Doctor Who has always been
treated fairly well by the
media; most seasons get a
mention when they start and the
coming and going of Doctors and
companions (especially female) have
always been well documented.
However, 1986 was set to be
something of a watershed year for
Doctor Who. After all the media fuss
at the start of 1985 over the
programme's postponement and the
'Save the Doctor' campaigns, you
might have expected the papers to
pay a little more attention to the
programme when the series got
underway again. If anything the
opposite was true.
Let's take a trip through the
newspaper coverage of 1986, and
monitor the series' treatment by the
journalists.
DOCTOR WHO GOES ON TRIAL...
January, and the new year gets off to
a flying start with the news that
Michael Grade, the controller of BBC
1, will be keeping a close eye on the
next series. "I was unhappy with the
last series for several reasons," he is
quoted as saying in the Daily Mirror.
"I felt the show was going backwards,
not forwards." To headline this potentially
important news, the papers
chose to announce that DOCTOR
WHO GOES ON TRIAL. Contained
within Grade's words was the veiled
threat to once again wield the axe if
the show was not up to scratch.
PETER WHO?
Shortly after this sobering news came
some even more sobering news. With
the departure of Nicola Bryant as
Peri, a new companion was in the
offing, and could anyone have
predicted who that choice would be?
As the papers proclaimed on 24th
January, Bonnie Langford, child star
and all round family entertainer, was
to be the new companion. She was
currently appearing in Peter Pan and
so the production office dutifully
roped Colin Baker into a kirby
harness and flew him with Bonnie, in
her Peter Pan costume, for the benefit
of the assembled newsmen.
Bonnie was to play Melanie, a
computer programmer from Pease
Pottage and, according to the Daily
Mirror, 'a modern miss heavily into
aerobics and muesli'. They also
revealed that Melanie 'annoys the
Doctor by constantly singing in the
TARDIS, but it is hinted that the two
will develop a closer bond than
normal.' The Sun, on the other hand,
stated that 'Bouncing Bonnie, 21, will
be taking over from the Doctor's
current curvy sidekick Nicola Bryant',
and that 'Nicola's outfits have been
criticised for being "too revealing".'
This criticism probably not coming
from Sun readers.
The event was covered by virtually
all the papers with the accolade, as
always, going to the Daily Record.
The Record is one of Scotland's daily
papers, but is available in England if
you look. It most often wins hands
down because it has had colour for
years and most Doctor Who coverage
is accompanied by colour photographs,
in this case of the Doctor and
Mel.
For the news hounds, one or two
morsels of information could be found
- Sil would be back in the new series
as would some 'stunning' new monsters.
Mel was also going to take over
from Peri in the final episode...
DOCTOR WHO'S WHO
The Daily Mirror followed up their
report of Bonnie Langford's arrival on
the scene with a large, full page
feature on February 28th. This was in
their pink section and chronicled the
Doctors (including Richard Hurndall
from The Five Doctors and Peter
Cushing from the two films) and the
female companions. Once again the
article was hung around Michael
Grader's threats, with a bit about
Bonnie' Langford thrown in for good
measure.
WHAT A CARRY ON...
And so to April, when the cast and
crew all trooped down to a reconstructed
Stone Age village at Butser
Hill, Hampshire, and so too did the
newsmen. This was to be the first
proper photocall of the season and
despite the presence of the guest stars
of the first story, Joan Sims and Tony
Selby, all but two of the papers
featured very small articles, with
photos of only Colin Baker and
Nicola Bryant in their respective
costumes.
The two papers that did cover this
event thoroughly, were the Express
and the Mail. The Express gave
almost a full page of its TV section
over to the feature and used a large
photo of Joan Sims, as well as one of
Colin and Nicola.
The accompanying text was largely
an interview with Colin, in which he
was reported as saying that he had
not taken the criticisms levelled at the
show in 1985 personally. "I have this
characteristic of many actors of
thinking I am brilliant, and I couldn't
imagine that anyone else could think I
wasn't," he joked.
"But because I had only done one
series before, I suppose I thought that
as it had run for 23 years, maybe it
was me. But everyone at the BBC said
that I had nothing to do with Michael
Grade's decision." He was also
reported as saying, "I believe that the
part of Doctor Who was created for
me and vice versa and if I could have
it my way, I would play him all year
round, with just Christmas and two
weeks' holiday off."
The other major feature in the Mail
concentrated on Joan Sims and her
connection with the Carry On...
series of films.
The most original piece of news
about the opening story had to be in
Today, where they revealed that, 'It
again stars Colin Baker with Nicola
Bryant as his companion Teri (sic), in
an intergalactic courtroom drama set
in Britain after the holocaust.' Perhaps
they changed the plot half way
through..!
DOCTOR WHO SHOW OFF TO AMERICA
Also in April, the BBC launched a new
venture. With the series' popularity in
the States soaring, they decided to kit
out a 48-foot trailer as a travelling
Doctor Who exhibition. They had little
trouble finding props to put in it,
particularly as the exhibition on
Blackpool's Golden Mile had recently
closed.
'SAFE' DALEK FOR SALE
A small piece of history was made
during June when, for the first time
ever, an authentic BBC Dalek went up
for auction. The last time that any
substantial number of Doctor Who
props had been sold off was at the
BBC's Doctor Who celebration at
Longleat House in 1983, and a Dalek
was not among the sale items then.
Small wonder, therefore, that bids for
it were in their thousands. It finally
went for £4,200 and all the money
raised from the auction went to the
Woman's Hour Red Cross Appeal for
Sudan.
