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Though a handful of pioneering PBS stations may have begun broadcasting ''Doctor Who'' with a few [[Jon Pertwee]] stories, ''Doctor Who'' broadcasting on PBS stations began with the Time + Life distribution of [[season 12|seasons 12]] to [[season 15|15]]. These initially appeared as individual episodes, with [[Howard Da Silva]] linking narration at the top of episodes to explain things for viewers who may have forgotten where the narrative had left off. These three seasons were put onto a loop my most of the stations that carried them, because the stations had bought the right to show the episodes a certain number of times. The fact that this initial package ended with ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'' allows us to date general American involvement with ''Doctor Who'' to no earlier than about [[1978]]. | Though a handful of pioneering PBS stations may have begun broadcasting ''Doctor Who'' with a few [[Jon Pertwee]] stories, ''Doctor Who'' broadcasting on PBS stations began with the Time + Life distribution of [[season 12|seasons 12]] to [[season 15|15]]. These initially appeared as individual episodes, with [[Howard Da Silva]] linking narration at the top of episodes to explain things for viewers who may have forgotten where the narrative had left off. These three seasons were put onto a loop my most of the stations that carried them, because the stations had bought the right to show the episodes a certain number of times. The fact that this initial package ended with ''[[The Invasion of Time]]'' allows us to date general American involvement with ''Doctor Who'' to no earlier than about [[1978]]. | ||
PBS would then obtain rights to subsequent seasons. Usually, the prospect of getting the new season was used as an incentive during PBS donation requests, or "pledge drives". As each new season was added to the library of the particular station, the "Tom Baker loop" would grow ever longer. Each station would go as far as they could with their Baker episodes, then snap back to ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'', and do it all again. Thus, Tom Baker is particularly vivid in the minds of many American fans because his adventures were played so often. Eventually, the [[Peter Davison]] and [[Colin Baker]] seasons were added to many PBS station libraries. | PBS would then obtain rights to subsequent seasons. Usually, the prospect of getting the new season was used as an incentive during PBS donation requests, or "pledge drives". As each new season was added to the library of the particular station, the "Tom Baker loop" would grow ever longer. Each station would go as far as they could with their Baker episodes, then snap back to ''[[Robot (TV story)|Robot]]'', and do it all again. Thus, Tom Baker is particularly vivid in the minds of many American fans because his adventures were played so often. Eventually, the [[Peter Davison]] and [[Colin Baker]] seasons were added to many PBS station libraries. | ||
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]]'', 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]]'', 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. | 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. | ||
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. | ||