10 Times Doctor Who Jumped The Shark (And Nuked The Fridge)

7. Replacing Good Things With Puerile Garbage Does Not Increase Ratings

Well, an article concerning shark jumping had to reach John Nathan-Turner eventually, didn't it? Tom Baker's last season - and the story Meglos especially - saw a big dip in viewers. And it was all due to incoming producer JNT's desire to put his stamp on the programme in 1980. JNT's motives weren't entirely egocentric - some aspects of the programme had become stale and another one of Who's periodic semi-reboots was clearly in order. However, thinking that the programme could regain its earlier viewing numbers simply by giving the leading man a new costume and filling up the TARDIS with youngsters was asinine. As for taking the costume designer's striking new ensemble for Tom and insisting that question marks should go on the collars so the audience would know the Doctor was mysterious - that's just juvenile drivel. The revamped title sequence, another JNT creative choice, wasn't very successful either. To quote Tom Baker, "John was never known for his artistry." Gimmicks galore in Tom's swansong series, it would seem, and they were all at the behest of Nathan-Turner - and none of them really worked. In JNT's defence, Doctor Who was directly competing against Buck Rogers and something had to be done in the face of all those flashy special effects drawing away viewers. In those days, Buck Rogers was considered a lot more convincing than Doctor Who, which is enough to make any fan think. Can today's makers of Doctor Who learn from this dreadful re-imagining of many of the show's central icons? NuWho has always tried to stay fresh by rejigging things like the opening titles. The lesson of JNT's first season appears to be that one should be careful not to go too far with these changes. Having made some poor creative choices, what did JNT do? Did he admit his mistakes and correct course? When Moffat thought audiences were tired of two-parters, he rested them for a while - although they're back for Series 9. Did JNT show such responsiveness? Let's see.