TV Movie

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Story Code: TV Movie / Season - UK Airdate: 27 May 1996 Doctor: Paul McGann
First airings by location UK Repeats / Foreign Cable and Satellite Previous Story / Next Story

This story aired in the following known countries and locations. They are listed in chronological order according to known airdate. If no month is noted, the actual airdate is not confirmed, and is a close approximate. (Refer also to Selling Doctor Who for expanded airdates.)

Fox TV Movie poster ad, May 1996
Screen grab of French title caption
Canada 12 May 1996 also regional variations and repeats
United States 14 May 1996 also regional variations and repeats
United Kingdom 27 May 1996
Australia 7 Jul 1996
New Zealand 30 Oct 1996
Greece 1996 or 1997
Russia 19 Dec 1996 Доктор Кто
Romania 25 Dec 1996 A­nul Diav­o­lu­lu­i and Doktor Who
France 18 Mar 1997 Le Seigneur du Temps / Docteur Who: Le Film (dubbed)
Poland (Cable/Sat) 27 Jul 1997 / 26 Mar 1999 Doktor Who
Universal's rights revert to BBC - 31 Dec 1997:
UK Gold (Cable/Sat) From 7 Feb 1998
Ukraine 24 May 1998 Доктор Кто
Finland (Cable/Sat) 13 Feb 1999
HBO OLE (Cable/Sat) From 16 Feb 1999
Luxembourg 27 Feb 1999 Le Seigneur du Temps (dubbed)
Lithuania 25 Apr 1999 Daktaras Kas
BBC Prime (Cable/Sat) 2 May 1999 Doctor Who: The Movie
Netherlands 5 Aug 1999
Croatia 18 Sep 1999 Doktor Who
Italy 1999 (in English)
Fox's rights revert to the BBC - 31 Dec 1999:
Ireland 1 May 2000
Brazil 27 Jul 2000 Doutor Who - O Senhor do Tempo (dubbed)
Czech Republic 9 Sep 2000 Doktor Kdo (dubbed)
Sci-Fi Channel US (Cable/Sat) From 15 Jul 2001
Sci-Fi Channel Europe (Cable/Sat) From 2 Nov 2002
Sci-Fi Channel Southern Africa (Cable/Sat) From 27 Dec 2002
Starz (Cable/Sat) From 3 Jun 2004
Norway (Cable/Sat) 2005
BBC America (Cable/Sat) 31 Aug 2013 (The Doctors Revisited)
Germany 17 Nov 2021 Doctor Who Der Film (dubbed)
  • From a third-hand source, the Movie aired on NHK in Japan in 1997, but there is no sign of it in the online archive for that station.
  • According to IMDb, the Film also aired in Austria (on 24 June 2001), Iraq (17 February 2002), and India (25 September 2004), but there is no traceable evidence that any of those screenings did in fact occur, so we have not included them in the table. The same page also gives a 25 July 2003 airdate for Lithuania, not 1999 per above.
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Broadcasts on TV

Print ad variant
Presskit for the TV Movie

CANADA and the UNITED STATES

  • The Movie was shown on three stations in Canada several days ahead of the broadcast by Fox.
  • For the Fox broadcast, it was shown by 150+ affiliate stations across the United States on a time-staggered basis.
  • Universal's rights to make further movies or a series initially expired on 31 December 1996. The option was extended for a further twelve months to the end of December 1997, but no further programmes were made, and the rights eventually reverted to the BBC.
  • Fox retained the exclusive US broadcast rights until 31 December 1999, but it never repeated the Movie on the network, and the rights eventually reverted to the BBC.


UNITED KINGDOM

  • The Movie was originally scheduled to be released in the UK on VHS tape on 15 May (with a "15" classification rating), but censorship issues (see below) forced a delay by a week.
  • The "Novel of the Film" by Gary Russell, and "Script of the Film" from BBC Books were, however, both published as scheduled on 15 May.
  • The tape was officially released in the UK on 22 May 1996 (edited and now with a "12" rating), five days ahead of its broadcast on BBC1 (with some stores staying open late on 21 May to sell the tape from midnight).
  • The Film aired on BBC1 on 27 May 1996 from 8.30pm to 9.55pm. A special caption "In Memory of Jon Pertwee" appeared at the end as a tribute to the late actor who had died on 20 May.
  • The 27 May BBC broadcast was seen "live" on the BFBS service in West Germany, and from an off-air video-tape recording by the BFBS Falkland Islands a month later on 22 June 1996.
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WORLDWIDE

