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Posted by The Other Jason on 31-05-2019 at 02:24:
Battle of the Planets UK air dates
Hi all!
As part of my ongoing efforts to nail down worldwide airing information about Battle of the planets, I had compiled an order comparison chart at my site. I've added to it as I'm able to find information. A fan got in touch with me lately and we've been discussing the information listed for the UK airings.
He put together a list and asked me to share it with other fans in the hopes of discovering any more solid information for dates.
Here is my page comparing all the (so far) known airing information I've been able to determine so far:
http://www.battleoftheplanets.info/comparisons.html
If you hover your cursor over the numbers in columns 2 through 9, the episode title will appear as a little pop-up. This will help if you don't know the episodes simply by number.
There are also notes on the reasonings for each column below the chart. My UK airing column has been compiled from the online resources of the Radio Times guide. I have only made note of each episode's premiere date when available. I have not taken re-runs into consideration.
Presented below are the thoughts and reasonings of the fan who contacted me. His list is quite a bit different than mine, and includes re-runs.
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BATTLE OF THE PLANETS - Complete BBC broadcasts, including repeats and some educated guesswork as to Saturday morning screenings. (R symbol for repeat. R* where the first airing is my speculation. NR indicates episode that was apparently never repeated.)
Â
First BBC 'season', weekday afternoons.
1. Attack of the Space Terrapin 3/979
2. Â Rescue of the Astronauts 10/9/79
3. Big Robot Gold Grab 17/9/79
4. The Jupiter Moon Menace 24/9/79
5. Space Rocket Escort 1/10/79
6. Microfilm Mystery 8/10/70
7. The Musical Mummy 15/10/79
8. The Fiery Lava Giant 22/10/79
9. Race Against Disaster 29/10/79
10. Siege of the Squids 5/11/79
11. Orion, Wonder Dog of Space 12/11/79 NR
12. Space Rock Concert 19/11/79 NR
My first piece of guesswork. I'm speculating that these episodes were aired on the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop early in 1980, to fill a gap where no episodes were shown until the first set of repeats. The Radio Times lists these episodes as first being shown in 1984, the first ten over the Easter holidays and the last two on the May bank-holidays. They form a pattern very similar to the first twelve episodes: all in Gatchaman order and from the early part of the series. It's interesting to note that nearly all of the first twelve are title card A epsiodes, and nearly all this second twelve are title card B! This was either done on purpose or is a huge coincidence!
13. The Space Mummy
14. The Space Serpent
15. Ghost Ship of Planet Mir
16. Ace from Outer Space
17. Fearful Sea Anenome
18. Perilous Pleasure Cruise
19. The Thing with 1000 Eyes
20. The Alien Beetles
21. Magnetic Attraction
22. The Galaxy Girls
23. Victims of the Hawk
24. Raid on Riga
Repeat of first 'season' minus last two episodes, Saturday mornings.
25. Attack of the Space Terrapin 1/7/80 R
26. Rescue of the Astronauts 8/7/80 R
27. Big Robot Gold Grab 15/7/80 R
28. The Jupiter Moon Menace 5/8/80 R
29. Space Rocket Escort 12/8/80 R
30. Microfilm Mystery 19/8/80 R
31. The Musical Mummy 26/8/80 R
32. The Fiery Lava Giant 2/9/80 R
33. Race Against Disaster 6/980 R
34. Siege of the Squids 13/9/80 R
One-off new episode, weekday afternoon.
35. Peaks of Planet Odin 4/10/80 NR
A short run of new episodes, weekday afternoons.
36. Prisoners in Space 21/11/80 NR
37. The Seals of Sytron 28/11/80 NR
38. Capture of the Galaxy Code 5/12/80 NR
39. Raid on a Nearby Planet 12/12/80 NR
40. Keyop Does it All 19/12/80 NR
Christmas holiday lunchtime run of nine new episodes, the first run that is not in Gatchaman order.
