Introduction

As the name indicates, this e-book covers the broadcasting of the series from a uniquely New Zealand perspective. This subject is of particular interest to fan researchers as NZ holds several distinctions in the history of Doctor Who. NZ was the first country outside the UK to screen the series; NZ broadcast the world premiere of Silver Nemesis Parts Two and Three; and it is also the location of two major finds: The Crusade episode 1 and censor clips from The Web of Fear and The Wheel in Space.

This e-book is the end result of many long hours of painstaking research. The main source of information and material is the New Zealand Listener a weekly magazine, first published in 1939 and still going strong today, that includes detailed television listings and associated features. As such it serves as a printed record of every Doctor Who episode ever broadcast in NZ. Information and material located by looking through issues of the Listener forms the backbone of this e-book and is supported by invaluable data from other sources including the NZBC programme traffic records, government censorship notices and AGB McNair television ratings.

For assisting with the research and/or providing additional information, thanks are due to Graham Howard, David Bishop, Nigel Windsor and Murray Jackson. Most of all though I am indebted to Jon Preddle, whose original article in the pages of a fanzine called Time Vwoorp sparked off my interest in this subject many years ago and Jon has been a constant source of help and encouragement ever since.

The material featured here breaks down into four sections. Readers new to this subject should start with Doctor Who on New Zealand Television, as this is a chronological guide to all of the screenings from 1964 right up to the present. New Zealand Transmission Dates is a complete listing of every NZ broadcast of every episode. Here you can find the day and date; start and finish time and the television channel, sequenced in this case in story order. Doctor Who Listener Archive is a collection of all known notable Doctor Who items - such as photos, articles, letters, previews and reviews - located in the Listener. Finally, Doctor Who Episode Listings contains the synopses for each and every episode that appeared in the programme listings pages of the Listener.

Some of this material previously appeared in The Doctor Who Listener, a trilogy of TSV Specials published between 1989 and 1993, however this e-book is a complete rewrite rather than a reissue of those volumes. The source material from the Listener issues and other sources has been rechecked, resulting in expanded information and many corrections and some previously overlooked items have been discovered.

This e-book is currently a work in progress; there are further Listener clippings and episode synopses yet to be added, and as long as Doctor Who continues to be broadcast on NZ television the e-book will be updated to include those screenings.

Feedback and questions are very welcome. Please email me.

If referencing information derived from this e-book elsewhere, please include a link back to this page for the benefit of those who wish to learn more about Doctor Who on New Zealand television.

Paul Scoones