  • BBC Worldwide attended the annual MIP-TV sales junket in Cannes France from 19-24 April 1996, where the Film was a major showpiece promoted to foreign buyers, but despite later reports in June 1996 indicating interest from countries such as Portugal, Spain, Greece and South Africa, of these only Greece appears to have completed a purchase.
    • The two captions seen at the end of overseas TV and VHS versions of the Film read "Distributed through BBC Worldwide / Distributed through Universal Television An MCA Company"; it appears that Worldwide was in sole charge of TV sales (excluding North America), while Universal handled home media (see below).
  • Aside from Australia (the ABC aired it three times between 1996 and 1998) and New Zealand (TVNZ showed it twice, in 1996 and again in 1999), most of the initial batch of completed sales were to eastern European countries that had never seen the regular series, such as Russia.
  • In these non-English-speaking countries, the Film was shown with subtitles, but a small number aired a dubbed version (noted in the table above). The VHS tapes were also subtitled or dubbed - see lists below.
    • The French dub of the Film (which was taken from the BBC's censored edit) was given the new title Le Seigneur du Temps; this screened in France in 1997, Luxembourg in 1999, and a few years later on the Canadian station Ztélé. (France is the only foreign country to create its own opening title graphics and translate the closing credits roll; all other foreign dubs (which used the full uncut version) retained the English titles and credits; in the case of the Brazilian TV dub, the alternative title was spoken by a narrator.)
  • The Film was also available to non-paying "trapped audiences" - which included the In-flight TV Systems of Singapore Airlines, while British Airways apparently licenced the Movie to be shown "99 times" across its flights between July and September 1996 (although it's not exactly clear what '99 times' means: is it 99 individual viewings on cabin screens (rather than individual back-of-seat viewings), or is it on 99 flights, or maybe 99 days...?) . It was also available on British Merchant Navy vessels. (It's possible the Navies of other countries also received it - see list of possibilities HERE).
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SATELLITE AND CABLE

Universal's rights in the Movie expired at the end of December 1996, but it sought and was granted an extension until 31 December 1997. But then, once it had become clear that there wasn't going to be a new series, those rights reverted to the BBC.

Free from Universal, Worldwide put the Film into general syndication on Cable and Satellite stations in Europe, Africa and Australasia, starting in early 1998.

It was at this stage that the BBC renamed the film "Doctor Who The Movie", which became its formal title in all subsequent newspaper billings and home media releases.

Fox relinquished its stranglehold on the exclusive US broadcast rights at the end of 1999, but it wasn't until mid-2001 that the BBC was able to get a deal together for American cable stations.

  • The Movie aired on UK Gold for the first time on 7 February 1998 (it would play there nine more times; the tenth and final screening was on 29 October 2006).
  • Australia's satellite channel BBC UKTV apparently edited the Movie into a 3-parter to show it in three half-hour slots over 12-14 August 1998 - although it's far more likely the 30 minute timeslots were incorrect and it played in full on those three dates.
  • BBC Choice played it on 22 November 1998.
  • Between February 1999 and December 1999, the Movie (with new Spanish subtitles) was available to several Central and South American countries on HBO Olé / Olé 2. (This appears to be the only method by which the Film was available in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries; it wasn't sold to or shown by any terrestrial stations in that region.)
  • It was shown on Canal+ in Poland on 26 March 1999.
  • BBC Prime screened it twice - 2 and 7 May 1999, with a third showing on 30 December 1999 - the actual date on which the story is set!
  • On 13 November 1999, the uncut US version (with the "Based on the original series broadcast on the BBC" caption intact; it had been removed for the 1996 screening) was shown during BBC2's Doctor Who Night special event.
  • The US Sci-Fi Channel screened the Movie for the first time on 15 July 2001. The station held the exclusive US cable rights to the Film for three years, screening it multiple times until mid-2004...
  • Australia's UKTV screened the Movie again on 17 June 2002, and twice during 2013 as part of its 50th Anniversary celebrations.
  • Sci-Fi Channel's UK/Europe station aired the Film for the first time on Saturday, 2 November 2002, and then several more times during the next ten months. It aired again on 25 August 2008 - twice!
  • The Film also played several times during 2002 and 2003 on the Sci-Fi Channel in South Africa.
  • In 2004, the US Sci-Fi Channel's exclusive rights to the Movie expired; these were quickly picked up by Starz, which aired the Film numerous times on its various channel streams through until late 2005. (Starz offered a "Spanish" option, but it's not clear if this was subtitles or a dub.)
  • There were several additional screenings in France during 2005, each on a different channel; the last known French screening was in 2010.
  • This dubbed version was also shown several times by the French-Canadian station Ztélé from June 2006.
  • The Movie had its tenth and final showing on UK Gold on 29 October 2006.
  • UKTV Drama played the Film on 15 July 2007.
  • As part of the series' 50th anniversary celebrations, the Movie was shown on the New Zealand satellite channel BBC UKTV on 13 August 2013 and again on 24 November 2013.
  • On 31 August 2013, BBC America screened the Movie as part of its The Doctors Revisited 50th Anniversary specials, with a repeat on 18 November.
  • UKTV's satellite channel Watch also screened The Doctors Revisited; the Movie aired 3 November 2013.
  • Since 2014, the Movie has only been available in the UK on online platforms such as Netflix UK, from 9 September 2014.
  • Down under, Netflix Australia carried it from 14 April 2015.
  • The only other UK site known to carry it is BritBox UK.
  • Previously only available on VHS and DVD/Blu-ray, the Movie finally appeared on TV in Germany on 17 November 2021.


TV Movie on VHS

From 1996 to 1997, the Movie was also distributed on VHS tape to many countries around the world through Universal's home media distributor CIC Video, sometimes through a local manufacturer/distributor mainly for the rental market. The few tapes released as retail editions are easy to identify because they have a barcode on the back of the sleeve.

Tapes could only be issued in those countries where the Movie was shown on a 'pay to view' service (e.g. cable), or wasn't screened at all. If it was shown on a 'free to view' TV channel, no tape could be released. The only two exceptions to that 'rule' were the UK and Australia.

For a handful of countries where the tape was issued, the Movie also aired on TV but that was several years later.

For many of these countries, the series or Movie had never been shown on TV, and the video tape was the only form in which Doctor Who was known.

For the tapes, the Film was either (S)ubtitled or (D)ubbed. In most cases, the title was "Doctor Who" (using variations of the Movie's logo on the box cover), but some countries gave the Film an alternative cover title which is noted here (see the merchandise sections in the relevant country profiles for cover slicks and further details).

Australian and NZ VHS cover
Japanese VHS cover

Tape released before being shown on TV:

  • United Kingdom (distributed by BBC Video; with Woolworths, WHSmith, John Menzies exclusives with additional promotional material, and an edition with Closed-Captioning)

The UK tape was also available in France; it was sold in WHSmith's store in Paris.

Released on tape first, the Movie did subsequently play on TV in these countries after the BBC had reclaimed the broadcast rights:

Tape released after being shown on TV:

  • Australia / New Zealand (the same tape was released in both countries; the latter imported remaindered stock from the former two years later)
  • Poland (as Doktor WHO) (Narration over UK audio)

Not shown on TV; released on tape only:

A bootleg tape from Bulgaria is known to exist.

Intriguingly, in the German, Spanish, Hungarian and Czech tape dubs there are no Dalek voices in the pre-credits scene! The dubbing scripts provided by Worldwide would have included the dialogue. Terry Nation died on 9 March 1997, so presumably all overseas rights would have been settled prior to his death. Did those rights not also extend to commercial releases?

Dalek voices (or at least some sort of modulated 'mechanical' equivalent) are present in all the known TV dubs of the Movie; if there were foreign rights restrictions, they did not apply to the broadcast versions of the Film.


No USA Tape...

Although Fox supplied a press kit and screener tape for 'review purposes only' in May 1996 (in a TARDIS-shaped metal box), there could be no licenced VHS release from Universal/CIC in the United States or Canada until one of two things occurred, whichever came first: Fox aired the Film for a second time, OR Fox's rights expired. But the former didn't happen, and by the time the latter rolled over on 31 December 1999, Universal's home media policies had changed.