41. Curse of the Cuttlefish Part One 22/12/80
42. Curse of the Cuttlefish Part Two 23/12/80
43. Museum of Mystery 24/12/80
44. Mission to Inner Space 26/12/80
45. The Fierce Flowers Part One 28/12/80
46. The Fierce Flowers Part Two 29/12/80
47. Super Space Spies 30/12/80
48. Vacation on Venus 31/12/80
49. The Space Safari 2/1/81
My second piece of guesswork. I think that these epsiodes were first shown on the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop early in the 1981. (Their first -and only- Radio Times listing is in the Autumn of 1984, covering the two weeks -different weeks for different schools!- of half-term.) I distinctly remember seeing 'Giant Gila Monster' on a Saturday morning show, because I can remember the presenters introducing it as being about 'the last of the Zenobians'. I've added those four episodes that are completely unaccounted for in Radio Times listings to the end, but I'm not entirely sure they were shown here. It does make the episode total twelve like the first two 'seasons', but the first eight here are in Gatchaman order, and those last four don't fit the pattern. So maybe 'the unaccounted for four' really weren't shown at all. (Although I think I have a memory of seeing 'The Ghostly Grasshopper' once, but I might be deceiving myself here.)
49. Giant Gila Monster
50. The Sky is Falling Part One
51. The Sky is Falling Part Two
52. Raid of the Red Scorpion
53. Mammoth Shark Menace
54. Attack of the Alien Wasp
55. The Great Brain Robbery
56. Raid of the Space Octopus
57. A Whale Joins G-Force NR (possibly not shown at all)
58. The Ghostly Grasshopper NR (possibly not shown at all)
59. Secret Island NR (possibly not shown at all)
60. The Charioteers of Changu NR (possibly not shown at all)
May bank-holiday rerun.
61. Museum of Mystery 25/5/81 R
Saturday morning reruns.
63. Curse of the Cuttlefish Part One 27/6/81 R
64. Curse of the Cuttlefish Part Two 4/7/81 R
Saturday morning repeat run including just one new episode; the first episode was shown on Buzzfax.
65. The Fierce Flowers Part One 22/8/81 R
66. The Fierce Flowers Part Two 29/8/81 R
67. Silent City 5/9/81 NR
68. Mission to Inner Space 12/9/81 R
69. Vacation on Venus 19/9/81 R
70. Super Space Spies 26/9/81 R
My third piece of guesswork. I think this batch of eight episodes were shown on the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop during it's final, 1981-2 season. I have a memory of seeing 'Decoys of Doom' on the show. (Their first Radio Times listing is during the Christmas holidays of '82.)
71. Decoys of Doom
72. Peril in the Pyramids
73. G-Force in the Future
74. Island of Fear
75. Panic of the Peacock
76. Save the Space Colony
77. Invasion of the Locusts
78. Giant from Planet Zyr
Two new Saturday morning episodes, plugging a gap between the last ever Multi-Coloured Swap Shop and it's summer replacement Get Set.
79. The Alien Bigfoot 3/4/82
80. Cupid Does it to Keyop 10/4/82
One-off repeat on last episode of Get Set.
81. The Space Safari 25/9/82 R
Christmas holiday batch of -mostly 'suspected'- reruns.
82. Decoys of Doom 21/12/82 R*
83. Peril in the Pyramids 22/12/82 R*
84. G-Force in the Future 23/12/82 R*
85. Island of Fear 24/12/82 R*
86. Panic of the Peacock 27/12/82 R*
87. Save the Space Colony 28/12/82 R*
88. Invasion of the Locusts 29/12/82 R*
89. Giant from Planet Zyr 30/12/82 R*
90. The Alien Bigfoot 31/12/82 R
91. Cupid Does it to Keyop 3/1/83 R
My last piece of guesswork. A run of ten episodes in Gatchaman order, first listed in the Radio Times as being shown over the 1985 Easter holidays. I believe they were first shown on the Saturday Superstore early in 1983. I have a memory of seeing 'The Duplicate King' on the show.
