Did The New Batman Adventures Ever Air In The UK At All?

[GrantM]

Ever since my brother got the Batman TAS Blu Ray set I've slowly but surely been going through the KidsWB era of the show which I missed out on when it originally aired. Couple things I want to point out. First I don't mind the change in animation style which I know fans were not into, I've seen pretty much most of the big fan favourite episodes (Over The Edge, Mad Love, Beware The Creeper, Holiday Knights, Jokers Millions, etc) and I do get a kick out of hearing Tara Strong's first crack as Batgirl (I think it's the one time I've heard her normal voice), mainly because I absolutely love the DC Super Hero Girls take on the character (and even she knows that!).
But anyway I've been wondering recently if this era of the show ever aired in the UK. I stopped watching cartoons for the most part around early 1996 and I kinda figure given how darker and violent the KidsWB era of the show was I doubt it even aired in the UK at all

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Yes, the show aired on Sky One in an early morning slot. I'm not sure of the exact year however, or how often it was repeated (if at all).

 

[GrantM]

Yes, the show aired on Sky One in an early morning slot. I'm not sure of the exact year however, or how often it was repeated (if at all).

Really!?!. I watched Sky One a lot back in the day (mainly for The Simpsons) and I dont recall that. Though the early morning timeslot kinda explains why. I guess Sky One makes sense because I just couldn't see ITV (which aired the series originally) allowing an episode like Over The Edge airing. It always surprises me that KidsWB were more lenient with the show than Fox was

 

[Red Arrow]

I suppose CITV and Cartoon Network UK have aired it.

 

[ShadowStar]

I suppose CITV and Cartoon Network UK have aired it.

No, they didn't. Cartoon Network UK aired the first 50 episodes ("On Leather Wings" to "Off Balance") but nothing beyond that. CITV aired some, if not all, of episodes 51-85, since I recall "The Man Who Killed Batman" and "Batgirl Returns" being among the episodes that they aired. TNBA didn't air at all until 2000 or 2001 at the earliest, and as Pfeiffer-Pfan says, that was on Sky One. I think that Justice League was airing on Cartoon Network at the time that TNBA aired on Sky One.

 

[GrantM]

No, they didn't. Cartoon Network UK aired the first 50 episodes ("On Leather Wings" to "Off Balance") but nothing beyond that. CITV aired some, if not all, of episodes 51-85, since I recall "The Man Who Killed Batman" and "Batgirl Returns" being among the episodes that they aired. TNBA didn't air at all until 2000 or 2001 at the earliest, and as DisneyBoy says, that was on Sky One. I think that Justice League was airing on Cartoon Network at the time that TNBA aired on Sky One.

Yikes!, the UK didn't get TNBA for 3 years?!?

 

[ShadowStar]

Yikes!, the UK didn't get TNBA for 3 years?!?

Well, I'm certain that the Sky One airings happened before the release of the Volume 4 DVD in December 2005, because I had already seen most of those episodes before they hit home video. But that still means that the Sky One airings might not have happened until 2003 or 2004 or even early/mid-2005... I'm afraid I just can't remember which year it was. Needless to say, I was happy when the series was released on DVD in America and I could then watch the episodes on a region 1 DVD player!

The way that the episodes were divided up between networks was very strange all around. Fortunately, around 40 episodes from the original run -- I'm classifying BTAS and TAoB&R as the "original run" -- were released on VHS in the mid-90s, so I imagine that many of the fans in the UK were able to see a reasonable number of episodes even if they didn't have access to all of these networks.

Yes, the show aired on Sky One in an early morning slot. I'm not sure of the exact year however, or how often it was repeated (if at all).

I don't think they were ever repeated -- that or they repeated some of them, but not all of them. It wasn't a long run.

 

[Red Arrow]

Unfortunately, the old schedules of Sky One don't seem to differentiate between Batman: TAS and The New Batman Adventures.

Sky.com

Sky.com is the definitive destination site for anything to do with multi-channel digital satellite television. It's the place to subscribe to Sky digital, Sky+ and purchase an Extra Box and find out what's on TV with our 7-day TV guide.

web.archive.org

This was also true in Flanders. Here is a TV guide from April 1999 with The New Batman Adventures listed as "Batman".

