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Doctor Who in the Netherlands

 

In this article we will take a closer look at the history of Doctor Who in the Netherlands. Let me start by saying that I do not assume that I have the complete picture, on the contrary. I learned a lot during my investigations and I noticed that not much is left, especially from the Tom Baker era. In spite of that, I could still find enough material to piece together the history of Doctor Who in the Netherlands. It took some digging into a local newspaper archive, Googling, squeezing information out of the television network and a lot of determination. This history starts with a book and it is the first ever appearance of our time traveller in the Netherlands.

"Dr. Who en de Daleks", hardback edition with sleeve and artwork, printed by U.-M. 'West-Friesland' - Hoorn (1966). Translation by Tuuk Buijtenhuijs.

  

 

The Tom Baker era 1975 – 1976

On the 28th of July 1975 at 19:05 hours CET, Doctor Who premiered on Dutch public television, broadcast by the TROS on Nederland 2, the 2nd Dutch TV channel. (TROS: Television Radio broadcast foundation. Ed.) The first episode to be broadcast, was also Tom Baker’s first episode: Robot part 1. The story was aptly called ‘De Robot’. At that time Doctor Who was already running for 12 years at the BBC and Tom Baker was the 4th incarnation of the Time Lord. We did not know that at that time, did we! Although I was only able to see one minute of this first episode, which in itself is an entirely different story, I was totally hooked. Season 12 and 13 were almost entirely broadcast, 36 episodes in total during that period. Just like the UK the episodes were broadcast on a weekly basis up until part 2 of ‘De Wraak van de Cybermaten’ (Revenge of the Cybermen, Ed.). From part 3 onwards a bi-weekly broadcast schedule was used. Strangely ‘Het Sontaran-Experiment’ (the Sontaran experiment, ed.) was broadcast before ‘het Ruimtestation’ (the Ark in Space, Ed.). Unfortunately I was not able to retrieve the viewing figures forthat era at the SKO (stichtingkijkonderzoek, the organization that does research into viewing audiences, ED.). The unavailability is due to the fact that the broadcasting companies at that time were responsible for collecting and archiving that data. However inquiring at the TROS did not yield any viewing figure information regarding the Tom Baker era.

Dutch title Episode Date Time slot
De Robot Part One Monday 28-07-75 19:05 - 19:30
Part Two Monday 04-08-75 19:05 - 19:30
Part Three Monday 11-08-75 19:05 - 19:30
Part Four Monday 18-08-75 19:05 - 19:30
Het Sontaran-experiment Part One Monday 25-08-75 19:05 - 19:30
Part Two Monday 01-09-75 19:05 - 19:30
Het Ruimtestation Part One Monday 08-09-75 19:05 - 19:30
Part Two Monday 15-09-75 19:05 - 19:30
Part Three Monday 22-09-75 19:05 - 19:30
Part Four Monday 29-09-75 19:05 - 19:30
De Wraak van de Cybermaten Part One Monday 13-10-75 19:05 - 19:30
Part Two Monday 20-10-75 19:30 - 19:55
Part Three Monday 03-11-75 19:30 - 19:55
Part Four Monday 17-11-75 19:30 - 19:55
In de greep van de Zygonen Part One Monday 01-12-75 19:30 - 19:55
Part Two Monday 15-12-75 19:30 - 19:55
Part Three Monday 29-12-75 19:30 - 19:55
Part Four Monday 12-01-76 19:30 - 19:55
De Onheilsplaneet Part One Monday 26-01-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Two Monday 09-02-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Three Monday 23-02-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Four Monday 08-03-76 19:30 - 19:55
Invasie der Androïden Part One Monday 22-03-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Two Monday 05-04-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Three Monday 19-04-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Four Monday 03-05-76 19:30 - 19:55
Het Brein van Morbius Part One Monday 17-05-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Two Monday 31-05-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Three Monday 14-06-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Four Monday 28-06-76 19:30 - 19:55
De Zaden van het Kwaad Part One Monday 12-07-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Two Monday 26-07-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Three Monday 09-08-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Four Monday 23-08-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Five Monday 06-09-76 19:30 - 19:55
Part Six Monday 20-09-76 19:30 - 19:55

 

All is not well in paradise

The final episode of season 13, broadcast on the 20th of September 1976, also meant a temporary end for Doctor Who in the Netherlands. The decision to take it off the air was done after complaints of parents and teachers. Doctor Who was deemed too scary for the kids and allegedly giving the kids nightmares. Even the news program TROS Aktua did an item concerning this phenomenon during its broadcast on the 19th of April 1976.

