By the mid-80s, the BBC really did seem to have the knives out for Doctor Who. Sneery corporation controller Michael Grade wanted the show killed off, believing it to be a niche programme long past its prime. Being a Whovian had become a thankless task - aficionados still trusted in the good Doctor, but were anxious he'd lost his way. A reprieve was earned and The Trial of a Time Lord finally emerged, under heavy bombardment from Beeb management speak and stricken by internal rifts within the production team. Rather than take the opportunity to make a clean break, producer John Nathan-Turner and script editor Eric Saward decided to manifest their woes in a leaden, umbrage-packed story arc. Just as the series was on trial at the television centre, Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor wound up in the dock, too. The result was a halfway house, unsatisfactory to... virtually everyone. An uneasy mix of courtroom prattling and half-baked storylines, the apex of the season occurred during Mindwarp, when the Doctor behaved decidedly out of character. Baker asked Saward about his motivation for the scene... and Saward shrugged! When the wolves are at the door and the homeowner is busy dangling meat through the letterbox, it can only mean one thing - heartache for the fans.
I am a journalist and comedian who enjoys American movies of the 70s, Amicus horror compendiums, Doctor Who, Twin Peaks, Naomi Watts and sitting down. My short fiction has been published as part of the Iris Wildthyme range from Obverse Books.
