Aden
ADEN is a sea port city in what is now the Republic of South Yemen; it is located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea. Aden was known as the Federation of South Arabia. The FSA was a British Protectorate until 1967, when the British army was forced to pull out following political unrest.
Profile
| Country Number (7) | 1965 | FIRST WAVE |
| Region | Middle East | |
| Television commenced | unknown | |
| Colour System | unknown | NTSC |
| Population | 1966 | 200,000 |
| TV Sets | 1966 | 10,300 |
| Language/s | English and Arabic |
Television Stations / Channels
Aden's sole television broadcaster, South Arabian Television Service, was a government-owned station.
Language/s
The official language of Aden is Arabic; however English was the official language during the British occupation of the city.
The BBC had not yet undertaken the dubs into Arabic in 1965, so it's almost certain that Doctor Who was broadcast solely in English. (It is possible that series aired with Arabic subtitles.)
The only regular Arabic programming was "Arabic News" and readings from the Quran.
DOCTOR WHO IN ADEN
Aden was the 7th country to screen Doctor Who (see Selling Doctor Who). It was the first in the Middle East.
BBC Records
The Stanmark Productions Ltd advertisement from 1966, identifies Aden as one of the twelve countries screening Doctor Who at that time.
The Seventies records a sale of "(4)" stories to "Arabia". Although the same volume records sales to Saudi Arabia, we believe "Arabia" in this case refers to the Federation of South Arabia, which was another name for Aden.
The Handbook identifies these (4) as being E, G, K, and L.
In DWM, Aden is identified with that name in the Archives for A, C; while "Arabia" appears in A, F and G.
Stories bought and broadcast
WILLIAM HARTNELL
Eleven serials, 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 |
Aden therefore bought the standard package of GROUPs A to D of the William Hartnell stories that was available at the time.
The programme was supplied as 16mm black and white film prints with English soundtracks.
Origin of the Prints?
The TV distribution agency for the Federation of South Arabia was Television International Enterprises Ltd (see WRTH). The previous TIE Ltd client to buy Doctor Who was Gibraltar, so it's possible that Aden was sent its prints from Gibraltar.
Another possible source was Malta, where the same eleven series had aired a few months earlier.
Transmission
WILLIAM HARTNELL
The series started on Sunday, 4 July 1965, and aired weekly, with timeslots ranging from 6.40pm to as late as 9.40pm.
The first three stories aired at 7.25pm. The series screened at the earlier time of 6.40pm for the next two serials, then moved to as late as 9.40pm from The Keys of Marinus part six, until part four of The Aztecs when the timeslot reverted back to 6.40pm. (TV broadcasts didn't commence until 8pm on 26 December 1965; Doctor Who aired at 9.40pm that night.)
The final episode was on 3 July 1966. Although untitled in the newspaper, this would have been The Rescue part two.
From 10 July 1966, Doctor Who was replaced by Supercar.
Fate of the Prints
The next Television International Enterprises Limited country to buy the series was Nigeria, so it's possible that Aden sent its prints there. As noted under WRTH, it's possible that TIE Ltd had a separate set of prints circulating around Africa.
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 the newspaper Aden Chronicle.
In all listings, the series was called Dr Who. A few episode titles were named towards the end of the run, but the paper often included the BBC production code as if that was the title, such as "PROG G". Sometimes the word "Prog" was misprinted as "Prag". Sometimes just a number was given: "Dr Who (No 3)".
The first few episodes of The Keys of Marinus were named as being "Prag D Part 8", and "Part 9". Part two of The Reign of Terror was "Guests of the Guillotine". Inside the Spaceship, part one, was printed as "(c7)".
The 26 August 1965 issue (midway through The Daleks) carried a small article about the series, stating: "SINISTER BBC TELEVISION PERSONALITY "DR WHO"... numerous episodes have been sold by BBC Television Enterprises to broadcasting organisations in other countries, including Australia, Canada and Aden". The article was illustrated with a publicity photograph of a Dalek emerging from the river Thames, as depicted in The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
Aden in Doctor Who
- Nicholas Courtney based his portrayal of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart on "Mad Mitch of Aden"; Lt. Col. Colin Mitchell was a prominent military figure during the 1967 reoccupation of Aden.
