6 Times Doctor Who Was Nearly Cancelled (And The Time It Actually Was)

It was just a few years later that the show once again found itself under threat of cancellation, around the end of the Troughton era and the handover to Third Doctor Jon Pertwee - there are conflicting reports as to which side of this transition discussions were had. The show was still enjoying success and praise from audience and critics alike, though viewing figures had dropped noticeably compared to the heights of that Hartnell era. It was fair to say that ‘Dalekmania’ was beginning to run its course. At this point, there was no plan to turn Doctor Who into the long-standing TV juggernaut that it is today, and the BBC considered ending it on a high note before it began to decline and was potentially axed under less dignified circumstances - after all, this was far from the BBC’s easiest show to produce.

Thankfully, these discussions never progressed further due to the show reinvigorating itself to appeal to a wider audience. The younger, more dashing Third Doctor was more prone to solving problems with martial arts than words and had swapped out his TARDIS for a little yellow car called Bessie which he zipped about in, thwarting alien invasions. A format-change in the show also saw the Doctor stranded on Earth, taking a day job with UNIT to keep himself busy. These changes went down an absolute storm, ushering in the second (and arguably final) golden era of Classic Who - one that lasted until Tom Baker’s exit.