Super Channel was launch on cable/satellite on 30th January 1987 by the vast majority of ITV channels to present a range of "Best of British" television shows, in the hopes of taking on rival company Sky. Doctor Who featured as one of their initial presentations, though clearance issues with Equity meant it didn't start on the originally scheduled 2nd February but on 24th March instead.

However, Super Channel it did not prove to be as successful as the ITV companies hoped, and so within a year it had been sold to the Italian Marcucci family. In turn with financial difficulties it was then sold in 1993 to US company General Electric, who owned NBC.

As a result the channel was renamed NBC Super Channel, and then rebranded as simply NBC Europe. It continued with mainly European-produced programming with some US non-drama shows, but though it was owned by NBC that network's programming was generally sold on a per-country basis. As the channel was not really profitable it was eventually sold in 1998 to Deutsche Fernsehnachrichten Agentur in Germany when it was withdrawn from the rest of Europe; it was closed down on 29th September 2005 as channels were reorganised (and became Das Vierte).