Veronica's TV guide from May 8th 1976, Tom Baker had to say this about it, in an interview: "Those complaints come, without any doubt, from the adults. You will never hear the kids about it, they think it is wonderful. Kids think of me, as Dr. Who, as their hero, they treat me as a friend. I never met anyone who is afraid of Dr. Who. They talk to me as if they know me all their live. The Doctor is a lovable character that will never use its fist, someone that never kicks or shoots. He would never frighten a kid". (this is a double translation and a direct link to the inetrview is needed. Ed.) It is obvious that Tom Baker is talking about the Doctor as a person and not about the impact of the series in general (the complete article, in Dutch, can be found here).

Read these words with the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era in mind, where Doctor Who really was meant to frightening. Proof of this is the expressinon: ”Hiding behind the Sofa”. Personally I think that problem was not that it was scary at some moments, but that the Dutch children, or their parents, were not used to it. In the UK the series was already an institution and some Pertwee stories are already quite scary and that was before Tom Baker took over. Still we are left with some questions that probably will be unanswered for quite some time: why only these particular episodes instead of the complete seasons? How big was the succes in the Netherlands of Doctor Who? To answer the first question we have to find the person that purchased the serials at that time. In order to be able to answer the second question the viewing figures would have come in handy.

However, as previously remarked, this was just a temporary ending of the series in the Netherlands. It would take ten years for Doctor Who to returnto Dutch television.

Doctor Who releases in the Netherlands

During the Tom Baker period several paperbacks were issued. They are in fact translated Target novels and feature some William Hartnell and Jon Pertwee stories. The paperbacks were published in 1976 and 1977 by de GooiseUitgeverij – Bussum (source: ISFDB). At a sales price of ƒ3,95 per title.

Releases with William Hartnell as the Doctor
Date Title Author Pages ISBN
1976 Doctor Who en de Daleks David Whitaker 176 90-269-8102-3
1976 Doctor Who en de Kruisvaarders David Whitaker 151 90-269-8101-5
1976 Doctor Who en de Zarbi's Bill Strutton 175 90-269-8103-1

Releases with Jon Pertwee as the Doctor
Date Title Author Pages ISBN
1976 Doctor Who en de Invasie van de Autonen Terrance Dicks 157 90-269-8105-8
1976 Doctor Who en de Holenmonsters Malcolm Hulke 174 90-269-8106-6
1976 Doctor Who en het Dodelijke Wapen Malcolm Hulke 175 90-269-8107-4
1977 Doctor Who en de Dag van de Daleks Terrance Dicks 149 90-269-8108-2
1977 Doctor Who en de Demonen Barry Letts 173 90-269-8109-0

Another release is the 1976 Yearbook, translated by Mulder & Zoon B.V. - Amsterdam (however, the copyright is from 1975) The Vivo TV Zegelalbum (Collectors stamp album, Ed.) contains an article about the fourth Doctor and had 6 stamps. (The Vivo was a chain of small Dutch grocery stores).

  

DVD releases with Tom Baker as the Doctor and Dutch subtitles

After the start of the New Series in 2005 several DVD's starring Tom Baker were released to the Dutch market by ditributor Memphis Bell. These all contain Dutch subtitles.

DVD title Release Date Distributor Extras
The Ark in Space 1 januari 2006 Memphis Belle No
Genesis of the Daleks 21 mei 2008 Memphis Belle No
Pyramids of Mars 1 januari 2006 Memphis Belle No
The Robots of Death 1 januari 2006 Memphis Belle No
The Talons of Weng-Chiang 21 mei 2008 Memphis Belle No
Horror of Fang Rock 1 januari 2006 Memphis Belle No
City of Death 21 mei 2008 Memphis Belle No
The Leisure Hive 21 mei 2008 Memphis Belle No
Genesis of the Daleks 21 mei 2008 Memphis Belle No

 

The Peter Davison era 1985–1986

On Monday the 30th of September 1985, Doctor Who returned to Dutch Television, broadcast via Nederland 1 and now with actor Peter Davison as the Doctor. Peter was already a quite well known actor in the Netherlands through his role as Tristan Farnon in all Creatures Great and Small. So when he was cast as the Doctor it was a logical moment to bring the series back to Dutch television. I am pretty sure that this was one of the main reason to bring Doctor Who back to the Netherlands.

Although Peter Davison succeeded Tom Baker as the Doctor, Castrovalva, the first story after this regeneration, was never broadcast in the Netherlands. All other stories of season 19 were broadcast, albeit not in the original order. Black orchid is the fifth story of season 19, but is broadcast as the last. Only the first three stories of season 20 are broadcast, which includes Arc of Infinity. Despite the fact that Arc of Infinity is recorded for a great part in Amsterdam, the viewing figures are not higher than normal. No Dalek story, because they appeared in season 21.

There is an elaborate article dedicated to the return of Doctor Who in the TrosKompas (TV guide of the TROS, Ed.), dated the 28th of September 1985. The TrosKompas published a small article on every new story. From these articles it is sometimes clear that the writer was not really familiar with Doctor Who. In total 34 episodes were broadcast. What strikes the most is the fact that the viewing figures were quite high, between 400,000 and 1,200,000 viewers. These figures were not unusual for a series like Doctor Who. At that time Dutch public broadcasting did not have much competition from other broadcasters. That leaves the question: Why was Doctor discontinued? Whatever the reason could have been, nothing as radical as in the case of the Tom Baker era.

Finally, I want to thank Peter Grootveld from TROS television, for collecting and generously making the viewing figures available to me to publish them on the site. I am also indebted by Bas Pierik who generously made his TrosKompas clippings available for me to scan them for the site.

Davison inleiding 1 Davison inleiding 1

Davison inleiding 2 Davison inleiding 2

 

Monarch 1 Monarch 1 Monarch 2 Monarch 2 Dutch title Episode Date Time slot Ratings
Monarch Part One Monday 30-09-85 16:20 - 16:45 816000/6%
Part Two Monday 07-10-85 16:20 - 16:45 816000/6%
Part Three Monday 14-10-85 16:20 - 16:45 95200/7%
Part Four Monday 21-10-85 15:30 - 15:55 680000/7%

 

Het Bezoek Monarch 2 Dutch title Episode Date Time slot Ratings
Het Bezoek Part One Monday 28-10-85 16:20 - 16:45 816000/6%
Part Two Monday 04-11-85 16:20 - 16:45 952000/7%
Part Three Monday 18-11-85 15:30 - 15:55 952000/7%
Part Four Monday 25-11-85 16:20 - 16:45 1224000/9%

 

De Kinda 1 De Kinda 2 De Kinda 2 De Kinda 2 Dutch title Episode Date Time slot Ratings
De Kinda Part One Monday 06-01-86 16:00 - 16:25 959000/7%
Part Two Monday 13-01-86 15:30 - 15:55 959000/7%
Part Three Monday 20-01-86 16:20 - 17:10 1096000/8%
Part Four

 

Aardschok Aardschok Dutch title Episode Date Time slot Ratings
Aardschok Part One Monday 27-01-86 16:20 - 16:45 1233000/9%
Part Two Monday 10-02-86 15:30 - 15:55 1096000/8%
Part Three Monday 17-02-86 16:35 - 17:00 1096000/8%
Part Four Monday 24-02-86 16:35 - 17:00 1096000/8%

 

Tijdvlucht 1 Tijdvlucht 1 Tijdvlucht 2 Tijdvlucht 2 Dutch title Episode Date Time slot Ratings
Tijdvlucht Part One Monday 03-03-86 16:10 - 16:35 959000/7%
Part Two Monday 10-03-86 15:30 - 15:55 822000/6%
Part Three Monday 17-03-86 16:35 - 17:00 959000/7%
Part Four Monday 24-03-86 16:35 - 17:00 1233000/9%

 

In Levensgevaar 1 In Levensgevaar 1 In Levensgevaar 2 In Levensgevaar 2 Dutch title Episode Date Time slot Ratings
In Levensgevaar Part One Monday 07-04-86 16:35 - 17:00 959000/7%
Part Two Monday 21-04-86 16:35 - 17:00 959000/7%
Part Three Monday 28-04-86 16:00 - 16:25 685000/5%
Part Four Monday 05-05-86 15:27 - 15:52 685000/5%

 

