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→The general shape of PBS stations' buying patterns
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Arguably, the influence of the PBS broadcasts reached their zenith on November 23, 1983, the 20th anniversary of ''Doctor Who'', when PBS broadcasters aired the anniversary special ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', several days ''before'' the BBC. | Arguably, the influence of the PBS broadcasts reached their zenith on November 23, 1983, the 20th anniversary of ''Doctor Who'', when PBS broadcasters aired the anniversary special ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]'', several days ''before'' the BBC. | ||
Sales to PBS stations began to drop off around the time ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]'' went up for sale. There were a variety of reasons. One of the biggest was the advent of the VHS recorder. This allowed American fans to copy episodes of ''Doctor Who'', which were being replayed on a regular basis. It was possible for viewers in some markets to get a complete Tom Baker-Colin Baker run in about a year, if they were so inclined. Also, [[BBC Video]] had begun releasing official NTSC VHS editions of stories at that point. Thus, there was simply less actual need for a PBS station. Negative press surrounding the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy eras may have played a contributing factor, but this cannot be proven, and certainly many PBS stations continued to air the series all the way through to ''[[Survival]]'', which began to appear on PBS broadcasters in Detroit and elsewhere in 1990. | Sales to PBS stations began to drop off around the time ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]'' went up for sale. There were a variety of reasons. One of the biggest was the advent of the VHS recorder. This allowed American fans to copy episodes of ''Doctor Who'', which were being replayed on a regular basis. It was possible for viewers in some markets to get a complete Tom Baker-Colin Baker run in about a year, if they were so inclined. Also, [[BBC Video]] had begun releasing official NTSC VHS editions of stories at that point. Thus, there was simply less actual need for a PBS station. Negative press surrounding the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy eras may have played a contributing factor, but this cannot be proven, and certainly many PBS stations continued to air the series all the way through to ''[[Survival (TV story)|Survival]]'', which began to appear on PBS broadcasters in Detroit and elsewhere in 1990. | ||
It was around this time that many PBS stations chose to look backward instead of forwards. In the late 1980s, they began to more strongly buy existing [[serial]]s from the [[William Hartnell]], [[Patrick Troughton]] and [[Jon Pertwee]] eras. | It was around this time that many PBS stations chose to look backward instead of forwards. In the late 1980s, they began to more strongly buy existing [[serial]]s from the [[William Hartnell]], [[Patrick Troughton]] and [[Jon Pertwee]] eras. | ||