Retro Television Network
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Jump to navigationJump to searchThe RETRO TELEVISION NETWORK was launched in July 2005. Specialising in "classic" drama and comedy, it was originally designed to be broadcast "free" on the digital sub-channels of its affiliate host television stations.
It was re-branded as retro tv in 2013. In August 2014, it started screening Doctor Who.
DOCTOR WHO ON RETRO TV
- 4 August 2014: The station began airing William Hartnell stories, two episodes back to back per day (at 8:00 and 8:30pm), Monday to Friday.
- On Saturdays, four episodes from earlier stories are repeated at 6:00 to 8:00pm. For the entire run on Retro, two streams were in rotation: one stream in story order on weekends, another with a different Doctor on weekdays. And repeat ...
- All Hartnell and Troughton episodes have been VidFIREd. The Aztecs and The Dalek Invasion of Earth are skipped.
- 18 September 2014: The Patrick Troughton episodes begin (without The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Web of Fear or The Enemy of the World).
- 29 September 2014: The Jon Pertwee stories begin. Spearhead from Space is skipped. All stories appear in color; stories such as The Mind of Evil are the recolourised versions created for the BBC DVD releases.
- 31 October 2014: A sub-station called RTVN commences screening the same episodes as its parent, but from time to time it aired alternatives. RTVN was only available in some of the same regions.
- 15 December 2014: The Tom Baker stories begin.
- 8 April 2015: The run of Peter Davison stories begin.
- 25 May 2015: Colin Baker stories are added to the rotation.
- 18 June 2015: Sylvester McCoy stories debut.
- 28 June 2015: RTVN ceases screening separate schedules, and from 29 June airs the same as Retro TV. The channel subsequently closed down in 2019.
- From 14 July 2015 onwards, with the seven Doctors now in the mix, the two separate streams continue: one stream of stories playing daily, Monday to Saturday, and a different stream on Sundays only.
- As of early October 2020, the weekday stream was showing Peter Davison stories (season 20), while Sunday was Tom Baker (season 16, the Key to Time).
- From 19 November 2020, the screenings had cycled back to William Hartnell, with An Unearthly Child.
- January 2021: Jon Pertwee episodes each week-day, and William Hartnell (back again, after a run of Colin Baker) at the weekends.
- February - April 2021: More Pertwee, then Tom Baker stories weekdays, with Hartnell, Troughton, and Pertwees at the weekend.
- June 2021: Peter Davison on weekdays...
- July to end of 2021: The serials have cycled through Colin Baker, McCoy, Hartnell and back to Troughton, then Pertwee on weekdays...
- As 2022 begins, it's once again back to Peter Davison on the weekends, and Tom Baker weekdays... with the run taking a break in mid November 2022 during a run of Bakers.
- ... but the series returns in April 2023... but three months later, it's gone again - the final story to air for the time-being is Robot, with all four parts airing back-to-back on 2 July 2023. But it's back in December with the usual complete story every Saturday and Sunday, and a different cycle of episodes on weekdays, continuing into 2024... but by 15 January it's gone again...
Airdates
Full airdates for both channels are listed on the This Week in Doctor Who site: