Why Every Lead Actor Left Doctor Who

8. Colin Baker

William Hartnell David Tennant Doctor Who
BBC Studios

Colin Baker was at the helm for one of the most turbulent periods in Doctor Who history.

In 1985, the show was put on hiatus due to concerns about its quality and its levels of violence. BBC executive Michael Grade believed Doctor Who felt cheap compared to the likes of Star Wars and E.T., saying "What we were serving up as science fiction was garbage".

Not exactly a fair comparison, but point taken.

Though Doctor Who did return after its hiatus with the season-long story Trial of a Time Lord, it wasn't long before Baker himself had a target on his back. With higher-ups still not convinced by the show's quality (or ratings), they removed him from the role.

Though he was offered a final adventure that would conclude with the Sixth Doctor's departure, Baker refused to return for anything less than a full season. As a result, he wasn't even present for his own regeneration scene, with Sylvester McCoy instead adorning a blonde curly wig.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.