Wow, you've had better access to the series right from the get-go. We were introduced in the late 70s when our PBS (Public Broadcasting System) ran 3rd Doctor (Pertwee) in late afternoons—I believe a season/year after they had run in Britain, but I could be mistaken. We followed (as we could) from then until Peter Davison (couldn't get past his mis-casting; it was still too soon after his All Creatures/Tristan Farnon role, which was running concurrently here). Things were sporadic after that; they moved broadcast time to Fridays at 11pm. We got more serious again when they ran the series from the beginning (Hartnell & even the Peter Cushing movies), but that late Friday time slot was still difficult, and the begging... (PBS fundraising)

Oh, the begging... THE BEGGING...

Doc