.

May to September

Wisconsin State Journal, Sept. 14, 1986

On its first leg, the tour visits Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, then back to New York.

• On 25 May 1986 the occupants of the bus participated in the Hands Across America event.
• 13-28 September 1986: The Tour heads south, visiting New York, Massachusetts and Ohio. (The two Bakers travelled together for some of the time during September, attending various Whovent 86 conventions along the way.)

October to December

• 4-5 October 1986: Colin Baker and Patrick Troughton travel on to Minnesota and Wisconsin.
• The Tour moves south through North Carolina and South Carolina with Jon Pertwee, who falls ill; he is accompanied by Paul Darrow and Michael Keating from Blake's 7 for part of the journey.
• The Tour takes a break from mid-December for six weeks.

1987

• During the hiatus period, the name and branding for the tour is changed to Doctor Who Celebration & Tour 87-88. For the second and third years of its travels, it is hoped the bus will visit at least 36 States.

Map showing the States and main cities to be visited during the second year of the tour

January to February

• Late January: The bus makes its first appearance of 1987 in Louisiana, at the annual NATPE Television showcase event held at the New Orleans Convention Centre, with Peter Davison on board.
• Davison and the trailer move on to Florida, where Jon Pertwee takes over.
• 21-21 February 1987: The Tour comes to Walt Disney World in Orlando.
• Prior to its arrival in Alabama, the bus's roof is damaged when it passes under a low bridge.
• 22-28 February 1987: The trailer 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.
  • Interview with Sylvester McCoy in Starlog 120.

McCoy, Pertwee, Nathan-Turner interviewed by Eric Luskin

Doctor Who Celebration & Tour 87-88

March

Live from Atlanta, 7 March 1987

The Tour heads north east.

• 1 March 1987: Pertwee's stopover in Atlanta is recorded, and the Live from Atlanta TV special airs on 7 March.
• 26-27 March 1987: Anthony Ainley and Janet Fielding call in at Baltimore.
• 27-28 March 1987: Sylvester McCoy returns to the US, and joins the bus as it heads to Virginia.

April to May

McCoy continues to Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. John Nathan-Turner is picked up in New York. Janet Fielding joins in Ohio, while Sarah Sutton accompanies the tour through Pennsylvania and back through Ohio to Indiana.

• 16-17 May 1987: The Tour stops at the WGBH studios in Boston with Sylvester McCoy (who has just completed recording Time and the Rani). On the night of 17 May, a special "Dinner With the Doctor" is held.

McCoy on WVIA

TV commercial on WGVU

July to August

• 2 July 1987: The Tour visits west Michigan; Janet Fielding makes an appearance at locally-sponsored events.
• 4-5 July 1987: Heading north west, the Tour stops at Chicago. (There are no guests during this leg of the tour.)
• 9 July 1987: Sylvester McCoy returns, visiting Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
• 25 July to 1 August 1987: Westbound, the Tour arrives in North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa, now with Janet Fielding.

Iowa, Aug. 1, 1987

August to September

The trailer heads west, stopping in Missouri, Kansas and Colorado with John Nathan-Turner on board.

• 5-9 September 1987: His work on season 24 completed, Sylvester McCoy rejoins the tour, and the trailer travels to Washington state, then south to Los Angeles.
• September to October 1987: Jon Pertwee visits Portland, Oregon, then Sacramento (and possibly also San Jose?) in California.
• October to November 1987: Heading east again, the bus passes through Arizona, New Mexico, Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi with Pertwee for the latter leg.
• 5-12 December 1987: The Tour moves through Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana; with Jon Pertwee at the last few stops.

End of the Road...

• Although the tour had been planned to continue into 1988, the December 1987 leg was to be its final stretch.
• After some 20 months on the road with over 90 locations visited (less than half the originally planned 180+) the trailer and exhibits were shipped back to the UK.
• In December 2001, the rusting remains of the bus were spotted in a scrapyard in the township of New Mills in the High Peak...

General coverage of the tour (External links)

• FACEBOOK Group dedicated to the Bus Tour
• USA TOUR 1986 PHOTOS 1
• USA TOUR 1986 PHOTOS 2
• USA TOUR 1986 PHOTOS 3
• USA TOUR OVERVIEW - and the sad fate of the Trailer...