TV Movie in Canada

The 1996 TV Movie starring Paul McGann as the eighth Doctor was produced by the BBC and MCA / Universal, filmed during January and February of 1996 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The Movie debuted on CITV, from Edmonton in Alberta on 12 May 1996, two days ahead of the official "World Premiere" on Fox.

The Movie also aired several more times on provincial stations during 1996 and 1997. These are explored below.

Canadian Cable Television

The closing credits of the Movie include two captions - "Distributed through BBC Worldwide" and "Distributed through Universal Television An MCA Company" (placed before the cast rollcall rather than at the end as it is on the VHS releases).

But it's not known for sure how the sale to the various Canadian stations was achieved. Those end captions would seem to suggest the deal was done by the BBC or Universal.

CITV downloaded the Movie from Fox's satellite provider (see below), but as that was the standard delivery mechanism for all shows in the 1990s, it's not evidence that Fox was the sales agent.

But the likely answer lies in how the cable TV set-up in Canada differs from that of the US.

While Canadians can access US TV stations over the border, it's a one-way arrangement only. Canadian cable operates on a 'closed' system meaning these stations were not available in the US.

Because it was one-way, most of the Canadian stations had licensing agreements with US cable provider/s in the state/s that were closest allowing them to carry the same shows. This was either simultaneously (on a parallel but separate feed with local commercials and promos replacing the US ones), or non-simultaneously (to be shown at a different time/day - and sometimes hours or even days earlier). A "licence fee" would be payable to the provider for this privilege.

We think it's reasonable to conclude that the Canadian broadcasters acquired the non-simultaneous screening rights of the new Movie directly from Fox under existing agreements rather than buying it as a new product from the BBC or Universal.

In other words, the Canadian stations picked up the Movie by default because that was what Fox was showing that Tuesday night, rather than it being offered to them as a one-off by an agency such as the BBC.

Western International Communications (WIC)

The majority of the channels that aired the Movie ahead of Fox or repeated it later were at the time owned by media company WIC Western International Communications Ltd (WIC) which was based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The relevant WIC stations are:

• CHEK - British Columbia
• CITV / CICT / CISA - Alberta
• CHCH - Ontario

WIC was directly responsible for acquiring television programmes for its stations, usually on a national level rather than for regional rights. It was the parent company itself rather than the individual channels 'buying' the programmes, and as such WIC would have acquired the non-simultaneous rights to the Movie for all its channels directly from Fox.

WIC also co-owned the "CanCom" communications cable that carried the transmission feeds to and from its stations.

Starting in Alberta, the WIC screenings of the TV Movie zig-zagged across the country on a province-by-province basis, likely a very deliberate move by the broadcaster to ensure that the new movie could be seen in every region where it had a TV service.

WIC did not have any mainstream TV stations operating in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Atlantic Canada, or the northern provinces; those regions were instead covered by other broadcasters.

Map showing the locations of the WIC TV stations operating across Canada in 1996 (modified by us to highlight just the TV stations from a more detailed map identifying the full WIC communications empire of TV and radio stations as it was in 1998)

Other Channels

Three independent channels also aired the Movie: two of these stations - MTN and CKX - were owned by Craig Broadcast Systems Inc. The third - ASN - was wholly independent.

The Movie doesn't appear to have been shown by any local stations in Saskatchewan or Quebec, however, viewers could access cable from a neighbouring province and/or closest US Fox station. Viewers in Quebec also had access to US stations via the Vidéotron cable system.

Likewise, there were no local screenings in the Northwest Territories or the Yukon, but viewers there could access cable feeds from the southern provinces and the USA. (For those in Whitehorse, Yukon, there was cable all the way from New York!)

This profile summarises just the known screenings in Canada from listings extracted from Canadian and US newspapers that were clearly identifiable as being the TV Movie. It's possible there were further screenings of the film but these couldn't be distinguished from the thousands of generic and non-story specific billings for the classic series episodes still running in syndication across the US at that time.

TV Movie on Canadian Stations

CITV (Alberta) [WIC]

TV Movie 10pm on CITV Channel 8; Edmonton Journal, 12 May 1996

PREMIERE Edmonton Journal, 12 May 1996

12 May 1996

The Movie had its WORLDWIDE DEBUT on CITV on Sunday, 12 May 1996, at 10.00pm, Canadian Mountain Time.

