Denmark
DENMARK is a constitutional monarchy located in north Europe, and bordered to the south by Germany.
Profile
| Country Number (49?) | 1979 | SECOND WAVE |
| Region | Europe | |
| Television commenced | 2 October 1951 | |
| Colour System | 1969 | PAL |
| Population | 1979 | 5,055,000 |
| TV Sets | 1979 | 2,000,000 |
| Language/s | Danish (Danske) | Subtitled |
Television Stations / Channels
Denmark began its television service in October 1951.
There is just one television station: Radio Denmark, a government-owned commercial broadcaster, also known simply as DR.
Colour transmissions began in 1969 using the PAL colour broadcast system.
Language/s
The language of Denmark is Danish (Danske), however all foreign television programmes are broadcast with the original language soundtrack intact with Danish subtitles. For the Danish broadcasts of Doctor Who, Jan Grodin is credited with the TV listings as being the translator.
DOCTOR WHO IN DENMARK
Denmark was about the 49th country to screen Doctor Who; it was the third in Europe (see Selling Doctor Who).
BBC Records
On 26 March 1968, the NZBC (New Zealand) sent the 16mm film prints of An Unearthly Child, The Daleks and Inside the Spaceship to Denmark. These must have been as Audition Prints (see Selling Doctor Who). However Denmark TV did not take up the offer to purchase the series at that time. (As to what then happened to those prints is anyone's guess...)
The Eighties - THE LOST CHAPTERS records a sale of "(3)" stories (by February 1987).
In DWM, Denmark is identified in just one story Archive: 4J.
Stories bought and broadcast
TOM BAKER
Three stories, 12 episodes:
| English Title | eps | Danish Title | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4A | Robot | 4 | Robotten | Robot |
| 4J | The Android Invasion | 4 | De Fremmede | The Strangers / The Aliens |
| 4C | The Ark in Space | 4 | Rum-Arken | Space-Ark |
The programme was supplied as PAL colour video tapes with English soundtracks. Subtitles in Danish were superimposed for transmission.
Transmission
TOM BAKER
The three stories were aired in three separate runs.
The first consisted of just Robot - translated as Robotten. The four episodes aired on Fridays (Fredag), starting on 8 June 1979 at 6.55pm.
The second story aired four months later, on 16 October 1979, this time screening four nights a week, Tuesday to Friday, also at 6.55pm. This was The Android Invasion - translated into De Fremmede, which means "The Strangers" or "The Aliens".
After a three month gap, the third story, The Ark in Space - called Rum-Arken ("Space-Ark") - aired from 1 January 1980, screening daily, Tuesday to Friday, at 7.00pm.
Denmark did not screen any further Doctor Who during the 1980s and 1990s. In the 1990s, Doctor Who was available through cable TV (such as BBC Prime). A run of Jon Pertwee stories is known to have aired via cable in the late 2000s.
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 Danish newspaper, Berlingske Tidende.
The first story is called Robot in the newspaper listings, but Robotten in other publications, such as the ones shown below.
The listings give the name of the writer ("Manuskript") and director ("Instruktion"), and that of the translator ("Danske tekster"): Jan Grodin.
In the synopses, the Tom Baker is the "Doktoren", "who moves freely in space and time".
Curiously, the "Manuskript" for Rum-Arken is credited to John Lucarotti, rather than Robert Holmes. (Holmes rewrote Lucarotti's original drafts.)
Publicity
Although the above article, and those below, feature photographs of Louise Jameson (Leela), Mary Tamm (Romana) and K9, none of their stories screened in Denmark. The Doctor is cited as being a superman on the run from the evil Time Lords.
- Clippings from Image Magazine. The three on the left are from June 1979, during the screening of Robotten, and the two on the right are from De Femmende in October 1979, and Rum-Arken in January 1980 respectively.
- The captions translate as PÅ VEJ MOD JORDEN – ON TOWARDS EARTH, and KAPLØB MED TIDEN – RACE WITH TIME.
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- Articles from Berlingske Tidende: the first and second for "Robotten", and the third is for "Rum-arken".
Web Pages
- DANISH WIKIPEDIA
- DANISH FAN SITE (and source of the above clippings)
(Thanks to Steen and Henrik for clippings and other information.)
Denmark in Doctor Who
- The Doctor claims to have given Danish writer, Hans Christian Anderson, the idea for The Emperor's New Clothes. Barbara considers telling some of Anderson's stories in The Crusade.
- William Shakespeare is inspired to write of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark in The Chase.
- Gravitron moonbase crewman, Nils Jensen (played by Michael Wolf), is a Dane.
- The Doctor apparently helped write the first draft of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (City of Death).