92. Peril of the Preying Mantis
93. The Duplicate King
94. Tentacles from Space
95. The Awesome Armadillo
96. Rockets out of Control
97. G-Force Defector
98. Invasion of Space Center Part One
99. Invasion of Space Center Part Two
100. Strike at Spectra
101. The Conway Tape Tap
Two new episodes followed by repeats, weekday afternoons, summer.
102.  A Swarm of Robot Ants 26/7/83
103.  Beast with a Sweet Tooth 2/8/83
104. Peril in the Pyramids 9/8/83 R (moved to BBC2, because of sports coverage on BBC1)
105.  The Space Safari 16/8/83 R
106.  Panic of the Peacock 23/8/83 R
107.  Island of Fear 30/8/83 R
108. G-Force in the Future 6/9/83 R
Christmas holiday repeats.
108.  Save the Space Colony 21/12/83 R
109.  Invasion of the Locusts 22/12/83 R
110.  Giant from Planet Zyr 23/12/83 R
Easter holiday (suspected) repeat run.
112. The Space Mummy 16/4/84 R*
113.  The Space Serpent 17/4/84 R*
114.  Ghost Ship of Planet Mir 18/4/84 R*
115.  Ace from Outer Space 19/4/84 R*
116.  Fearful Sea Anenome 20/4/84 R*
117.  Perilous Pleasure Cruise 23/4/84 R*
118.  The Thing with 1000 Eyes 24/4/84 R*
119.  The Alien Beetles 25/4/84 R*
120.  Magnetic Attraction 26/4/84 R*
121.  The Galaxy Girls 27/4/84 R*
May bank-holiday.
122. Victims of the Hawk 7/5/84 R*
Second May bank-holiday
123. Raid on Riga 28/5/84 R*
Run of nine new episodes, weekday afternoons, summer.
124. Mad New Ruler of Spectra 24/7/84
125.  The Sea Dragon 31/7/84
126.  The Bat Ray Bombers 7/8/84
127.  Demons of the Desert 14/8/84
128.  Fastest Gun in the Galaxy 21/8/84
129.  Giant Space Bat 28/8/84
130.  Zoltar Strikes Out 5/9/84
131.  Rage of the Robotoids 12/9/84
132.  The Awesome Ray Force 19/9/84
Autumn half-term run of (suspected) repeats.
133. Giant Gila Monster 22/10/84 R*
134. The Sky is Falling Part One 23/10/84 R*
135. The Sky is Falling Part Two 24/10/84 R*
136.  Raid of the Red Scorpion 26/10/84 R*
137.  Mammoth Shark Menace 29/10/84 R*
138.  Attack of the Alien Wasp 30/10/84 R*
139.  The Great Brain Robbery 31/10/84 R*
140.  Raid of the Space Octopus 2/11/84 R*
Saturday morning repeats.
141. The Space Mummy 2/3/85 R
142. The Space Serpent 9/3/85 R
143. Ghost Ship of Planet Mir 16/3/85 R
144. Ace from Outer Space 23/3/85 R
145. Fearful Sea Anenome 30/3/85 R
146. Perilous Pleasure Cruise 6/4/85 R
147. The Thing with 1000 Eyes 13/4/85 R
Easter holiday (suspected) repeat run.
147. Peril of the Preying Mantis 1/ 4/85 R*
148. The Duplicate King 2/ 4/85 R*
149. Tentacles from Space 3/ 4/85 R*
150. The Awesome Armadillo 4/4/85 R*
151. Rockets out of Control 5/4/85 R*
152. G-Force Defector 8/4/85 R*
153. Invasion of Space Center Part One 9/4/85 R*
154. Invasion of Space Center Part Two 10/4/85 R*
155. Strike at Spectra 11/4/85 R*
156. The Conway Tape Tap 12/4/85 R*
Final summer weekday afternoon run; two final new episodes followed by a whopping fourteen reruns.
