New Jersey Network

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

New Jersey Network
Network: PBS	Channel(s): various
First airing: 1983	Last airing: 1995
== AIRDATES ==

Print ad circa 1983/84

Debut of Troughton episodes in the US, on NJN from 1 February 1986 issue of the Network Guide

A network of four channels covering the state:

WNJS Channel 23 (Camden)
WNJM Channel 50 (Montclair)
WNJT Channel 52 (Trenton)
WNJB Channel 58 (New Brunswick)

The station was also carried on all cable systems in New Jersey and many in neighboring New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

23 November 1983: The Five Doctors airs, 8.00 to 9.30pm.

3 December 1983: The Tom Baker stories commence screening, Saturdays at 9pm.
16 February 1985: The newly-released package of all 24 Jon Pertwee stories makes its US debut. This package sees Spearhead from Space, Frontier in Space, Planet of the Daleks and Invasion of the Dinosaurs screening for the first time in the US.
20 April 1985: The NJN-produced special "Doctor Who's Who's Who" airs for the first time. (NJN documentaries fan page)

31 August 1985: K9 and Company screens, followed by the documentary, "Doctors Who Old & New".

7 September 1985: The 17 repackaged William Hartnell stories make their US debut on NJN, on Saturday, 9.00pm, in omnibus "movie" format.

26 October 1985: The Colin Baker stories make their US debut on NJN, screening one full story on the last Saturday of each month. (This means that the Bakers play between Hartnell and Troughton runs of episodes.)

1 February 1986: The repackaged five Patrick Troughton stories make their US debut on NJN, weekly at 9pm on Saturdays. (The series aired on Saturdays at 9.00pm during the whole year.)

22 February 1986: By design or purely coincidentally, The Two Doctors plays during the Troughton run.

15, 22 March 1986: Timelash and Revelation of the Daleks play between the two halves of The War Games!

5 April 1986: After the debut of the Troughton stories, NJN aired omnibus editions of the Jon Pertwee stories in the usual Saturday 9pm slot.
19 April 1986: A transmission error occurred during The Ambassadors of Death: with 15 minutes or so left in the story, the screen faded to black and the end titles started. The station later showed the last 15 minutes three weeks later, after The Mind of Evil.

3 May 1986: Following the transmission of Terror of the Autons, NJN aired "The Doctor's Friend and Foe", a brief interview with actors Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier) and Anthony Ainley (the Master).

24 January 1987: The Trial of a Time Lord begins. NJN is one of the first US stations air this.
27 June 1987: The NJN-produced special "Doctor Who Then and Now" airs for the first time.
9 January 1988: Doctor Who Then and Now airs again, followed by the first US showing of Time and the Rani.
13 August 1988: K-9 and Company airs for the fourth time.
19 November 1988: Following a screening of Dragonfire (7.00 to 8.30pm), "The Making of Doctor Who Special" (from 9.00 to 10.00pm) airs for the first time. This was followed by The Five Doctors from 10:30 till midnight. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred appear in studio during Pledge breaks - see clips below.
2 December 1989: Peter Davison appears in studio during a pledge drive to promote Doctor Who and Campion.
17, 24 February 1990: The Prydonians of Prynceton answer phones during pledge breaks. Sophie Aldred appears in studio on the 24th.
3 March 1990: Season 26 of the Sylvester McCoy stories makes its US debut, with the four stories played in production order. Of note, NJN hasn't even aired Season 25 yet!
15 December 1990: Season 25 finally airs - nine months after Season 26!
31 August 1991: The Seeds of Death is scheduled for this day, but for reasons unknown it is substituted with Planet of the Spiders instead.
23 May to 29 August 1992: A 15-week Marathon of Dalek and Cybermen serials - but not The Tomb of the Cybermen, which is deemed too expensive! (The Tomb of the Cybermen did eventually screen 2 January 1993.)

5 September 1992: The week after the Marathon, the series moves to an earlier 5.00pm timeslot.
27 March 1993: A run of the Doctors' first and last episodes begin.
9 October 1993: Stories were played episodically, rather than as omnibus "movies", weekly at 11:30pm.
13 August 1994: After over ten years of almost uninterrupted screenings of Doctor Who, the New Jersey Network drops the series; the final story to be broadcast is The Deadly Assassin. The reasons cited for this are declining viewers, dwindling donations and increased residual payment demands made by Lionheart. Between 1983 and 1994, NJN enjoyed runs of every surviving full story at least twice, with the Tom Baker stories played as many as six times.
1 December 1994: Four months after the last airing, 30 Years in the TARDIS is shown. It is repeated 4 March 1995.