Battle of the Planets - Broadcast Order Comparisons

Presented below is a chart comparing known broadcast orders from around the world. Hover your cursor over the episode numbers in columns 2-9 to display episode titles. Notes explaining each column appear below the entire chart.

1
Battle of the Planets episodes in
Gatchaman airing order

2
Sandy Frank
airing order

3
US / Canadian
airing order

4
French
airing order

4a
French
Proposed airing order

5
Italian
airing order

6
Netherlands
airing order

7
Spanish
airing order

9
UK
airing order

This column lists Battle of the Planets in Gatchaman airing order. These were the original airing order numbers for the episodes in Japan, and they were also used as the episode production numbers for Battle of the Planets. When they skipped translating a Gatchaman episode, that episode's number was also skipped. There was no "episode 13" in Battle of the Planets for instance. These production numbers have been used for reference in the rest of the following columns and throughout this entire site. This order does not reflect any kind of episodic continuity within Battle of the Planets.

This suggested viewing order was sent by Sandy Frank Entertainment to buyers who purchased all 85 episodes of the program. Other episode order lists were created for stations that picked up fewer than the full 85 episode run or for different airing schedules (see column 3). This list very closely followed the series' production order. Examination of the scripts showed the viewing order presented here was highly consistent with notes and directions contained within.

This list, called "Schedule 'A'" was the order in which Battle of the Planets episodes were scheduled to air in North America. Much of this is similar to Sandy Frank's suggested viewing order (see column 2). This was likely the order that most major markets aired the series. It was syndicated on over 75 markets in the United States, and on Canada's Global Television Network.

Sandy Frank's surviving records only show 59 of 85 Battle of the Planets were translated into French. However, television listing guides indicated 67 episodes were actually aired. The episodes appeared to be shown in Gatchaman airing order on France's national TF1 Network.

This list was compiled as a consideration for French television censors. After reviewing "A Whale Joins G-Force 18," they were concerned about the levels of violence in the series. At that point in time, the French TF1 network wanted to air 52 episodes, so they requested the American producers supply them with the least violent 52. Head writer Jameson Brewer was at a loss at what to suggest, since "A Whale Joins G-Force" was about as light as they got. However, he put this list of 53 episodes (52, plus the already-viewed "Whale") together in this order with his estimation of the least violent first, figuring the censors wouldn't watch past the first few. The series was NOT shown in this order at any time.

All 85 episodes of Battle of the Planets were shown in Italy on their nationwide Channel 5 Network. They appeared to have been shown in Gatchaman order.

A mere 26 episodes were shown in the Netherlands on their national AVRO Network. A new episode aired about once every four to five weeks, although one was occasionally shown more often. The final few known premiere airdates included in this list come from Trudi Barth's Battle of the Planets site.

59 episodes were shown on Spain's national TVE Network, with an airing order different to any other country. The TVE premiere dates were sourced from Spanish newspapers and TV guides.

All 85 episodes were shown in Australia. Shown here was the release order list provided to the 10/0 Network, where the series first aired in Australia. This list came from Kelly Lannan's sadly defunct Gatchaman Archives website.

All 85 episodes were believed to have been shown on the BBC. ** The last four episode airdates are unknown however, nor is their actual order, so they are presented here at the end of the known dates, in production number order. They likely aired during episodes of the children's compilation program, Saturday Picture Show, at any time from June 29, 1985 to August 31, 1985. BBC premiere dates were sourced from the Radio Times guide.
When Battle of the Planets was later shown on the UK Bravo Channel in 2000, it was broadcast in Gatchaman airing order (as an aside, episode 2 of the Bravo airings mistakenly showed the G-Force: Guardians of Space episode 2, "The Blast at the Bottom of the Sea" for the first two times).