Seychelles
The SEYCHELLES are a group of small islands to the west of Africa.
Profile
| Country Number (N/K) | 1987 | THIRD WAVE |
| Region | Africa | Commonwealth |
| Television commenced | 1983 | |
| Colour System | 1983 | PAL |
| Population | 1987 | 69,000 |
| TV Sets | 1987 | 3,500 |
| Language/s | French and English |
Television Stations / Channels
The Seychelles began its colour television service in 1983.
There is just one television station: Radio-Television Seychelles (RTS), a government-owned commercial broadcaster.
In the 1980s, television aired only three days a week, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Language/s
The main languages of the Seychelles are French and English. Broadcasts consisted of both English and French-language programming.
DOCTOR WHO IN THE SEYCHELLES
The series was sold to the Seychelles towards the end of the THIRD WAVE of sales in the 1980s (see Selling Doctor Who).
BBC Records
The Eighties - THE LOST CHAPTERS records a sale of "(7)" stories (by 10 February 1987). However the airdates for only 5 have been identified.
The Seychelles is not named in any of the DWM story Archives.
Stories bought and broadcast
TOM BAKER
4 known stories, 18 episodes:
| 5B | The Pirate Planet | 4 |
| 4E | Genesis of the Daleks | 6 |
| 4F | Terror of the Zygons | 4 |
| 4G | Pyramids of Mars | 4 |
The fact that the Seychelles purchased The Pirate Planet is odd for the very fact that the story formed part of the longer "Key to Time" season, making this the rare only occasion in which this serial screened in isolation.
The programme was supplied as PAL colour video tapes with English soundtracks. .
PETER DAVISON
1 story, 4 episodes:
| 5X | The Visitation | 4 |
Again, here is a rare instance of just one story from the Davison series being purchased on its own (see also Swaziland).
The programme was supplied as PAL colour video tapes with English soundtracks.
Transmission
TOM BAKER
The series commenced on Saturday, 14 February 1987, at 5.05, with The Pirate Planet, a highly unusual choice to launch the "new science fiction series".
14 March 1987 saw the start of Genesis of the Daleks from season 12. After this came Terror of the Zygons and Pyramids of Mars, both from season 13. There was a one-week break mid-way through Pyramids of Mars on 6 June 1987.
The timeslots were different every week, ranging between 5.01pm and 5.32pm.
Did the RTS elect to air the stories alphabetically according to the BBC's production serial code? – in which case 5B would indeed come ahead of 4E, 4F, 4G and 5X...
PETER DAVISON
On 27 June 1987, part one of The Visitation aired. The series finished two weeks later, on 11 July, with the episode billed as "(ep 3)". However, with a 44-minute timeslot running from 3.56 to 4.40pm does suggest that possibly two episodes may have aired - otherwise only three episodes of The Visitation aired.
There is no record that the Seychelles screened Doctor Who again.
TV listings
TV listings have been obtained from the English-language newspaper, Seychelles Nation. The TV listings included both English and French programming; "DR WHO" would have aired in English (possibly also with French subtitling?).
The first episode of The Pirate Planet was billed as "A new science fiction series introducing Dr Who as he shuttled through time and space sorting out galactic problems and vanquishing monsters".
Given that it says "introducing..." it is unlikely that any other stories aired before 14 February 1987 – and yet there are possibly two stories to be accounted for, if the 1987 memo is at all accurate.
