Italy

ITALY is in southern Europe.

Profile

Country Number (54?)	1980	SECOND WAVE
Region	Europe
Television commenced	1954
Colour System	1977	PAL
Population	1980	57 million
TV Sets	1980	12.87 million / incl. 1.18 million colour
Language/s	Italian	Dubbed

Television Stations / Channels

Italy began its television service in 1954.

There are a number of privately-owned stations, but the national broadcaster – and home to Doctor Who - is:

• Radiotelevisione Italia (RAI)

All foreign television programmes are dubbed into Italian.

DOCTOR WHO IN ITALY

Italy was the seventh country in Europe to screen Doctor Who. It was also one of a large group of countries that bought the series towards the end of the SECOND WAVE of sales (see Selling Doctor Who).

And as we've noted in the chapter, 110 Million Viewers, 54 countries had bought the series by then.

BBC Records

The Eighties - THE LOST CHAPTERS, records a sale of "(9)" stories to Italy (by 10 February 1987).

Given that only seven stories aired, it could be that two further stories were purchased but didn't air (one of these being 4E, if the DWM reference is correct). Of course, the records could be inaccurate, or the tally also includes the repeat screenings of two of the serials.

In DWM, Italy is identified in only 2 story Archives: 4E and 4H, in 1979. 4E did not air in Italy, but it may have been purcased bu withheld form broadcast – perhaps due to censorship?

Stories bought and broadcast

TOM BAKER

Seven stories, 26 episodes:

Code	English Title	eps	Italian title
4A	Robot	4	Robot
4C	The Ark in Space	4	Arca Spaziale
4B	The Sontaran Experiment	2	Esperimento Sontaran
4D	Revenge of the Cybermen	4	La Vendetta dei Ciberniani
4H	Planet of Evil	4	Il Pianeta del Male
4G	Pyramids of Mars	4	Le Piramidi di Marte
4F	Terror of the Zygons	4	La Sconfitta degli Zigoni (The Defeat of the Zygons)

The opening titles were adapted to include the Italian translations of the episode titles:

• Italy was one of the few countries to screen 4B, 4C, 4H, 4G in the correct order.

The programme was supplied as PAL colour video tapes, which were dubbed into Italian.

In Italian, the character of the Doctor is called "Il Dottore". The Italian actors who portrayed the lead roles were:

Diego Reggente – Il Dottore Who!

• Diego Reggente (Doctor Who)
  • DIEGGO REGENTE's CREDITS
• Germano Longo (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart)
• Piera Vidale (Sarah Jane Smith)
• Guido de Salvi (Harry Sullivan)

• For a more detailed list of the Italian actors, visit: ITALIAN ACTORS for DOCTOR WHO

And although it is not covered by BroaDWcast, here are details of the voice-over actor for the new series:

• DOCTOR WHO (2005) VOICES

Transmission

TOM BAKER

Although there are nine stories recorded in the 1987 sales document, only seven stories screened.

The series started on Wednesday, 6 February 1980, at 7.20pm.

It aired weekly in the same timeslot for 22 weeks, until 1 March 1980. The six stories aired in the correct story order, which was highly unusual, as many foreign broadcasters tended to screen those stories in production code order.

Nineteen months later, on Saturday, 3 October 1981, at 12.05pm in the afternoon, the series returned, with the "missing" Zygon story. This was followed by a repeat screening of Il Pianeta del Mal and Le Piramidi di Marte (which might account for the total of nine stories in the 1987 memo.)

There were 13 weeks in this run, but only 12 episodes: La Sconfitta degli Zigoni is billed for the first five weeks, so presumably for one of those dates the episode was pre-empted.

The series ended on 26 December 1981.

As far as can be determined, the series did not screen in Italy again.

TV listings

Billing for Pianeta del Male with Michael E Briant credited a director

TV listings have been obtained from the Rome newspaper Il Tempo.

Listings always gave the series name as "DOCTOR WHO".

In Il Tempo, there were a number of "oddities". On 22 February, the listing given was for La Sconfitta degli Zigoni, but the following week, it was not stated (N/S); but the next two weeks had Il Pianeta del Male; so presumably the Zygon story was dropped in favour of this other serial. (The paper also incorrectly billed Michael E Briant as the director.) .

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The Italian TV Guide published in Italy ("Sorrisi & Canzoni TV") published its own listings, including a four-page introductory article about the series (which features several photos of Louise Jameson as Leela, despite the fact that none of her stories aired!):

The weekly billings included brief summaries and photos:

Robot	Arca Spaziale
Esperimento Sontaran	La Vendetta dei Ciberniani
Il Pianeta del Male	Le Piramidi di Marte
La Sconfitta degli Zigoni

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PAUL McGANN

Although the Paul McGann TV Movie has not screened on Italian television, it was released on VHS video, and dubbed into Italian, by these actors:

• Marco Bolognesi (Doctor Who)
  • MARCO BOLOGNESI CREDITS
• Fabrizio Temperini (Maestro)
• Fabrizia Castagnoli (Grace)
  • VIDEO: ITALIAN VIDEO CREDITS

Italian DVDs

Two DVD box sets of William Hartnell stories were released on DVD in the late-2000s, with Italian duds:

• Doctor Who - Gli Inizi (2007) (The Beginning) (with An Unearthly Child, The Daleks, Inside the Spaceship)
• Doctor Who - I Dalek Invadono la Terra (2008) (with The Aztecs, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Web Planet)

The voice-artists were:

• Enrico Maggi (Doctor Who)
• Cinzia Massironi (Barbara)
• Claudio Beccari (Ian)
• Elisabetta Spinelli (Susan)

• • For a more detailed list of the Italian actors, visit: ITALIAN ACTORS for DOCTOR WHO

Fandom in Italy

In 1983, the address of the Italian Doctor Who Fan Club was given as via Bologna 33/23, Genova 16127, Italy in the book, Doctor Who – A Celebration.

Today, Italy has a very active online presence; the following are the source of many of the clippings used (with permission) on this site:

• WEBSITES:
• The following websites feature information on Doctor Who in Italy:
  • ITALIAN FANS OF DOCTOR WHO – HERMITS UNITED
  • TOM BAKER in ITALY
  • SEASON 12 CLIPPINGS
  • SEASON 13 CLIPPINGS
  • ARTICLE on DOCTOR WHO

(Grateful thanks are due to Gabriella for providing the screen-grabs and clippings.)

Italy in Doctor Who

• The Romans is set in Italy of AD 64.
• Snowcap Base crewman, Tito (Shane Shelton), is Italian (The Tenth Planet).
• Aircraft designs drawn by Leonardo da Vinci feature in The Seeds of Death.
• The Doctor mentions Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii in The Brain of Morbius.
• The Masque of Mandragora is set in San Marino, circa 1492.
• The Doctor visits Leonardo's studio in Florence in City of Death.

Links

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