158. Â Defector to Spectra 5/6/85 NR
159. Spectra Space Spider 12/6/85 NR
160. A Swarm of Robot Ants 19/6/85 R
161. Beast with a Sweet Tooth 26/6/85 R
162.  Mad New Ruler of Spectra 3/7/85 R
163. The Sea Dragon 10/7/85 R
164. The Bat Ray Bombers 17/7/85 R
165.  Demons of the Desert 24/7/85 R
166.  Fastest Gun in the Galaxy 31/7/85 R
167.  Giant Space Bat 7/8/85 R
168.  Zoltar Strikes Out 14/8/85 R
169.  Rage of the Robotoids 21/8/85 R
170.  The Awesome Ray Force 28/8/85 R
171.  The Alien Beetles 4/9/85 R
172.  Peril of the Preying Mantis 11/9/85 R
173.  The Duplicate King 18/9/85 R
Saturday Picture Show repeat run of ten epsiodes. I can remember that two of them were 'Mammoth Shark Menace' and 'The Great Brain Robbery'; I don't know about the other eight. (Possibly 'Attack of the Alien Wasp' was one.) And yes, it's possible that some or all of 'the unaccounted for four' were aired here, but I think these summer Saturday morning shows usually only aired repeats.
174. unknown episode 29/6/85
175. unknown episode 6/7/85
176. unknown episode 13/7/85
177. unknown episode 20/7/85
178. unknown episode 27/7/85
179. unknown episode 3/8/85
180. unknown episode 10/8/85
181. unknown episode 17/8/85
182. unknown episode 24/8/85
183. unknown episode 31/8/85
(The end: one final Saturday morning repeat and then the BBC's screening rights expired)
184. Tentacles from Space 28/9/85 R
NB In addition to the above there is always the possibility of 'changes to the advertised episode', last minute replacements for episodes of other shows, rained-off sporting events, etc. Anyone like me who was there at the time, knows that BOTP did regularly feature on Saturday morning shows. If you only take Radio Times listings into account, the BBC's screening of the series seems completely haphazard, with huge gaps where no new epsiodes were shown, and then a sudden glut of them in the last two years. My speculation as to Saturday morning screenings shows a more even and organised presentation of the episodes over the the five years the Beeb had the show.
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Diaries? Memories? Significant events that made a UK Battle of the planets airing and date stand out? We're both hoping a few people here on the board may have thoughts like that to help confirm one or the other list and fill in some of the gaps. He and I would be grateful for any contributions and solid information we can get!
Let me know if you have any questions about this list, or anything on my comparisons chart page. While this post is mainly about the UK airdates, I'd of course be glad to learn any new airing information from any region.
Thanks!
Best,
Jason (the other)
www.battleoftheplanets.info
Posted by The Other Jason on 30-11-2019 at 22:17:
Hi all!
Gatchamania wouldn't allow me to add this update to my post above (too many characters!), so here it is on its own.
I have a quick update to this UK Battle of the planets airdate project... The fan who put this list together was able to track down an additional nine. Entries 174 through 182 now have episode titles to go along with their dates. This new information came via our inquiries to the BBC Genome Project.
Here is the updated section for entries for 174 - 182.
*****************************************
Saturday Picture Show repeat run of ten episodes. One of 'the unaccounted for four,' The Ghostly Grasshopper, was aired here. But I think these summer Saturday morning shows usually only aired repeats.
174. Victims of the Hawk 29/6/85
175. The Great Brain Robbery 6/7/85
176. Mammoth Shark Menace 13/7/85
177. Raid of the Red Scorpion 20/7/85
178. The Galaxy Girls 27/7/85
179. The Sky is Falling! - Part I 3/8/85
180. The Sky is Falling! - Part II 10/8/85
181. Attack of the Alien Wasp 17/8/85
182. The Ghostly Grasshopper 24/8/85
183. unknown episode 31/8/85
*****************************************
There are still gaps to be filled though, so if any of you out there have any information, please contact me here or at my site to let me know.
