Doctor Who in Australia

Doctor Who in Australia refers to the Australian history and culture around the British science fiction programme Doctor Who. Refer to the main article for details on the series itself.

Broadcast history

Doctor Who has been screening on the national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) since 1965 . For many years the ABC screened Doctor Who in prime time, five nights per week at 6 pm. The episodes were regularly rerun, although the William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton series were generally not shown. As in the UK, many an Australian child is said to have watched Doctor Who from a position of safety behind the sofa and the show has had a large adult following.

All seasons of Doctor Who have been screened by the ABC, generally free of editing, including seasons 1 and 2 of the new series starring Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant respectively. However, documentaries about the show (anniversary specials and Doctor Who Confidential) have not been shown in Australia. Furthermore, several stories were not purchased on first run (such as The Daleks' Master Plan, Invasion of the Dinosaurs and The Deadly Assassin). Another, The Brain of Morbius was played at a later time slot, as it was deemed to be too dark and violent for children. Outside of the UK, Australia is the only country to have aired every season shortly after it had been produced.

In 2003 the ABC began repeating almost every episode. These were screened chronologically every week night, and included almost every surviving episode from 1963 to 1989 - except those featuring Daleks. In 2005, the ABC began screening the new Russell T. Davies series starring Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor.

UK.TV is broadcasting Season 1 of the new series. It began on 7 October 2006.

Fandom

The programme was threatened to be dropped by the ABC in 1976, but a protest at the Sydney office encouraged the broadcaster to change its mind. The Doctor Who Club of Australia was formed from people meeting for the purpose of this protest. The Doctor Who Club of Australia, being a national club, is the largest, but there are a number of regional clubs as well. The University of Sydney had a club (as did some other universities) and built a full size Dalek which would sometimes make appearances at student elections and other functions.

The West Lodge is Western Australia's only Doctor Who fan club, and was founded by fan William Duffy in 1983. It has met on a monthly basis continually since that time - and continues to meet on the first Saturday of each month in South Perth.

The South Australian Doctor Who Fan Club was formed on the 1st of June 1980 and incorporated on the 7th of September 1982. It held Conpanion, the first Australian Doctor Who convention, on the 8th to 11th of October 1983 with Katy Manning as Guest of Honour. On November 18 2000 the club was rebadged as SFSA.

A regularly held convention in Australia, Whovention, has been held for some time by The Doctor Who Club of Australia. A number of the show's actors and writers have appeared at the convention as guests.

Trivia

Australian composer Ron Grainer wrote the Doctor Who theme music.

Australian author Anthony Coburn wrote the first Doctor Who story An Unearthly Child.

Science broadcaster Robyn Williams has appeared as an extra in Doctor Who.

Katy Manning, who played Jo Grant in seasons 8–10 moved to Australia not too long after finishing in Doctor Who and still appears at conventions and in the theatre. In 2005 Manning also appeared in Doctor Who - Inside The TARDIS with two of the doctors, Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker, where they spoke of their experiences with the long running show.

External links

• SFSA/South Australian Doctor Who fan Club, Inc.
• Doctor Who Club of Australia
• Doctor Who Club of Australia forum
• Doctor Who Club of Western Australia