Slangendans Slangendans Dutch title Episode Date Time slot Ratings
Slangendans Part One Monday 12-05-86 16:35 - 17:00 685000/5%
Part Two Monday 19-05-86 16:25 - 16:50 274000/2%
Part Three Monday 26-05-86 16:35 - 17:30 411000/3%
Part Four

 

Een Nieuwe Bedreiging 1 Een Nieuwe Bedreiging 1 Een Nieuwe Bedreiging 2 Een Nieuwe Bedreiging 2 Dutch title Episode Date Time slot Ratings
Een Nieuwe Bedreiging Part One Monday 09-06-86 16:40 - 17:05 548000/4%
Part Two Monday 16-06-86 16:37 - 17:02 411000/3%
Part Three Monday 23-06-86 16:40 - 17:05 411000/3%
Part Four Monday 30-06-86 16:37 - 17:02 411000/3%

 

Zwarte Orchidee Zwarte Orchidee Dutch title Episode Date Time slot Ratings
De Zwarte Orchidee Part One Monday 27-01-86 16:18 - 17:05 548000/4%
Part Two

Peter Davison DVD releases with Dutch subtitles

Due to the start of the new series DVD’s of several Peter Davison serials with Dutch subtitles were released by Memphis Belle in 2005 The table below gives an overview of what is released.

DVD title Release date Distributor Extras
The Visitation 30 April 2007 Memphis Belle No
Earthshock 30 April 2007 Memphis Belle No
The Five Doctors 30 April 2007 Memphis Belle No
Ressurrection of the Daleks 30 April 2007 Memphis Belle No

 

The Enemy Within: Paul McGann 1996

Thirtheen years after the last broadcasted Peter Davison story, our favorite Time Lord returned to Dutch television once again, on Thursday night August 1999 at 10:36 PM. Now the role of the Doctor, number 8, had been taken over by Paul McGann. The Dutch viewing public was of course completely oblivious to the fact that this was also the return of the Time Lord to British television back in 1996. In 1989 Doctor Who was suspended indefinately by the former BBC controller Michael Grade. Very much to the dismay of fans worldwide. After a steady amount of rumours and speculations the rights to Doctor Who were finally leased to Universal pictures. The working force behind this move was producer Philip Segal. The TV film was eventually broadcast by the BBC in England and by FOX in the US. It also served as a pilot in case there would have been enough interest to justify a new series of Doctor Who. However, in spite of the fact the film directed by Geoffrey Sax, was a reasonable succes in England – 9.08 million viewers –the expected viewing figures in the US were lower than hoped for. Thanks to these bad viewing figures no second movie was commissioned, needless to say that a new series was no longer considered. Although the viewing figures were good in England the reception by the fans was predominantly that of disappointment. Very little can be said about the reception of the TV film in the Netherlands apartfrom the cold hard facts of the ratings. In general the opinions of the Dutch fans regarding the movie are rather divided. Except for the performance of Paul McGann, who in general is viewed as a very good Doctor. The Big Finish audio drama’s feature Paul McGann regularly as the eight Doctor. With the Day of the Doctor and the Night of the Doctor, the prequel to the 50th anniversary episode, the eight Doctor is finally given his regeneration scene. For the TV movie as broadcast on Dutch TV no further mysteries are reported. In total the movie was viewed by 280,000 viewers, which is fair enough.

The new series 2006-2007

So the TV movie did not spawn a new series, which in hindsight has been a good thing. It would have been a very Americanised series and one can only wonder if that would have been a good thing. Doctor Who as a TV series was more dead than alive during the period after the TV movie, up until 2003. In the background one man was clearly putting up a lobby to reanimate Doctor Who as a TV series, enter: Russel T Davies.

Davies, an avid Doctor Who fan, was already well known in the British television production community. He would become the person in charge of bringing back Doctor Who to British television. An official announcement for the long awaited return of Doctor Who was made on the 26th of September 2003. On the 26th of March 2005 the moment that Doctor Who fans had waited for so long, was finally there. Christopher Eccleston was cast as the Doctor and Billie Piper was cast as Rose, his companion.

Eventually the series was also bought by the Dutch public network, probably due to the success of the new series in the UK. On the 10th of June 2006, thanks to the VARA (one of the Dutch public broadcasters, Ed.), the Doctor was finally back on Dutch television. The series was broadcast on Saturdays, at prime time 7 pm on Nederland 3, the third Dutch public broadcast channel. At that moment the FIFA world cup just started and one can question if the chosen time slot for Doctor Who was a bit unfortunate.