TV Programs - EuroTV : VT4

 

[Stu]

The New Batman Adventures aired here in the UK around Spring 2002 on Sky One.

They aired it in the weekday early morning slot, they started from the original Batman show, onto The Adventures of Batman and Robin then The New Batman Adventures.

 

[Jon T]

The UK television debut of The New Batman Adventures was indeed on Sky One in 2002, specifically Thursday 21 March 2002. At the time, it was a highly anticipated broadcast since it was an incredible four-and-a-half years after the series originally started airing in the US. Sky One ended their first (and only?) run of the series by showing the last seven episodes back-to-back on Easter Monday (1 April 2002). Justice League began just a couple of months later on Cartoon Network on Saturday 15 June 2002.

No one was ever able come up with an explanation as to why TNBA, a series starring Batman, was delayed for so long in the UK, but there were other odd events surrounding the DCAU series in the UK around the same time, implying some sort of issues behind-the-scenes.

For instance, Superman: The Animated series was broadcast on both ITV and Cartoon Network in 1998/1999, but, in each case, they only ever showed the first season of the series. In other words, a show featuring Superman had 41 episodes completely passed over in the UK by every broadcaster going.

Additionally, the final season of Batman Beyond (retitled "Batman of the Future", of course) was also never originally shown in the UK, despite the first two seasons being on loop on Cartoon Network / Toonami.

I've read elsewhere that this was all due to contractual disputes with Warner, which is certainly possible, but I've never seen any solid evidence of this.

 

[ShadowStar]

Additionally, the final season of Batman Beyond (retitled "Batman of the Future", of course) was also never originally shown in the UK, despite the first two seasons being on loop on Cartoon Network / Toonami.

Actually, there was one week (I can't remember when it was -- I'm sorry) when Batman Beyond aired on either Cartoon Network UK or Toonami UK and they showed a few episodes of season 3: "King's Ransom", "Untouchable" (I think) and "Out of the Past". But that was it. It was only for one week.

 

[Jon T]

Actually, there was one week (I can't remember when it was -- I'm sorry) when Batman Beyond aired on either Cartoon Network UK or Toonami UK and they showed a few episodes of season 3: "King's Ransom", "Untouchable" (I think) and "Out of the Past". But that was it. It was only for one week.

Very interesting, and thanks for the clarification on this. I gave up on anything from season three of Batman Beyond ever making it to the UK and stopped checking the listings in 2002/2003, so my guess is that those episodes were shown sometime after that, but before the 2006 Toonami rebrand.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Cartoon Network UK aired a batch of Batman Beyond Season 3 episodes in Sept/Oct 2006 in an afternoon slot. I recorded them at the time and was quite surprised to see them considering the big push in the UK at the time was (naturally) for The Batman.

It's crazy to think the UK only ever saw the first season of Superman: The Animated Series, as I have such distinct memories of the show and it's merchandise from the time. I guess WB was pushing it with toys and merchandise but the ratings weren't strong enough so CN dropped it?

It's possible that RTE2 or TV3 (Irish channels) aired more of the shows and that's where I saw them?

 

[ShadowStar]

It's possible that RTE2 or TV3 (Irish channels) aired more of the shows and that's where I saw them?

Definitely, because on a visit to Ireland, I saw an advert which featured Supergirl, as well as a clip of Darkseid from "Legacy".

 

[Jon T]

Further to what ShadowStar said, I certainly also remember it being reported that The New Batman Adventures was shown on RTE 2 some time before it's 2002 debut in the UK - I was pretty jealous back then!

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Further to what ShadowStar said, I certainly also remember it being reported that The New Batman Adventures was shown on RTE 2 some time before it's 2002 debut in the UK - I was pretty jealous back then!

Thanks for clarifying... I definitely remember seeing these shows when I was young, so it must have been on RTE 2. Good thing JL/JLU and The Batman both got a complete (and well promoted) run on Toonami UK.