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.
- The film prints and the tapes were returned to the BBC.
- The story was not offered to any Middle Eastern countries, so it didn't air at the ARAMCO base in Saudi Arabia (in black and white along with the rest of the tenth season), or in the United Arab Emirates (in PAL). Since Saudi did not acquire the story does suggest that 16mm b/w prints were no longer available for bicycling in 1977/78 (since there were no prints struck for sales to Hong Kong, Singapore or Gibraltar), and the BBC didn't want to or couldn't strike a fresh set for a single sale to the Middle East.
- CONSPIRACY THEORY: Alternatively, not selling it to the ARAMCO station and Dubai might have been a deliberate tactful move by the BBC because the serial did not necessarily paint the oil/chemical industry in a positive light...
- The story aired in Boston only; the rest of the United States did not get the serial until the 1983 re-issue (see below). 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. Canada fell under the "North America" sales region along with the USA, and thus was not affected by the non-sale to Australia and other Commonwealth countries three years previously, so was able to piggy-back on the Boston deal.
- In 1978, the ABC planned a repeat run of the Pertwee stories that were available in PAL colour. Since this story had been rated "A" in 1973, the ABC requested that the censor review and reclassify the serial. Tapes were supplied by the BBC, and it was 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 it 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."
