Finland
FINLAND is part of Fenno-Scandinavia, in northern Europe. It shares a border with Norway and Sweden.
DOCTOR WHO IN FINLAND
BBC Records
In a BBC memo dated 7 July 1965, Finland was one of several European countries to which the series had been offered, but not yet been accepted. The stories auditioned were The Daleks, The Sensorites and The Dalek Invasion of Earth (tellingly, only 'futuristic' stories and no historicals!). However, the offer was not accepted and no sale eventuated. (Of note, the same three stories were also offered to Sweden and Switzerland, suggesting some kind of regional 'deal'.)
The only story be shown "locally" was the 1996 TV Movie, which aired on the cable station MTV3 Scifi in 1999.
Satellite TV
The 1963 to 1989 run of Classic Doctor Who did not screen on any local terrestrial TV stations in Finland, but from 24 March 1987 it was available via the UK satellite station Super Channel.
The two Peter Cushing Dalek movies did air on a local station, on 6 and 13 October 2006 respectively.
From 3 March 2008, classic serials became available on MTV3 Scifi, which was simulcast with and aired the same episodes as TV4 Science Fiction from Sweden -- see that profile for more details.
Stories bought and broadcast
PAUL McGANN
The 1996 TV Movie aired on the cable and satellite station MTV3 Scifi on Friday, 2 April 1999 (time is unknown). (The story had been available on video tape three years before this -- see below.)
Merchandise
While the TV series was an "unknown" prior to the 1999 screening, a couple items of merchandise were available from 1976...
Novelisations
In 1976, a publisher called Weilen & Göös released hardback adaptations of two of the Target novelisations, translated into Finnish:
- TOHTORI KUKA – JA AUTONIEN HYÖKKÄYS (The Auton Aggression) (Spearhead from Space)
- TOHTORI KUKA – JA LUOLAHIRVIÖT (The Cave Monster) (Doctor Who and the Silurians)
There are also two Finnish translations of new series novels:
- TIKITTAVA PAINAJAINEN (The Clockwise Man)
- LUOLAMIES LONTOOSSA (Only Human)
Videos
In January 1986, Sesam Video released a commercial VHS video-cassette of Pyramids of Mars - under the title "DR WHO MARSIN PYRAMIDIT", with the original English audio soundtrack and Finnish subtitles. (The company also released the same story on video in Norway in 1985.)
Three years before it appeared on TV (above), the Paul McGann TV Movie was released on VHS (by MCA/Universal/CIC Video) in late 1996. This was a Rental Only tape (subtitled in Finnish) with the unique and highly descriptive title "1999 MAAILMAN TUHO" - which translates as "1999 WORLD DESTRUCTION / DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD". The tagline was "HÄN TULI TAKAISIN… VIIME HETKELLÄ!" (He Came Back … At The Last Minute!)
Other Links
- The Finnish Wikipedia, complete with Finnish "titles" can be read: HERE
Finland in Doctor Who
- Helsinki is mentioned in Frontier in Space.
