Selling Doctor Who
Selling Doctor Who
From as early as mid 1964, the BBC began offering Doctor Who to foreign broadcasters, starting with regular purchasers such as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, soon followed by other Commonwealth countries in Africa, North Amercia, the Caribbean and Europe.
A few years later, they began to exploit the series to non-Commonwealth territories such as Asia, the Middle East and South America|Latin America. There were in effect four WAVES during which the BBC exploited Doctor Who, with each wave spanning a period of around six years:
There are essentially three phases, each spanning a period of about six years, in which the BBC actively marketed the series.
WAVE ONE
1 New Zealand 18 Sep 1964 2 Australia 16 Jan 1965 3 Canada 23 Jan 1965 4 Singapore 7 Apr 1965 5 Gibraltar 8 Apr 1965 6 Malta 24 May 1965 7 Aden 4 Jul 1965 8 Nigeria 3 Aug 1965 9 Rhodesia 26 Sep 1965 10 Zambia 19 Oct 1965 11 Trinidad & Tobago31 Oct 1965 12 Bermuda 13 Dec 1965 13 Uganda 18 Jan 1966 14 Jamaica 3 Mar 1966 15 Cyprus 12 Mar 1966 16 Barbados 25 Apr 1966 17 Hong Kong 26 Apr 1966 18 Kenya 16 Jun 1966 19 Ghana 11 Jul 1966 20 Thailand 20 Aug 1966 21 Mauritius 21 Oct 1966 22 Venezuela 26 Feb 1967 23 Sierra Leone 12 Apr 1967 24 Tunisia 13 Apr 1967 25 Mexico 25 Mar 1968 26 Morocco circa 1968 27 Saudi Arabia circa 1968 28 Iran 11 Jul 1968 29 Dominican Republiccirca 1968 30 Chile 5 Jan 1969 31 Jordan circa 1969 32 Libya circa 1969 33 Ethiopia 22 Oct 1970
WAVE TWO
34 United States 21 Aug 1972 35 Algeria 31 Dec 1973 36 Dubai circa 1975 37 Netherlands 28 Jul 1975 38 Bahrain circa 1975 39 Philippines 6 Mar 1976 40 Brunei 8 Aug 1976 41 Abu Dhabi circa 1977 42 Qatar circa 1977 43 Lebanon 22 Apr 1977 44 Kuwait circa 1977 45 Korea (South) circa 1978 46 Turkey circa 1978 47 Swaziland 11 Feb 1978 48 Japan 3 Mar 1978 49 Ecuador circa 1978 50 Brazil circa 1979 51 Guatemala circa 1979 52 Denmark 8 Jun 1979 53 Costa Rica 4 Feb 1980 54 Italy 6 Feb 1980 55 Bangladesh 1 Jul 1980 56 Nicaragua 6 Aug 1980
WAVE THREE
57 Sri Lanka 4 Apr 1984 58 Malaysia 6 Feb 1986 59 Dominica by Feb 1987 60 Greece by Feb 1987 61 Honduras by Feb 1987 62 Taiwan by Feb 1987 63 Yugoslavia by Feb 1987 64 Seychelles 14 Feb 1987 65 France 19 Feb 1989 66 Spain circa 1989 67 Germany 22 Nov 1989 68 Poland circa 1990
69 Sweden circa 1997
Doctor vs Country ratio
Not every country saw all seven Doctors, and not every story of each Doctor was seen. Some countries saw just one Doctor, others just two.
With the exception of Australia and New Zealand, the only two countries to purchase and screen Doctor Who in chronological order, most countries saw only one or two Doctors. This table illustrates the nineteen known combinations of Doctor/s per country:
| 1st Dr | 2nd Dr | 3rd Dr | 4th Dr | 5th Dr | 6th Dr | 7th Dr | No. | Countries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | 15 | Aden, Algeria, Bermuda, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Kenya, Jamaica, Libya, Mauritius, Morocco, Thailand, Tunisia | ||||||
| X | X | 2 | Uganda, Zambia | |||||
| X | X | X | 1 | Singapore | ||||
| X | X | X | X | 1 | Hong Kong | |||
| X | X | X | X | X | 1 | Gibraltar | ||
| X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 2 | Australia, New Zealand |
| X | X | X | 1 | Nigeria | ||||
| X | X | 1 | Sierra Leone | |||||
| X | X | X | 2 | Malta, Saudi Arabia | ||||
| X | X | X | X | X | X | 1 | Canada | |
| X | X | 7 | Barbados, Chile, Jordan, Mexico, Rhodesia, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela | |||||
| X | 8 | Abu Dhabi, Bangladesh, Korea (South)?, Kuwait?, Lebanon, Philippines, Qatar, Turkey? | ||||||
| X | X | 3 | Brunei, Dubai, Sri Lanka | |||||
| X | X | X | 1 | Swaziland | ||||
| X | X | X | X | X | 1 | United States | ||
| X | X | X | 1 | Japan | ||||
| X | 16 | Bahrain, Brazil, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Spain, Sweden | ||||||
| X | X | 2 | Netherlands, Seychelles | |||||
| X | X | X | 1 | Germany | ||||
| 34 | 8 | 24 | 41 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 1 |
