10 Biggest Controversies In Doctor Who History
1. The Hiatus & 1989 Cancellation
While Doctor Who isn't exactly firing on all cylinders as of late, at least it's still on the air. As we've already discussed, the Colin Baker era of the show is quite a divisive one, and even though this period does have its fans, it set the show on a downturn that resulted in an 18-month hiatus, and eventually, a full-on cancellation.
The hiatus was put into effect by the aforementioned Michael Grade, who absolutely hated classic Who. He thought that it looked cheap when compared to cinematic sci-fi like E.T. and Star Wars, and recently called it "garbage" in a 2019 interview.
Naturally, fans weren't too chuffed about Grade's decision (and dislike for the man has continued to persist throughout the years - see the time he was booed during an appearance on Room 101), but the hiatus wasn't the end of his Doctor Who meddling.
After Baker's second full series had concluded, Grade fired him from the role, and in response, the actor refused to return to film his regeneration scene. Baker lost a lot of fan respect for this decision, and has since labelled his actions as "selfish".
But the biggest, most controversial dump that the BBC took on Doctor Who came in 1989, when they cancelled it outright. This was easily the most turbulent time in the show's history - after all, cancellation is the worst thing that can happen to a TV programme - and it led to a barren and bleak period for Doctor Who in the 1990s.
On the plus side, the cancellation led to 2005's stellar revival, but considering that the Sylvester McCoy years were an improvement over Baker's - and Doctor Who was still massively popular - there's never been a more upsetting time to be a fan of the show.
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Got any other examples of controversial events within the Doctor Who world? Let us know in the comments section!