This was two days ahead of the so-called "World Premiere" on the US Fox network, and 14 days ahead of the UK broadcast.

This is the first and so far only time that Doctor Who has premiered in Canada.

CITV (also known as ITV) was one of the WIC television stations. It was based in Edmonton, Alberta on Channel 13, and via cable Channel 8. (It was available via cable in only some of the other provinces, such as British Columbia, Saskatchewan (on channel 12), Yukon, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.)

As noted above, the acquisition of the Movie by WIC / CITV would have been under existing agreements with Fox.

Indeed, CITV had regularly aired episodes of The X Files and The Simpsons ahead of their respective 'debuts' on Fox, so there was already an arrangement between the two networks to allow for non-simultaneous broadcasts, and since WIC's coverage was solely within Canada with no cable feed or signal-bleed across the border, CITV could continue to screen these and other shows ahead of Fox.

CITV was therefore able to screen the Movie early because its 'closed' transmissions couldn't be accessed in the States.

Satellite uplink data captured by staff at WFTC on 11 May (courtesy of Greg Bakun)

CITV received the NTSC Foreign Synd Master file of the Movie (labelled by MCA as "Anthologies" because it was a one-off rather than a series) at 1pm on 11 May 1996 via AT&T's Telstar 401 satellite, on Transponder channel 5.

This uplink was in two parts (the first was 53mins 11sec in duration - likely to be Acts 1 to 4) and each had brief fades-to-black for commercial breaks. CITV recorded the segments onto two 1 inch videotapes for play-back on its cable service one day later.

(Fox's Canadian satellite uplinks could sometimes be intercepted by US stations in proximity to the border. Staff on duty that afternoon at WFTC, the Fox affiliate for twin cities Minneapolis-St. Paul in Minnesota, were able to record the feed onto two Sony Beta tapes and watch the TV Movie three days early! (see satellite uplink screen grabs))

CITV used the six pre-selected fades-to-black for commercial breaks. During the first act, as the seventh Doctor loses consciousness on the operating table, his POV also fades-to-black - and this was also cued as a commercial break when the Movie went to air!

This screening on CITV was available simultaneously in the other provinces rather than by 'delay' at these scheduled times:

• Yukon - channel 13 (9.00pm)
• Alberta - channel 8 (10.00pm)
• Saskatchewan - channel 12 (11.00pm)
• Ontario - channel 13 (midnight)
• New Brunswick - (1.00am)
• Newfoundland - (1.30am)

The Movie does not appear to have been shown on CITV's feed into British Columbia. But it did air there the following day instead - see below.

ASN (Atlantic)

Daily Gleaner, New Brunswick; 13 May 1996

13 May 1996

TV billings in New Brunswick paper L'Acadie Nouvelle are in French, however, the Movie only aired in English; there was no alternative language option

Time-wise, the next station to air the Movie was on the other side of the country - Atlantic Satellite Network (ASN) was a privately-owned cable station based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, serving this and the other eastern 'Atlantic Canada' provinces, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.

The Movie was aired by ASN on Monday, 13 May 1996 at 8pm, one day before the Fox debut.

This was only 19 hours after the CITV screening (above), which had been available on cable in the Atlantic provinces at the local time of 1am!

Did ASN acquire the film for themselves because they were aware that the upcoming CITV screening of the much-hyped movie was going to be on at such an inconvenient hour?

ASN was not one of the WIC stations (WIC had none in this region), making this the first acquisition of the Movie to a wholly independent private single station broadcaster in Canada. Like WIC / CITV, did ASN have an agreement with Fox for non-simultaneous broadcasts?

ASN wasn't the only Canadian station to air it that day - viewers on the west coast also tuned in a few hours later...

CHEK (British Columbia) [WIC]

Times Colonist, 13 May 1996

13 May 1996

On Monday, 13 May 1996 at 9pm Pacific time, the film was finally seen in British Columbia, the very province where it had been made some three months earlier.

CHEK-TV (aka CHEK-6) was the second of the WIC-owned TV stations but the first that wasn't also cabled to other provinces. Based in Victoria, on Vancouver Island, it broadcast to the Greater Vancouver region on Channel 6. (It had previously been an affiliate of CBC which had aired the series in 1965.)

