Classic Who on BBC America

[Peacemaker]

Allyn Gibson wrote:

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Not true! I saw some Hartnells on West Virginia Public Television in the late 80s.

Same in NC. I was a huge, big honking deal when we got William Hartnell. Wow, we worked hard to get those episodes too, and we were proud here to have the full run of Doctors.

[Mr Awe]

Anji wrote:

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True! PBS stations which were running the Doctor back in th 80s would only go as far back as Pertwee.

But the truth is, even back then, there was an interest in both Hartnell and Troughton episodes. All any network executive had to do was attend a convention and see how many people attended and sat through the entire version of "War Games." Heck, i knew people who went into that video room with their pajamas on! (They always showed "War Games" after 10 p.m.)

You can't appreciate the latter Doctors without seeing those who went before them and I wish BBCA would realize that we feel that way.

I saw Hartnell and Troughton on KRMA in Denver back in the 80s. So, some stations showed them.

I also disagree that you can't enjoy the latter Doctors without seeing the earlier Doctors. Sure you can! It's not like it's required viewing! I happen to love all the Doctors. But surely people can enjoy the new ones without seeing the old. In fact, if I were to introduce someone to DW, I would specifically start with the new. If they like it, I'd suggest that they might also like the classics series. But, I certainly wouldn't start there.

Mr Awe

[Alidar Jarok]

BTW, does next Sunday mean Super Bowl Sunday?

[DWF]

Alidar Jarok wrote:

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BTW, does next Sunday mean Super Bowl Sunday?

No, Super Bowl Sunday is Feb. 3 this'll be on this Sunday the 27th.

[Alidar Jarok]

OK, "next" is often ambiguous so I wanted to check.

[diankra]

Mr Awe wrote:

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I saw Hartnell and Troughton on KRMA in Denver back in the 80s. So, some stations showed them.

Just to clear the history up, BBC Enterprises offered a package of Hartnell and Troughton stories to the American PBS stations in 1985/6, because the cancellation/postponement of season 23 meant they didn't have any new episodes to release, and they needed something fresh to keep sales ticking over.

[Sindatur]

Allyn Gibson wrote:

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Not true! I saw some Hartnells on West Virginia Public Television in the late 80s.

Yea, San Jose CA PBS station, after obtaining all the available later Doctors, went back and did all the available Hartnell and Troughton.

[Nick Ryder]

I'm kind of glad to see BBCA trying to at least show some of the history of Dr Who - athough it would be nice if some of the "classic" stories would also tie into some of the stuff they're doing with the current "Series" - like maybe show the episode with the Great Intelligence, or something with the early Daleks and Cybermen - stuff that would show newer fans of the show that these did have roots as far back as the 60s. I mean I only really got into Dr. Who shortly after Thanksgiving of this past year and now I'm already a big fan after watching all of 9th, 10th and a good part of 11's run so far - I'm kind of spacing myself out with 11 since it'll be a while before any "new" Dr. Who shows up and I don't want to feel like "aww... that's it?" since I don't want to get too much "classic" Who in just yet - since I know after this next Series ends, who knows how long it'll be before there's anything else and I want something to watch after that LOL

[Klaus]

I saw Hartnell and Troughton and Pertwee on WGBH out of Boston in the mid-late 80s when I became a fan... GBH is a flagship station and they had the cash. The local one in Hartford did Baker as well.

[Nick Ryder]

Just checked my channel guide on my cablebox - gonna be like a three hour thing - so that should be interesting.

[Christopher]

Nick Ryder wrote:

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I'm kind of glad to see BBCA trying to at least show some of the history of Dr Who - athough it would be nice if some of the "classic" stories would also tie into some of the stuff they're doing with the current "Series" - like maybe show the episode with the Great Intelligence...

Not possible. The two Yeti/Great Intelligence serials are almost completely lost; "The Abominable Snowmen" and "The Web of Fear" were both 6 episodes long and each has only one surviving episode (episode 2 of the former and episode 1 of the latter).

Nick Ryder wrote:

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Just checked my channel guide on my cablebox - gonna be like a three hour thing - so that should be interesting.

Which is interesting, since "The Aztecs" is only 100 minutes long, which, given modern ratios of content to commercial time, would take up maybe two and a quarter hours. I gather that the serial will be preceded with a documentary overview of the Hartnell era.

[Mr Light]

I'm taping it, but when I looked in on it, it looked like a talking heads documentary was constantly intercutting the episode. If that's true, that sounds annoying, like it would totally destroy being "into" the episode...

[Mr. Adventure]

What is this? No monsters, and no UST or flirting from the Doctor, I'm not even sure anyone has ran down a corridor, this isn't Doctor Who!

EDIT I may have to retract my flirting comment, didn't think ol' Billy had it in him

[Nerys Myk]

Sindatur wrote:

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Yea, San Jose CA PBS station, after obtaining all the available later Doctors, went back and did all the available Hartnell and Troughton.

Good old KTEH. I manned the phones for them once.

[Christopher]

Mr Light wrote:

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I'm taping it, but when I looked in on it, it looked like a talking heads documentary was constantly intercutting the episode. If that's true, that sounds annoying, like it would totally destroy being "into" the episode...

No, the documentary came first, lasting about 35-40 minutes, and then there was a Moffat intro, and then "The Aztecs" with no interruptions except commercials.