7 Moments That Almost Killed Doctor Who
3. The 8th Doctor
Doctor Who's cancelation in 1989 didn't sit well with a lot of people. After all, it was an incredible show that had endured for a quarter-century, so there were a lot of fans who weren't happy to see it go. Many of those fans lived in the United States, which worked in the series' favor.
A collaboration between the FOX network and the BBC made it possible for the Doctor to return. In many ways, the return was a test to see if the Doctor would work moving forward. The result was a television movie, featuring Paul McGann as the 8th Doctor.
If the movie worked in pulling in enough viewers, it would serve as a pilot episode for a series relaunch. Unfortunately, the movie didn't perform as well as the studios would have liked, and it wasn't picked up for a series. The seven-year hiatus between the 7th and 8th Doctor's apparently wasn't long enough.
When it was clear that the show wouldn't be moving forward, it really did look as if Doctor Who was finally canceled for good. Of course, that's not the case, and the series managed to make what didn't work in 1996 work perfectly in 2005.