10 Moments That Almost Killed Doctor Who

In November and December of 1989, Doctor Who aired a serial titled Survival, which is ironic, because this was the final story before the show was cancelled.

And yes, Doctor Who was actually cancelled this time, but seeing as it eventually returned, this cancellation still only stands as a moment that almost killed the series entirely. It's our list, we can count this if we like!

So... what happened?

Well, Doctor Who was competing with soap-opera juggernaut Coronation Street, which was pulling a ton of ratings away from the show. Battlefield Episode 1 – which aired earlier in the same season as Survival – only drew in 3.1 million viewers, a record low for Doctor Who at the time.

Coupled with the aforementioned disdain for Doctor Who from BBC higher-ups and the reasons to stop production of the show were more plentiful than reasons to carry on. And so, production was halted at the end of Season 26, with co-leads Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred informed that their contracts for future seasons were not being renewed.

McCoy recorded the Doctor's closing monologue on 23 November 1989 – the 26th anniversary of when the show began. This effectively ended Doctor Who for good, and as far as anyone knew at the time, that was it. There wasn't a crystal ball, and certainly no TARDIS to tell the millions of fans of the series that the Doctor would eventually return, so as far as anyone was concerned... Doctor Who was done.

While this was obviously bleak at the time, Doctor Who wasn't actually away for too long in the grand scheme of things. Although when it did return, it wasn't exactly with a bang...