10 Dumbest Doctor Who Controversies

There's a real anti-establishment undercurrent to the latter years of classic Doctor Who, from script editor Andrew Cartmel reportedly telling producer John Nathan-Turner that he wanted to "overthrow the government", to Sylvester McCoy's history with the anarchic Ken Campbell roadshow.

However, the most strangely controversial addition to the McCoy era was Sophie Aldred's hairy armpits.

As Aldred remembered in a 2008 interview with Den of Geek, her history as a radical feminist while studying at Manchester initially put her at odds with Nathan-Turner.

It's certainly funny to imagine Aldred – who came from working-class Manchester clubs – replacing theatre darling Bonnie Langford, which is something that Nathan-Turner initially struggled to reconcile, as Aldred recalled:

"At first, it was awful. He didn’t really understand me, because he came from the world of Joan Collins-ish type glam, the Kate O’Maras of this world, and Bonnie Langford. And he didn’t really understand at all why I didn’t want to shave my armpits."

This armpit controversy didn't last long however, and she and Nathan-Turner soon became great friends. And if anything, Aldred's decision not to shave her armpits was perfectly on-brand for a right-on feminist action hero like Ace.