Swaziland
SWAZILAND is in the south west of Africa, on the border with XXX and XXX. It is a member of the British Commonwealth. ???????????
Contents
Population
When Doctor Who screened in Swaziland in 1978, the population was XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx (per WRTH, 1979).
TV & system
Swaziland began its television service on 1 February 1978, adopting the PAL colour broadcast system.
There is just one television station: Swaziland Television Authrity, a government-owned commercial broadcaster.
Language/s
The main language of Swaziland is English.
DOCTOR WHO IN SWAZILAND
Swaziland was the 47th country to screen Doctor Who; it was the 14th in Africa (see Selling Doctor Who).
BBC Records
The Eighties - The Lost Chapters records a sale of 30 stories (by 10 February 1987).
In DWM, Swaziland is identified in 4 story Archives: XXX, YYY in 1978, and 4A, 4B, in 1979.
Stories bought and broadcast
JON PERTWEE
XXX stories, XX episodes:
| . | . |
Swaziland therefore bought XXXX of the Jon Pertwee stories.
The programme was supplied as PAL colour video tapes with English soundtracks.
TOM BAKER
XXX stories, XX episodes:
| . | . |
Swaziland therefore bought GROUP XXXXX of the Tom Baker stories.
The programme was supplied as PAL colour video tapes with English soundtracks.
PETER DAVISON
One story, 4 episodes:
| 5W | Four to Doomsday | 4 |
Swaziland therefore bought one story from GROUP A of the Peter Davison stories.
The programme was supplied as PAL colour video tapes with English soundtracks.
Transmission
JON PERTWEE
Eleven days after television transmissions commenced in Swaziland, viewers saw Doctor Who; the series started on Saturday, 11 February 1978, at 6.30pm. After a run of 16 episodes, the series ended on 27 May 1978. (Mid-way through the run, the timeslot changed to 6.45pm.)
The series returned nine months later, on Saturday, 17 February 1979, at 6.00pm. This 14 week run ended on 19 May.
The third run of episodes began seven months later, on Saturday 5 January 1980, at 6.30pm. This was anther 14 week run, concluding on 5 April 1980.
It's not confirmed, but this run may have opened with Planet of the Spiders, and the last story was The Ark in Space.
TOM BAKER
When the series returned for its fourth run – on Saturday 8 November 1980 – it was the longest run, which lasted 39 weeks (with a break on 20 June 1981 due to coverage of a sporting event).
After a short break, it was back on Saturday, 26 September 1981, at 6.00pm, for 16 weeks, ending 9 January 1982.
Then eight months on, Nightmare of Eden aired on Saturday, 18 September 1982. This short 8-week run, ended on 6 November, with part four of The Horns of Nimon.
After another long break of nine months, The Leisure Hive opened the seventh run; from 6 August 1983 to 19 November 1983 – 16 weeks. Only three stories from Tom Baker's final season aired.
PETER DAVISON
The seventh run of episodes concluded with Peter Davison's second adventure, Four to Doomsday (which was the first story he recorded). The last episode aired on 19 November 1983.
122 episodes of Doctor Who screened over a five year period. As far as we can determine, this was made up of eight Pertwees, 19 Bakers, and one Davison, which is 28 stories – but The Eighties gave a total of 30 stories being sold. Either this total is out by two, or we have lost some episodes somewhere...
TV listings
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← AIRDATES ...... (CLICK ICON TO GO TO TABLE SHOWING EPISODE BREAKDOWN AND AIRDATES - N/S = story title is Not Stated) |
TV listings have been obtained from Times of Swaziland and The Swazi Observer.
Listings initially gave the series name as Dr Who xxxxxxxxxxx
None of the listings gave story titles until the 99th episode, which, from the published synopsis, was Nightmare of Eden.
The 20 May 1978 episode was billed as "Dr Who: Episode 4", and yet that was not only the 15th episode of that run, it was the second to last. This must have been a misprint, and it was the 3rd or 5th episode of whatever story was screening that day.
The 11 July 1981 listing gave the title as: "Dr Who: DR WHO".
For the short 8-week run in late 1982, the first five episodes were given short synopsis that described Nightmare of Eden; the last one must have been an error. The second episode was illustrated with a photo of Tom Baker. The final two episodes did give the title: "HORNS OF NIMON".
For the final run, the first episode was said to be set on "the island of Argolis"! The second story had two episodes billed as Meglos. The third was billed as Full Circle. The fourth and last was billed as 'FAIR TO DOMMSDAY", starring Peter Davidson {sic}. Oddly, the billing said it was Davison's second story, and yet this was the first and only one to screen!
Swaziland in Doctor Who
There are no instances where Swaziland is mentioned in the series.
Actor Richard E Grant, who played the Doctor in the web-cast adventure, Scream of the Shalka, in grew up in Swaziland; he left Swaziland in 1982, but says he had never seen Doctor Who, although it had been on for a few years by then…
References
