The Green Death
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| Story Code: TTT / Season 10 | UK Airdate: 19 May to 23 Jun 1973 | Doctor: Jon Pertwee |
| First airings by location | UK Repeats / Foreign Cable and Satellite | Previous Story / Next Story |
This story aired in the following known countries. They are listed in chronological order according to known airdate. If no month is noted, the actual airdate is not confirmed, and is a close approximate. (Refer also to Selling Doctor Who for expanded airdates.)
| Canada | 76 or 77 | NTSC |
| United States | Jul 77 | NTSC |
| Australia | May 78 | PAL |
| New Zealand | Jan 79 | PAL |
- Full PAL colour copies of the serial were sent to Australia along with b/w prints in mid-1973. The prints were assessed and given an "A" rating by the censors in October 1973; it therefore did not screen. This also meant that Commonwealth countries still buying the series and which would normally pay a lower rate than Australia, such as New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Gibraltar, could not afford to purchase the serial.
- While the film prints were most likely returned to the BBC, the PAL tapes were placed into storage.
- The story aired in Boston only; the rest of the United States did not get the serial until the 1983 re-issue. This appears to have been a special one-off deal struck between WGBX and the BBC that was in addition to the standard Time Life deal that was available elsewhere.
- The BBC took the opportunity to also sell the serial to Canadian stations TVO and CKVU at the same time, presumably to cover the costs of having NTSC conversions made. Those two stations could afford to pay the same Commonwealth rate as the ABC, so the sale of this story to Canada was not affected by the non-sale to Australia three years previously.
- The story was not offered to any Middle Eastern countries, so it didn't air in Saudi Arabia (in b/w) or United Arab Emirates (in PAL).
- CONSPIRACY THEORY: This might have been a deliberate tactful move by the BBC, because the serial did not necessarily paint the oil/chemical industry in a very good light...
- The ABC planned a repeat run of the colour Pertwee stories in 1978. The tapes in storage were assessed by the censor, and this time given a "G" rating; the story aired for the first time in sequence ahead of a repeat of The Time Warrior.
- This reassessment meant that New Zealand could also buy the serial. It screened after the Tom Baker story The Android Invasion. (The fact that Jon Pertwee was bringing his cabaret tour to NZ a few months later was almost entirely coincidental -- but was a happy stroke of ... wait for it! ... serendipity.)
Reissue
- The serial was also issued to the USA in mid-1983, as part of a package of 14 full colour Jon Pertwee stories.
- The Canadian cable station YTV was also offered the serial again, circa the 1990s (?).
US TV Guide descriptions
More Information
Title: The Green Death
- Part 1: A glowing corpse baffles UNIT, but Dr. Who can't help—he has problems of his own.
- Part 2: Evans has turned green and is dying, but Jo is unable to bring him to the surface.
- Part 3: Doctor Who brings and egg out of the mine, hoping to isolate the deadly virus.
- Part 4: Stevens orders the Brigadier to seal off the mine shaft with explosives.
- Part 5: Yates is captured by the computer and programmed to kill.
- Part 6: Dr. Who works to find a cure for the green disease and stop the computers from taking over the planet.
- Compilation: A glowing corpse is the first clue in the mysterious epidemic of "The Green Death."
