Sri Lanka
SRI LANKA is an island to the west of India. It is a member of the British Commonwealth.
Contents
Population
When Doctor Who screened in Sri Lanka in 1984, the population was 14.9 million, and licensed TV sets numbered only 50,000 (per WRTH, 1984).
TV & system
Sri Lanka began its television service in 1979; this was a PAL colour service.
There is just one television station: Independent Television Netwrok (ITN) , a government-owned commercial broadcaster.
Language/s
The main language of Sri Lanka is XXXXX, although English is recognised as a main language.
DOCTOR WHO IN SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka was the 57th country to screen Doctor Who (see Selling Doctor Who).
BBC Records
The Eighties the Lost Chapters records a sale of 9 stories (by 10 February 1987). However only 6 or 7 stories have been identified. Either the total in The Eighties is incorrect, or two further stories screened but their airdates have not been determined, or those two did not air, perhaps for reasons of censorship?
Sri Lanka is not named in any of the DWM story Archives.
Stories bought and broadcast
TOM BAKER
3 or 4 stories, 14 episodes:
| 4F | Terror of the Zygons | 4 |
| 4G | Pyramids of Mars | 4 |
| .. | unknown | 6 |
Sri Lanka therefore bought part of GROUP A of the Tom Baker stories.
The programme was supplied as PAL colour video tapes with English soundtracks.
JON PERTWEE
3 stories, 14 episodes:
| RRR | The Three Doctors | 4 |
| UUU | The Time Warrior | 4 |
| YYY | The Monster of Peladon | 6 |
Sri Lanka therefore bought part of GROUP D and E of the Jon Pertwee stories.
The programme was supplied as PAL colour video tapes with English soundtracks.
Transmission
TOM BAKER
The series commenced on Wednesday, 4 April 1984 at 8.00pm, screening weekly. The first story was Terror of the Zygons, followed by Pyramids of Mars. Both stories were pre-empted, with no episodes airing on 15 May or 5 June. The next six episodes were not identified by title, so could have been a six-parter (Genesis of the Daleks?) or a 2-parter (likely to be The Sontaran Experiment) plus another four-parter.
JON PERTWEE
The week after the 14th Tom Baker episode, the first of a run of 14 Jon Pertwee episodes began – The Three Doctors from 24 July, still at 8.00pm. There was a one week gap between parts 3 and 4 on 14 August. This was followed by The Time Warrior, with part 4 at 7.55pm. Then from 25 September The Monster of Peladon; again a one week break on 9 October. Part 4 aired at the later time of 8.30pm.
As for why the Pertwees screened after the Bakers is not known. It's possible that the schedulers simply aired the stories alphabetically according to production code order: 4F, 4G, RRR, UUU, YYY. Of course, this theory falls apart if the unidentified six episodes are 4E, or 4B plus another four parter, such as 4A, 4C or 4D!
There is no record that Sri Lanka screened Doctor Who again.
TV listings
TV listings have been obtained from the Sri Lankan newspapers Daily News and Daily Mirror, both based in Colombo.
All the Tom Baker listed episodes are recorded a being "Prog X/14". The first aired episode is simply given as "Science fiction series". It’s not until the fourth episode that a title is given. The last six Tom Baker episodes are not titled, but are credited as "starring Tom Baker, Ian Marter", hence our thought that these six could be Genesis of the Daleks other than, say, The Seeds of Doom. Of course, there's no guarantee that even the credited actors featured in the episodes in question!
Some of the billings are incorrect: The Time Warrior is billed as "The Time Warriors", and a few times producer Barry Letts is named as Harry Letts; director Lennie Mayne is named as Jennie Mayne, and the lead actor is credited as Jon Partwee!. The billings also identify the episodes by their BBC production codes, "Series 3U", and "Series 3Y".
Sri Lanka in Doctor Who
There are no instances where Sri Lanka is mentioned in the series.
References
