Iowa Public Television

More information about IPT can be found at the Doctor Who Cuttings Archive

Variety, 16 August 1978

IPBN was one of the first stations to purchase the Tom Baker stories

Iowa Public Television
Network: PBS	Channel(s): various
First airing: 1974	Last airing:
== AIRDATES ==

First Iowa listing for Dr Who, channel 12, 7:00pm, 6 April 1974

Tom Baker premiere, Oct. 2, 1978

1979

6 April 1974: The Jon Pertwee stories begin airing, Saturdays at 7:00pm on the Iowa Educational Broadcasting Network. After 26 weeks, the series goes off the air for a year and a half.
10 June 1976: Jon Pertwee returns, now Thursdays at 6pm. After moving to 5pm, the series takes another long break.
29 July 1976: The stations are renamed Iowa Public Broadcasting Network.
2 November 1977: Doctor Who returns, now Wednesdays at 5pm.
2 January 1978: One run of Jon Pertwee is stripped at 10pm.
11 April 1978: Both runs end.
2 October 1978: The Tom Baker stories commence at 10pm.
2 March 1979: The series goes off the air again.
1982: The network is renamed Iowa Public Television.
5 October 1984: IPT airs Doctor Who in the unique Friday-Sunday slot.
late 1985: Tom Baker returns with two episodes each Friday night.
10 June 1986: The timeslot changes to Sundays through Friday nights. Several stories are skipped.
10 October 1986: IPT switches to compilations, Friday nights at 11:00.
14 April 1987: William Hartnell premieres.
1 August 1987: The travelling Doctor Who USA Tour with Janet Fielding visits Iowa Public Television.
13 October 1989: Episodes now air out of order.
24 November 1989: Dalek stories air for eleven weeks.
12 March 1993: The Tomb of the Cybermen airs.
September 1994: The network discontinued its cycle of re-runs, with the last story to air being Survival in September. Fans were, however, able to get a reprieve by raising funds through a pledge drive. At the time, IPTV was one of the few markets in the US still screening non-stop re-runs of the omnibus editions, from An Unearthly Child onwards.
From 1997, IPTV screens various Reeltime Pictures documentaries, such as Return to Devil's End.
By 1998, IPTV was one of only five markets in the US still screening the series. During its broadcast history, IPTV would show often one episode multiple nights a week, one episode per week, omnibus versions every Friday night, then back to one episode per week, etc. These SciFi Friday Night screenings were hosted by Mike Frisbie.
3 March 2001: Remembrance of the Daleks airs as part of a National Doctor Who Night repeat. The broadcast is presented by Sylvester McCoy.
27 September 2003: The Airzone Solution and Auton, two of the BBV Productions spin-off videos, air back to back from 9pm.
24 March 2007: The new series and Doctor Who Confidential begin running on Saturday nights, followed by two classic series episodes.
14 March 2015: IPTV became the first station in the world to broadcast The Web of Fear following its recovery in 2013. It aired as part of a pledge drive, starting on Saturday, 14 March, at 10:10pm, with the final episode airing at 12:20am on Sunday, 15 March. The still-missing third episode was covered by a special on-camera narration provided by Lars Pearson. IPTV to air The Web of Fear
23 July 2016: A full run of Tom Baker stories commences, Saturdays at 10:30pm. These are then repeated.
7 April 2018: The Peter Davison stories commence. Due to rights issues, Earthshock, The Five Doctors and Resurrection of the Daleks are skipped. The Davisons are then repeated.
5 January 2019: The Colin Baker stories air. Revelation of the Daleks is skipped. The Davisons are run again, followed by the Colin Bakers ...
By April 2020, the Sylvester McCoy stories are playing...
25 April 2020: Having completed the McCoy stories, IPTV goes back to the beginning, and screens An Unearthly Child, followed by further "William Hartnell Movies" every Saturday...
From January 2021: "Tom Baker Movies" are being shown...
... and as 2022 arrives, the Tom Baker Movies are being recycled again...
... and yet again as 2022 rolls into 2023...
... and as 2024 draws to an end, the series is still chugging along with the same old Tom Baker episodes on a loop...
... but from 4 January 2025 the schedule makes a surprise deviation and includes some Jon Pertwees (the first of which is Death to the Daleks)...