For reasons that are unclear, the Movie wasn't shown on CITV's feed into British Columbia on 12 May, so it was scheduled to play on CHEK one day later.

Time-wise, this was four hours after the screening on ASN above, making it the third screening of the Movie in Canada.

CHBC ? (British Columbia) [WIC]

WIC also owned two other TV stations in British Columbia - CHAN (Channel 8), operating from Vancouver, and CHBC (Channel 2), a CBC affiliate, based in Kelowna, 168 miles (270kms) north east of Vancouver. (See WIC map above.)

Since CHEK-6 (above) served the greater Vancouver area, there was no need for Channel 8 to also screen the Movie.

But the mountainous terrain and distance between Kelowna and Vancouver would have prevented CHEK's broadcasts reaching, so it's possible that the Movie was aired by CHBC on its own at a later date.

However, newspapers from this city were not available so we can't be certain what the situation was. But if CHBC didn't air it, it would be one of two WIC-owned stations not to. (See also CKRD - Red Deer below.)

CHCH (Ontario) [WIC]

CHCH ch 11, and New York Fox channel 29; Hamilton Spectator, 14 May 1996

14 May 1996

The Movie next played in the east again - on CHCH Channel 11 in Hamilton, Ontario; it was the third of the confirmed WIC channels to show it. (This cable-only station was available in other regions, including Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and also the Yukon in the far northwest.)

When the Movie aired on CITV on 12 May, it was on after midnight for viewers in Ontario. CHCH's screening two days later may have been a deliberate move by WIC to make up for that inconvenient scheduling.

This was Tuesday, 14 May 1996, at the far more accessible time of 9pm, in CHCH's regular "Movies Eleven" slot.

This was also the same day and time as the Fox Network debut of the film (see below). The US broadcast was also available in Ontario via a parallel but separate feed from Fox affiliate WUTV Channel 29 in Buffalo, New York. Both channels therefore appear in the newspaper listings - per the example above.

CHCH was the only Canadian station to screen the Movie in parallel with the US on 14 May.

At the start of this broadcast, CHCH played a viewer discretion message, warning that the film contained "Mature subject matter and is intended for adult audiences..." (Presumably this same warning was seen ahead of all the screenings on the WIC channels.)

CHCH "Movies Eleven" 'viewer warning' message

Fox Network (USA and Canada)

The Fox "debut" was heavily promoted by the Canadian press - such as The Winnipeg Sun, 12 May 1996

14 May 1996

The film aired as "The Fox Tuesday Night Movie" on the US network's own stations and affiliates on Tuesday, 14 May 1996. The film could be viewed with "Closed Captions" subtitles where available.

• See our dedicated TV Movie in the USA page for more about the US screening

Most Canadian cable networks had a simulcast agreement with at least one affiliate for each of the major US networks; this affiliate would usually be based in the US city that was the closest.

Although it was the US premiere, this was the fifth occasion in which the Movie could be seen in Canada.

The "Fox Tuesday Night Movie" was available in Canada via the staggered 'East' and 'West' feeds on the following channels at these published local times:

• British Columbia - Ch13 KCPQ Seattle - 8pm
• Alberta - Ch34/28/33 Fox - 9pm
• Saskatchewan - ?
• Manitoba - Ch12 KNRR North Dakota / Ch28 WUHF New York - 7pm
• Ontario - Ch29 WUTV Buffalo NY - plus CHCH above - 8pm
• Quebec - Ch34 WUTV Buffalo NY / Ch53 WUHF NY - 8pm
• New Brunswick / PE Island / Nova Scotia - Ch37 WUHF NY - 9pm
• Newfoundland - ? - 9.30pm

Cancelled Repeat

The planned 31 December 1996 repeat of the TV Movie was dropped; some newspapers still had it billed in the schedules - this paper had it listed twice!

Fox had planned to repeat the Movie the evening of Tuesday, 31 December 1996, however it changed the schedule at the eleventh hour and instead played the 1994 made-for-TV movie Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love.

Not informed in time of the late change, many Canadian newspapers still carried listings for the Doctor Who movie on that day.

MTN (CHMI) (Manitoba)

Winnipeg Sun, 26 May 1996

28 May 1996

The Movie's second non-WIC acquisition (after ASN above) was for two stations in Manitoba - MTN and CKX (below).

