10 Things Everyone Always Gets Wrong About Doctor Who

There are some who believe that the Daleks or the Cybermen are the Doctor's greatest villain. To others, it's the Master, or even the Weeping Angels. But to fans who were watching the show in the mid-to-late '80s... it's probably Michael Grade.

Grade was the controller of BBC One around that time, and was responsible for putting Doctor Who on hiatus in 1985, as well as firing Sixth Doctor Colin Baker the year after. He infamously hated the show, even going so far as to call it "garbage". Clearly, he wasn't the type of fella to have a TARDIS mug in his cupboard.

Because of Grade's well-documented hatred of the show, a lot of fans also associate him with its cancellation in 1989, which is an understandable connection to make.

But in reality, Grade wasn't even at the BBC when that decision was made. He was succeeded as BBC One's controller by Jonathan Powell in 1987, and it was he who was responsible for Doctor Who disappearing from our screens. Sharing in that responsibility was Head of Series Peter Cregeen, who even called himself "the person who cancelled Doctor Who" in the 2007 documentary Doctor Who: Endgame.

Grade's lack of faith in the show can't have helped matters though - so he does shoulder some of the blame.