There was also potentially a conflict over US distribution rights: the worldwide VHS rights to the Film were exclusive to Universal/CIC, while the North American VHS rights to the original 1963-89 episodes were held by CBS/Fox Video.

The full US rights over the Movie (both broadcast and VHS) eventually reverted to the BBC, but Worldwide held off from making a decision about a North American tape for a number of years, as it was phasing out VHS in favour of DVD. Further rights issues arose surrounding a planned Region 1 DVD release, which couldn't proceed until agreement had been reached between Universal, the US distributor Warner Home Video Inc, and the BBC's home media distributor, 2|entertain. Once this had been resolved, a NTSC conversion of the 2-disc Special Edition DVD set was released in North America by Warner on 8 February 2011 - see below.


TV Movie on Laser Disc

It's possible there was also a DVD and/or a VCD released in Asia.


TV Movie on DVD / Blu-ray / 4K

German DVD release of "Der Film"

In the early 2000s, after the home media rights had reverted to the BBC, the Film - under the newly adopted title "Doctor Who The Movie" - was issued on DVD, and from 2016 it was available on Blu-ray, but these sets were released in only a few territories. The Film was also reissued a number of times as 'Special Editions' that were included in box sets alongside other Doctor Who stories.

  • United Kingdom: no longer censored, it was released uncut as a one-disc DVD; later reissued alongside seven other DVDs with a slip-on cardboard outer sleeve with alternative cover design; it was later issued in new packaging as a "free gift" for subscribers to the "Doctor Who DVD Files" partwork, edited into a cropped widescreen format; a new 2-disc Special Edition DVD came in the "Revisitations 1" box set; a 2-disc Blu-ray + DVD set was upscaled to High Def; a single-disc DVD was included in the Limited Edition six-disc "Regeneration" mega box set; re-assembled from the original 35mm camera negatives, a fully remastered High Def Special Edition was released on 4K and Blu-ray
  • Australia and New Zealand: first released as a 2-disc Special Edition DVD in the "Revisitations 1" box set; the same 2-discs were later reissued as a standalone release; the "Doctor Who DVD Files" partwork appears to have been available in both countries but it's not known whether the Movie was also available as a "free gift" to subscribers; a single disc DVD version in a widescreen aspect with no extras came in The Doctors Revisited Volume 2; a single-disc DVD was included in the Limited Edition six-disc "Regeneration" mega box set; the UK Blu-ray + DVD set was available as an import (UK and Australia/NZ have the same Blu-ray Region coding).
  • Germany: (as Doctor Who Der Film) (D+S); initially released as a limited-edition 2-disc combination Mediabook (with the Film on a Blu-ray disc and the extras on a DVD). The Blu-ray disc of the Film was later released on its own, while a new 2-disc set was issued but now with the Film on a DVD. (These sets were likely to be also available in Austria and Switzerland.)
  • Ireland: the "Doctor Who DVD Files" edition, the UK "Regeneration" DVD mega box set, and the 2-disc Blu-ray + DVD set (above) were exported to and released in Ireland. The packaging for these has the blue octagonal Irish censorship ratings printed on it.
  • Singapore: the Movie appears to have been released in Singapore, although it's not known when this was or which version; since Singapore is Region 3 it would not have been a direct import of a UK or Australian release.
  • South Africa: available on DVD (which appears to be an import of the first single-disc UK release (above); South Africa is also Region 2).
  • United States and Canada: after years with no home media edition at all, the Movie was finally released in North America as a 2-disc Special Edition DVD; later a single-disc DVD edition in a widescreen aspect with no extras was in The Doctors Revisited Volume 2. To date there has not been a North American Blu-ray release.

A planned DVD and Blu-ray edition for Italy was cancelled. A bootleg DVD sold in Asia had the title "Doctor Who The Motion Picture". (The source of this is unknown, but may have been duplicated from the Hong Kong laser disc.)




"This is an ambulance!" - Various TV and VHS dubs - English, German, French, Italian, European Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Czech (VHS), Czech (TV), Hungarian



"Who am I?!" - Various TV and VHS Dubs - English, German, French, European Spanish, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese



"I always drezzzzz for the occasion..." - Various TV and VHS Dubs - English, German, French, Italian, European Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Czech (VHS), Hungarian


TV Promos



Fox promos



Fox Promo



Fox promo




Fox Promo



BBC intro



BBC1 trailer



Links

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