Finland
FINLAND is part of Fenno-Scandinavia, in northern Europe. It shares a border with Norway, Sweden and Russia.
The 1963 to 1989 run of Classic Doctor Who did not screen on any local terrestrial TV stations in Finland, but it was known in other ways:
DOCTOR WHO IN FINLAND
BBC Records
In a BBC memo dated 7 July 1965, Finland was one of several European countries to which the series had been offered. The stories auditioned were The Daleks, The Sensorites and The Dalek Invasion of Earth (tellingly, only 'futuristic' stories and no historicals!). However, the offer was not accepted and no sale eventuated. (Of note, the same three stories were also offered to Sweden and Switzerland, suggesting some kind of proposed 'region deal'.)
On Television
UK SATELLITE
From 24 March 1987, the series was available via the UK satellite station Super Channel. Also available in the 1990s was BBC World Service Television Europe / BBC Prime, and Germany's RTL Plus.
PAUL MCGANN MOVIE
The 1996 TV Movie aired on the cable and satellite station MTV3 Scifi on Friday, 13 February 1999 at 2.50pm. (The story had been available on video tape three years before this -- see below.) The satellite station was also available in other parts of Scandinavia as well as the Baltic countries Estonia and
The two Peter Cushing Dalek movies - Doctor Who ja Dalekit and Doctor Who ja Dalekien Invaasio - aired on local Finnish station YLE TV2 on 6 and 13 October 2006 respectively (the latter at 10.50pm). (YLE TV2 also screens the New Series.)
FINLAND SATELLITE
From 3 March 2008, classic serials became available on MTV3 Scifi, which was simulcast with and aired the same episodes as TV4 Science Fiction from Sweden -- see that profile for more details.
Merchandise
While the TV series was an "unknown" prior to the above TV screenings, a couple items of merchandise were available a decade earlier...
Novelisations
In 1976, a publisher called Weilen & Göös released hardback adaptations of two of the Target novelisations, translated into Finnish:
- TOHTORI KUKA – JA AUTONIEN HYÖKKÄYS (The Auton Aggression) (Spearhead from Space)
- TOHTORI KUKA – JA LUOLAHIRVIÖT (The Cave Monster) (Doctor Who and the Silurians)
There are also two Finnish translations of new series novels:
- TIKITTAVA PAINAJAINEN (The Clockwise Man)
- LUOLAMIES LONTOOSSA (Only Human)
Videos
In late 1988, Castle Video Oy Ltd in Helsinki released a commercial VHS of Pyramids of Mars (under its "Sesam Video" brand) with the title "Dr Who Marsin Pyramidit"; this had the original English audio soundtrack with Finnish subtitles.
According to the Elonet video classification guide, the programme was "inspected" by the classification board on 24 October 1988, which indicates it was released sometime after that date.
Although this story had been released by Nonstop Video in Norway and Sweden under the brand of "Sesam Eievideo", Castle Video's similarly named "Sesam" brand is different and unconnected to its Norwegian counterpart.
Three years before it appeared on TV (above), the Paul McGann TV Movie was released on VHS (by MCA/Universal/CIC Video) in late 1996. This was a Rental Only tape (subtitled in Finnish) with the unique and highly descriptive title "1999 MAAILMAN TUHO" - which translates as "1999 WORLD DESTRUCTION / DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD". The tagline was "HÄN TULI TAKAISIN… VIIME HETKELLÄ!" (He Came Back … At The Last Minute!)
Other Links
- The Finnish Wikipedia, complete with Finnish "titles" can be read: HERE
Finland in Doctor Who
- The Draconian Consulate in Helsinki was burnt to the ground (Frontier in Space)
- A flight coming in from Helsinki is listed on the 'Arrivals' board at Schiphol Airport in Arc of Infinity
