What Really Happened: Doctor Who - The Trial Of A Time Lord
Things then got out of hand when Eric Saward went to Starburst magazine and vented out his frustrations, releasing some rather personal opinions about how Doctor Who was run under John Nathan-Turner. The pressure began to pile on top of John Nathan-Turner, as he desperately tried to complete The Trial of a Time Lord without the aid of Eric Saward. But it was clear that the passion he once had for the show was running thin, particularly when the fandom started to turn against him, including a younger Chris Chibnall. He managed to find last minute replacement writers, Pip and Jane Baker, forcing them to quickly construct a conclusion based on next to nothing, due to copyright issues with Eric Saward's original script.
After much struggle, and incredible frustration, the season was finally completed to the mandate of Michael Grade's wishes. In many ways it was a miracle that The Trial of a Time Lord was ever made, as well as the serial being anywhere near as good as it was. Despite winning the battle, the war was far from over for John Nathan-Turner.
The producer felt it was time to leave Doctor Who behind. However, these plans were halted by a blackmail, in which Doctor Who would be axed if he didn't stay on to produce another season, given nobody else wanted to take up the challenge of running this dying show. On top of this, he was forced to do the dirty deed of telling Colin Baker he was fired. Despite making his portrayal much lighter and charming in tone compared to his previous season, Colin Baker was still shown the door. What made matters worse was that he hadn't even completed three full seasons on the show due to the hiatus, but Michael Grade wasn't interested.
He simply didn't like Colin Baker and felt Doctor Who could only move forward with a new lead. Despite a desperate plea to Jonathan Powell to be brought back for one more season. Colin Baker was denied the pleasure of continuing with the role he loved so deeply, ultimately being cheated a chance of a lifetime. His time as the Doctor was cut short, and his dream to beat Tom Baker's seven year record was dead and buried. Understandably, Colin Baker refused to return for a regeneration scene, leaving John Nathan-Turner in a rather difficult situation, starting Sylvester McCoy's era off on the wrong foot.