Both stations were at the time owned by Craig Broadcast Systems. Craig's acquisition of the Movie exclusively for Manitoba may have been because WIC did not have any stations there.

Manitoba Television Network (MTN) was an independent cable station serving the Winnipeg area on Channel 13 and cable Channel 8. Its call letters were CHMI.

The Movie aired two weeks after the Fox broadcast, on Tuesday, 28 May 1996 at 8pm.

CKX (Manitoba)

The Movie aired twice on CKX - this is the second showing; Brandon Sun, 6 July 1996

8 June 1996 and 10 July 1996

The third (and last) independent acquisition was to CKX Channel 5 (also on channel 6 in some areas), a TV station based in Brandon, Manitoba, to the west of Winnipeg.

Launched by Craig Broadcast Systems in 1955, it was the province's first privately-owned channel, and was an affiliate of the CBC. It was also available in eastern parts of Saskatchewan (which also did not have a station owned by WIC).

The 'sale' to both MTN and CKX may have been done as a single "two station" acquisition since they were both owned by the same company.

The Movie aired twice on this station - the first was on Saturday, 8 June 1996 at 12.15pm, and was repeated a month later on Wednesday, 10 July 1996 at 11pm.

CICT / CISA (Alberta) [WIC]

Calgary Herald, 1 November 1996

2 November 1996

Four months after the two Manitoba screenings, the Movie was back in Alberta for the first of several repeat showings by WIC channels.

These were broadcast in parallel on two different stations (109 miles / 175 kms apart) on Sunday, 2 November 1996 at the very early time of 1.00am.

CICT (Channel 2) was based in Calgary, while CISA (Channel 7) was a satellite station of CICT operating out of Lethbridge.

Unlike most other Canadian stations, CISA was available in the US, across the border in Montana; listings for the station were published in Montana newspapers.

CICT and CISA repeated the Movie eight months later, again in parallel, on Wednesday, 16 July 1997 at 1.00am (see below).

CKRD [WIC]

WIC owned another TV station in Alberta - CKRD (Channel 6) (also known as RDTV), a CBC affiliate in Red Deer, a city located half way between Edmonton and Calgary. (See WIC map above.)

Since the signals from CITV and CICT would reach Red Deer, there was no need for Channel 6 to screen the Movie as well.

Like CHAN (above), CKRD was the only other WIC stations not to air the Movie in isolation.

CITV (Alberta) [WIC]

Leader-Post, 28 December 1996

30 December 1996

CITV, the Edmonton WIC station that had debuted the Movie on 12 May 1996 (see above), repeated the film seven months later, on Monday, 30 December 1996 at 7pm. This was the day before the planned but subsequently cancelled repeat on Fox. (Listings for both scheduled screenings appear in Canadian newspapers for that week.)

This screening on CITV was available in the provinces by cable on the following (known) channels and times:

• British Columbia - channel 6 (6pm)
• Alberta - channel 8 (7pm)
• Saskatchewan - channel 12 (8pm)
• Ontario - channel 13 (9pm)
• New Brunswick (10pm)

2 July 1997

TV Movie at 1am - North Bay Nugget, 27 June 1997

It was shown again by CITV seven months later, at 1am the morning of Wednesday, 2 July 1997. This was the third screening by CITV.

This screening was available in the provinces by cable on the following (known) channels and times:

• British Columbia - channel 6 (midnight)
• Yukon - channel 13 (midnight)
• Alberta - channel 8 (1am)
• Saskatchewan - channel 12 (1am)
• Ontario - channel 13 (3am)
• New Brunswick - (4am)

CICT / CISA (Alberta) [WIC]

TV Movie at 1am, Calgary Herald, 11 July 1997

16 July 1997

The Movie's final recorded 20th century appearance in Canada was still in Alberta, being the Wednesday, 16 July 1997 repeat by the WIC sister stations CICT / CISA (Channels 2/7) noted above. (Newspapers placed this in the Tuesday 15 July schedules, but it aired at 1am the following morning.)

This CISA broadcast was also available in Montana.

As far as we can tell from newspaper searches, there were no further regional screenings of the Movie in Canada after this...

Ztélé

2006-2009

The 1997 French-dub of the TV Movie was later shown a number of times on Canadian cable station Ztélé, starting on 3 June 2006, with the last recorded screening being 14 March 2009 - see that page for further details.

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