I've been trying to get to grips with when I first saw TNG on television. IMDB and Memory Alpha (plus all other sources I can find) tend to give the first UK air date as one that corresponds to when an episode was first shown on BBC2 (ie. around 3 years after the US). For the first 3 series, this will be the correct first air date. However, at some point after that (I think from series 4), Sky obtained first showing rights and some catchup started. (BBC2 continued to show it with the same 3 year delay). I was wondering if anyone on the board has further information regarding this either from recollection or from knowing where to look? All I can really go on at the moment is that I suspect All Good Things was shown before the UK release of Generations which Google searches turn up as 17 February 1995. (I know it's a rather unusual thing to be thinking about, but I was just rather interested in thinking about how old I was when I saw each episode the first time around)
I remember going to mates house in 89 or 90 and he had Next Gen on on Sky, this was before they were on BBC2 and before I got into Star Trek.
We had Sky then and it definitely wasn't showing on the main channels. Though there used to be a German channel that you could pick up that I remember seeing some on later, but because were had no listings for it wouldn't have known if they were showing it earlier. (It was on English with German subtitles).
I can't recall the dates but it was on at 5pm on SKY 1. I have fond memories of coming home from school and watching it.
http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/mivana/mediaplayer.php?id=fcb93877b788d9d74f8f8886456974dd&media=skyone_irresistible1992&type=mp4
Thanks for the replies so far. Problem with this is they look to me to be the BBC2 dates. Unless I'm completely mistaken I thought I'd seen The Wounded and possibly even Birthright before DS9 was first shown on Sky (August 1993 according to Memory Alpha). The UK airdates or gives for the TNG episodes I mentioned puts them in 1994 and 1995 respectively. I'll have to check this link when I'm at a PC rather than a cheap (well free, in fact) substandard tablet.
Okay. It's a promo for programmes on SKY 1 (which includes TNG) dated sometime in 1992. Also, from Memory Alpha: Sky 1 (formerly Sky One and Sky1) is a television broadcaster of Star Trek in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sky obtained the first run rights for Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1992; prior to that the first run rights in Britain had been with the BBC, who had broadcast every episode from "Encounter at Farpoint" to "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II", excluding "The High Ground". In addition to the first run rights for the rest of the series made to date, Sky 1 also acquired rerun rights to the episodes previously shown by the BBC and a TV movie version of "Unification I", which was shown on an exclusive "movie" channel rather than as part of the main run of the series. The Next Generation was initially run on Sky 1 from "Encounter at Farpoint" being shown five nights a week at 5 pm, with "Family" shown the day after the Sky showing of "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" and the series then running all the way up to "Timescape". After this, "Encounter at Farpoint" was shown and the whole series was run again. "Descent" was held over to act as the premiere to the seventh season, which was run on Sunday evenings at 7 pm once it had completed production and was available to be shown. This was also the time slot used for the first season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Thanks for this - I had come across a site with similar info to this but it only stated it was from the fourth series rather than giving a year, so it does narrow it down for me a little. It sounds like the catchup started not long after BBC showed best of both worlds. So probably the later episodes were nowhere near as far behind the US as most sources suggest. Just a pity the UK info on IMDB and Memory Alpha (individual episode entries at least) isn't more accurate.
No, TNG premiered on BBC2 in the UK 26th September 1990. That was the UK premiere. In answer to the OP, I have all this information as it was printed in the "Official TNG Poster Magazine" from Visual Imagination back in the 1990s. Every thirteen or so issues, they did a season round up which included the UK airdates, and also the viewing figures (which were really impressive for the initial BBC2 run). TNG started broadcasting on Sky One in Autumn 1992 (a few months after BBC2 run ended). It reran the first three seasons (including "Best of Both Worlds Pt 2") twice. "The High Ground" was shown as a special first on Sunday 29th November 1992 (the "Irish reunification" line was edited out), before being added to the daily reruns. As you may recall, "High Ground" never aired on BBC2 (well, until 2007!) Sky 1 started showing season 4 proper with the episode "Family" on Monday 4th May 1993. The series then continued daily with first-run episodes all the way to "Timescape" (penultimate episode of season six) on Monday 16th August 1993. It then...yep, you guessed it, went right back to "Encounter At Farpoint". "Descent Part 1" was held back to premiere season 7, and was not shown until almost a year later on Sunday 31st July 1994! Out of interest, DS9 premiered on Sunday 22nd August 1993. It didn't show the feature length version of "Emissary", only the 2-part version. I didn't have Sky back in the day, but my friend did and his mum was a Trek fan, so... cue lots of E-180 VHS blank tapes being sent over. She couldn't record them all for me, but for every six or seven new episodes shown I got a tape back with 4 brand new episodes on! The summer of 1993 holds great nostalgia - racing over to their house on my way home from school to pick up another batch of new episodes. Good times.
Thanks, this was exactly the information I was after. It also confirms what I thought about the episodes I saw prior to being aware of DS9. We did have sky (well, my grandparents did, and my Mum and myself lived with them) up until 1997. For later DS9 and Voyager, I had a similar experience with VHS taped versions (plus many purchased with my pocket money when the VHS release was before the Sky airdate) from my uncle.
Yes, some are quite nice, especially in the first few seasons. I do also like the German title for "Skin of evil", "Die schwarze Seele", which means "The black soul". Also interesting might be the German airdates, as they really punched through most of season 4 plus 5 to 7 from March through July 94, catching up 3 years delay in just four months and at the end finishing just two months after the US. That was quite a ride these few months back then i can tell you! A new TNG every day, I felt like in heaven! I guess the voice actors in the dubbing studio must have worked without stop 24/7 and were very glad, when it was done.