The Magician's Apprentice: Broadcast RoundupBookmark and Share

Friday, 28 August 2015 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Peter Capaldi as The Doctor (Credit: BBC / David Venni)As the premiere of new series opener The Magician's Apprentice rapidly approaches, here is a roundup of the television channels that have currently announced their plans to show the episode:

United Kingdom: BBC One, Saturday 19th September
The home channel of Doctor Who, of course! Unlike previous years the date was announced quite a way in advance, though the actual time of broadcast has yet to be confirmed - it is expected that the show will occupy the time-slot either immediately before or after BBC One's 'traditional' Autumn Saturday evening entertainment show Strictly Come Dancing. The BBC Media Centre publish their details of programmes transmitted from the 19th September next Thursday (though the time might still need 'to be confirmed').

USA: BBC America, Saturday 19th September, 9:00pm EST
The first channel to announce a broadcast time, BBC America will show the series in its own 'traditional' prime-time slot on Saturday evenings.

Canada: SPACE, Saturday 19th September, 9:00pm EST
The Canadian channel has confirmed to us that they too will broadcast the premiere at the same time as the United States.

Australia: ABC, Sunday 20th September
Trailers have been broadcasting on ABC to confirm that, as in previous years, the episode will be broadcast within 24 hours of the United Kingdom (and also available on their iView platform) - there has been no confirmation as yet whether the channel will also simulcast the episode in the early hours of the morning. ABC's Media Room should have details for that week available next Tuesday.

New Zealand: PRIME
As of writing, PRIME have yet to reveal when they are showing the episode, though they have confirmed it will be in September.

Finland: YLE2, Monday 28th September, ~6:00pm
The Finnish channel have confirmed that they will be showing the series on Monday evenings (these are broadcast in English). The actual time might change from 6:00pm, depending upon other programming.

South Africa: BBC First, Saturday 24th October, 6:00pm
Doctor Who will be one of the flagship programmes on the new BBC Worldwide channel BBC First in South Africa, which launches on the 18th October. The series has been confirmed for Saturday evenings.

Germany: FOX, December
FOX announced that, unlike previous years, they would not be showing Doctor Who until December. Last year there were unforeseen problems over arrangements with BBC Worldwide causing the German dub to be unavailable for broadcast, leading to the channel broadcasting a subtitled English version instead with the German version following after the series had ended - this time around the premiere on the channel will be the German version.

India: FX
The Indian broadcaster has announced that they plan to show the new series, but have yet to confirm the date when the series will start. FX recently took up the mantle for broadcasting Doctor Who in India, where the show hadn't been seen since BBC Worldwide ceased broadcasting there in 2012.


Check our guide page for the latest transmission updates, and for general broadcasting details around the world see This Week in Doctor Who.

(with thanks to Grant Sirett, Jouni Lahtinen, Jesse Wanagas [SPACE]




FILTER: - Broadcasting - International Broadcasting - Series 9/35