The Other Jason
www.battleoftheplanets.info
Posted by Daniella T on 01-12-2019 at 19:26:
A bit OT, but in Greece it aired October 1980-June1981. Just in case you ever need it 
__________________
They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes -- Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.
Posted by The Other Jason on 02-12-2019 at 05:24:
Hi Daniella,
| quote: | |
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Thanks! Off topic or not, I'm always grateful for information! :-) The official contract window for Greece ran from October, 1980 through October, 1982. The series rarely ran anywhere for its full contract however. I'm happy to learn the time span for Greece. Do you know of any good online Greek television or newspaper sites I can check to possibly find episode airing details?
Best,
Ο Άλλος Ιάσονας
www.battleoftheplanets.info
Posted by Daniella T on 02-12-2019 at 13:06:
| quote: | ||||
|
Well-done with the Greek signature
I also wish I could find some details online -- I have kept cuttings from the TV programme, but not the dates... If you want, I can send you some cuttings, so you can see how it was presented on the TV programme, which pics they used etc (but it will be in Greek of course!) If you do find it interesting, give me your email and I'll send them, while I'm also looking for anything online.
Thank you once again for your work on BoTP!
__________________
They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes -- Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.
Posted by The Other Jason on 02-12-2019 at 21:20:
Hi Daniella,
| quote: | |
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I took a shot with the signature, glad it was right!
I'd love to see the clippings you have. You can reach me at 7zark7@battleoftheplanets.info. Thanks so much for the offer, I'm sure they'll be very interesting.
All my best,
The Other Jason
www.battleoftheplanets.info
Posted by Daniella T on 03-12-2019 at 10:34:
OK!
I'll try to do it over the weekend -- I want to also send you translations in English for them.
Just one more question: can I send them in JPEG format? With the translations probably in PDF.
__________________
They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes -- Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.
Posted by The Other Jason on 03-12-2019 at 21:20:
Hi Daniella,
| quote: | |
|
Wonderful, thank you. Both JPEG and PDF will be great. Thanks also for offering translate everything, that will save me a lot of time (and probably questions for you, ha ha!). I'm looking forward to seeing everything.
All my best,
The Other Jason
www.battleoftheplanets.info
Posted by Daniella T on 06-12-2019 at 23:33:
Hi Jason!
I sent you a first "batch" of copies of pages from my notebooks with cuttings from the Greek TV programme of the time, plus translation etc. Let me know if you got them ok, it was a rather heavy file.
__________________
They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes -- Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.
Posted by The Other Jason on 07-12-2019 at 08:31:
Hi Daniella,
| quote: | |
|
Everything arrived perfectly, thank you!
The Other Jason
www.battleoftheplanets.info
Posted by Daniella T on 07-12-2019 at 18:31:
I sent you the second batch, which brings us to the summer of 1981.
__________________
They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes -- Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.
Posted by The Other Jason on 07-12-2019 at 22:20:
Hi Daniella,
| quote: | |
|
Thanks again! It all got here just fine.
I suppose I should start another thread, since I'm very interested in airing details from anywhere around the world. This dedicated UK fan is really trying to help sort the BBC airing dates and episodes out and thought a public request might help complete it.
If anyone else has airing details from their home countries, and my pages are either incorrect or incomplete, I'd love to hear from you. Once again, you can see what I have loaded so far on this page:
http://www.battleoftheplanets.info/comparisons.html
Thanks again, Daniella, I really appreciate your help!
Best,
Ο Άλλος ΤζÎισον (this time using the character's name)
www.battleoftheplanets.info
Posted by Daniella T on 08-12-2019 at 19:00:
It was so much fun getting this ready to send to you — brought back so many memories!
__________________
They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally, they became heroes -- Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.
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