14. The BBC Have Tried To Cancel The Series Not Once...
Because it hasn't always been an international phenomenon, you know. Back in 1989
Doctor Who found itself at an all time low with dwindling public interest, ever decreasing viewing figures (they fell to the dangerous level of 3 million at one point!) and generally shoddy scripts which resulted in the BBC dramatically pulling the plug on the Time Lord's adventures once and for all. Or so everybody thought at the time, anyway. On 6th December 1989, 5 million people tuned in to bid the Doctor adieu in what looked set to to be his last adventure... like,
ever. Aptly titled
Survival, the serial's poignant final scene involved Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor and his companion Ace, played by Sophie Aldred, walking into the sunset talking about all the work they had to do. None of which viewers would ever actually get to see. Well, until the 1996 TV movie, that is...