Looking at the ratings shows quite a large number of viewers for the first few episodes. Then the ratings dwindle with a low point for episode for, before they rise again. The final episode has incidentally the highest rating. The ratings are not bad at all for a TV show that is not particularly well known by the Dutch Public in general. Of course we would not expect the same numbers as the show attracts in the UK. We can distinguish two major reasons fort his: 1) The Dutch public in general is not really SciFi minded. Major science fiction shows like Star Trek and Stargate can still attract some interest, but Doctor Who is altogether quite a different show. No soldiers exploring and fighting for a Federation or on parallel worlds. Instead the show gave us good stories, good acting and good dialogs. On top of that the Doctor is a very much “down to earth” person, no pun intended. Special effects in service of the story and a show that does not immerse the viewer in a abundance of technobabble. 2) The world has become significantly smaller and almost anyone can receive the BBC broadcast in some form or other. So, many Dutch fans had already seen the series before it was broadcast on Dutch television.

Meanwhile the Ninth Doctor was replaced by number Ten, played by David Tennant. For a long time and for unknown reasons, it was not clear if the second series would ever air on Dutch television. Quite a few Dutch fans posted the question on the Vara website, if and when the second series would be broadcast. At first it was uncertain if it would be broadcast at all. Later on this was changed to “with reservation”. In the end, the second series was indeed broadcast, but the chosen time slot was a sure indication that the ratings would be low. The time slot for Doctor Who would now be 3 PM on Saturday afternoon and the channel was changed to Nederland 2. Why they choose this time slot will remain forever incomprehensibleto me and there will probably never be answer to that question. Somebody at VARA must have thought that Doctor Who was a childrens show and therefor chosen this time slot (the MDL rating kind of confirms this). A real misevaluation of our beloved TV show, which resulted in dramatically low ratings. When, for instance, we look at “The Satan Pit” with only 34,000 viewers, it becomes clear that the target audience for such a show was either not at home or did not watch TV.

New series DVD releases with Dutch subtitles

Distributor Memphis Belle released series 1 and 2 on DVD with Dutch subtitles. Both series are available as seperate DVD's (no extras) and as boxsets (with extras). Series 8, with Dutch subtitles was released on the 20th of August 2015 by EIC. Next to the many extras, this boxset also contains the anniversary episodes Day of the Doctor and Time of the Doctor.

DVD title Release date Distributor Extras
Series 1, part 1 8 September 2006 Memphis Belle No
Series 1, part 2 8 September 2006 Memphis Belle No
Series 1, part 3 8 September 2006 Memphis Belle No
Series 1, part 4 8 September 2006 Memphis Belle No
De complete eerste nieuwe serie (5 DVD box) December 2006 Memphis Belle Yes
Series 2, part 1 21 May 2008 Memphis Belle No
Series 2, part 2 21 May 2008 Memphis Belle No
Series 2, part 3 21 May 2008 Memphis Belle No
Series 2, part 4 21 May 2008 Memphis Belle No
Series 2, part 5 21 May 2008 Memphis Belle No
De Complete tweede nieuwe serie, Collector's Edition (6 DVD box) 27 October 2008 Memphis Belle Yes
Het complete 8e seizoen + Day of the Doctor + Time of the Doctor 20 August 2015 EIC Yes

New series book releases in Dutch

Book title Release Date Distributor Extras
De Metalen Moordernaars 23 October 2006 Memphis Belle No
De Verborgen Monsters 29 September 2006 Memphis Belle No

The future of Doctor Who in the Netherlands

We are unable to look into the future, a trait that is solely reserved for Time Lords. As this is written the Doctor already reached its twelfth incarnation with Peter Capaldi taken over the role from Matt Smith. What about the future of Doctor Who in the Netherlands? At this moment it seems that it is nonexistent. But is it really necessary to broadcast it on Dutch television? No, not really. Dutch cable companies will in most cases broadcast BBC1 or BBC entertainment or even BBC first. SyFy channel is currently broadcasting and through streaming services like Netflix, the series is also available for viewing. And finally it is possible to source all materials like DVD and Blue ray, but also merchandise, through many on-line stores.

 

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