Rhodesia / Zimbabwe
This country, located in south east Africa, was known as Rhodesia / Zimbabwe until 1 June 1979 when it was renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia. Previously a British colony, it achieved independence in 17 April 1980 and was renamed just Zimbabawe. It was a member of the British Commonwealth, but was ousted from membership following political unrest in 19XX.
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Population
When Doctor Who screened in Rhodesia in 1966, the population was 4,136,000, and licensed TV sets numbered only 39,000 (per WRTH, 1966).
In 1980, the population of Zimbabwe was XXXXX, and TV sets numbered XXXXX.
TV & system
North Rhodesia began its television service in 1960, and North Rhodesia began its service a year later.
There is just one television station: Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation, a government-owned commercial broadcaster. ???????????????/
Colour transmissions began in 1984 using the PAL colour broadcast system. When the series returned in 1980, the episodes were broadcast in black and white. This would suggest that the 14 episodes that aired in 1980 were Jon Pertwee stories, as the BBC was still marketing his stories as 16mm film prints in that year (see Bangladesh), however there is strong supporting evidence that suggests these might have actually been Tom Baker stories, although these were ever tele-recorded. The evidence is that on 1 January 1981, Blakes 7 commenced transmission, also in black and white. That series was never tele-recorded onto 16mm black and white film. The broadcaster therefore received the episodes on PAL colour video tape, but the broadcast signal was black and white.
This is the only known in the broadcast history of Doctor Who in which this occurred.
Language/s
The main language of Rhodesia / Zimbabwe is English.
DOCTOR WHO IN RHODESIA / ZIMBABWE
Rhodesia / Zimbabwe was the 9th country to screen Doctor Who (see Selling Doctor Who).
BBC Records
The Stanmark Productions Ltd advertisement from 1966, identifies Rhodesia as one twelve countries screening Doctor Who in that year.
The Seventies records a sale of 11 stories by 28 February 1977. The Handbook identifies these as being: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, {{L}.
In DWM, Rhodesia / Zimbabwe is identified in the Archives of the same 11 stories.
The Eighties the Lost Chapters records a sale (by 10 February 1987) of 4 stories to Rhodesia and 4 to Zimbabwe. Rather than this being a total of 8, it's likely the record is actually 4 to "Rhodesia / Zimbabwe". Indeed only 14 episodes did air in late 1980/early 1981, which can be broken down into four stories, 4-4-4-2.
Nigeria was the previous African country to screen the William Hartnell stories in 1965, so it’s possible that Rhodesia was sent the same set of prints shortly after transmission in Nigeria.
Stories bought and broadcast
WILLIAM HARTNELL
Eleven stories, 53 episodes:
| A | An Unearthly Child | 4 |
| B | The Daleks | 7 |
| C | Inside the Spaceship | 2 |
| D | Marco Polo | 7 |
| E | The Keys of Marinus | 6 |
| F | The Aztecs | 4 |
| G | The Sensorites | 6 |
| H | The Reign of Terror | 6 |
| J | Planet of Giants | 3 |
| K | The Dalek Invasion of Earth | 6 |
| L | The Rescue | 2 |
Rhodesia therefore bought GROUPs A, B and C of the William Hartnell stories.
The programme was supplied as 16mm black and white film prints with English soundtracks.
TOM BAKER
Four stories, 14 episodes:
The titles are not confirmed, but it is likely to have been these four stories:
| 4A | Robot | 4 |
| 4B | The Sontaran Experiment | 2 |
| 4C | The Ark in Space | 4 |
| 4D | Revenge of the Cybermen | 4 |
Zimbabwe therefore bought part of GROUP A of the Tom Baker stories.
The programme would have been supplied on PAL colour video tapes with English soundtracks, however they would have been broadcast in black and white, as Zimbabwe did not introduce colour transmissions until 1984.
Transmission
WILLIAM HARTNELL
Rhodesia saw the first episode on Sunday, 26 September 1965, at 5.40pm. The series remained on that day and timeslot until at least 9 January 1966. TV listings after that date have not been located. If the series aired uninterrupted, then it ran until 25 September 1966.
TOM BAKER
From Thursday, 2 October 1980, until 1 January 1981, at 6.15pm, Zimbabwe viewers saw 14 episodes of Doctor Who. According to The Eighties, there were 4 stories aired prior to 1987. As noted above, it's more than likely these were four Tom Baker stories. These screened in black and white, making Zimbabwe the only instance of Baker being broadcast and seen in black and white.
TV listings
TV listings have been obtained from the newspaper The Rhodesia Herald, based in Salisbury.
For the Hartnell episodes, the listings for DR WHO were printed in a TV Week pull-out guide. Unfortunately the supplement was either no longer printed after the 9 January 1966 issue, or it was simply not photographed during the transfer to microfilm. Therefore listings are not confirmed after Marco Polo episode three, and are therefore assumed in the Airdates guide.
The third episode was called A Forest of Fear (sic).
Fate of the Prints
The next African country to air Doctor Who was Zambia, in from October 1965. It is possible that Rhodesia sent its prints of the Hartnell stories to Zambia.
Rhodesia / Zimbabwe in Doctor Who
There are no instances where Rhodesia / Zimbabwe is mentioned in the series.
References