WHO'S SORRY NOW...
The Sunday People must get the
award for the most misleading quote
of 1986, when they carried a smallfeature about Nicola Bryant's departure
from the series on July 20th. This
piece, accompanied by a photo of
Nicola lying on o towel and wearing
not very much at all, revealed that she
had left the series to try to do
something 'really wicked'. What was
she planning to do..?
The answer was very simple. Nicola
was phoned up by the People
reporter and asked about leaving
Who, and whether she would be
doing any more pantomimes. "Yes,"
replied Nicola, "but I'd rather play the
Wicked Witch than Snow White." You
can see where the quote came from!
DOCTOR WHO IS BACK AMONG THE STARS
And so into August, just one month
away from transmission of the 23rd
Season. The line-up for the autumn
season is announced and Doctor
Who makes the headlines as part of
what the London Evening Standard
described as an 'impressive schedule
which ITV will be hard pressed to
match'.
The Daily Mirror and the Sun
covered the subject, too. The Mirror
hung it on Colin Baker's appearance
on ITV's answer to Telly Addicts, We
Love TV, while the Sun claimed that
Doctor Who had been saved 'after
the producers: CUT out violent and
frightening scenes. COVERED up
Nicola's curves. BROUGHT in more
humour.'
They went on to say that: 'BBC
Chiefs are so impressed by the new
14 part adventure ... that they are
already planning another series for
next year.'
SOUNDS LIKE WHO
The day of reckoning approaches
and the Young Observer features the
new theme music, as arranged by
amateur musician Dominic Glynn.
Glynn apparently created the new
sounds from a tiny box room at the
top of a semi in East Grinstead. They
described his work as 'a more creepy
and sophisticated version of the
original', while Glynn commented
that: 'The actual piece is such an
institution that you simply could not do
a completely different tune. There
would be an outcry."
ONE LAST CHANCE...
And so on to the day itself and...
next to nothing. Despite the fact that
the Doctor Who Appreciation Society
were holding their biggest ever
convention over that same weekend
and had sent out press packs to all the
national newspapers and despite the
publicity material coming from the
BBC, the press all but ignored the
debut of what could have been the
last ever series of Doctor Who.
Perhaps the problem was that a
week or so before the start of the
season, Starburst magazine ran an
interview with Eric Saward, who had
recently walked out on his job of
Script-Editor, leaving John Nathan-
Turner to finish the season off on his
own. In this interview, Saward criticised
virtually every aspect of Doctor
Who's production, the casting, the
direction, the scripts, laying most
blame on John Nathan-Turner, the
Producer.
Those with a logical mind asked
why he stayed on as Script Editor for
so long if he couldn't stand working
there, but unfortunately the newspapers
loved it. Instead of promoting the
show and the new season, they were
criticising its creators, even before the
first episode was shown.
Of those papers that did feature the
opening of the season, the Express
had perhaps the best coverage. With
a sensible and intelligent article, they
summarised the problems facing the
show, and even gave a potted history
lesson.
THE ODIOUS SLUG...
The second story did not fare much
better. Only Today covered it, with a
large article and a photo of Sil. The
article did contain some interesting
points; apparently Bonnie Langford
takes over from Nicola Bryant during
the course of the story, and John
Nathan-Turner is quoted as saying
that Sil is the most popular monster
since the Daleks. Perhaps he meant
since Revelation Of The Daleks...?
THAT'S BONNY
The second photocall of the season,
and what better way to introduce the
new companion in the third segment
of the Trial? Oddly enough, the
photocall was staged after recording
had finished on the third story and so
Colin Baker was sporting a rather
out-of-place looking beard.
With Bonnie Langford clowning
around with a pair of garden shears,
the papers chose to concentrate on
her past TV role; 'Doctor Who helpers
have always screamed a lot,' proclaimed
the Sun. 'Bonnie, 22 - "thcreaming"
Violet Elizabeth Bott of TV's Just
William - has the experience to do it.'
FOR SALE: 'TARDIS', SIX CAREFUL OWNERS
First a Dalek and now the TARDIS -
the BBC's attitude towards its props
could be construed as selling off the
family jewels, but when you have a
surplus of anything and you are
raising money for a very good cause,
then it can't hurt.
For a long time the BBC had two
TARDISes, one that was used and one
that was not, and for the 1986
CHILDREN IN NEED appeal, the
spare TARDIS was auctioned off
during Radio Two's celebrity auction
on the Derek Jameson programme.
The TARDIS raised £3,100 and was
soon on its way to a new home.
REBEL DOCTOR GETS THE SACK
If the year had been relatively quiet
up to now, then it was destined to end
with perhaps the biggest scandal ever
to have rocked the programme.
The Daily Mirror broke the news
first on 29th November, when they
revealed that Colin Baker's contract
had not yet been renewed, although
Bonnie Langford's had. Barry Burnett,
Colin Baker's agent said, "We don't
know what the BBC are playing at."
This was followed up in the Sun on
13th December, with the announcement
that Colin had been sacked. The
ever-present Sun 'insiders' revealed
that: 'Baker will play the Doctor for
only five or six episodes of the new
series before he is killed off and
changed into a different actor.'
18th December was the day of
reckoning, as Today reported that
Colin was making up his mind
whether to accept the BBC's offer of
four more episodes or not. Burnett
comments darkly that Colin will be
announcing "whether he will do only
part of a series, or none at all." By the
19th, Colin had reached his decision.
He would not take the offered
contract and the hunt was on for the
Seventh Doctor.
This was the first time that an actor
had been forced to leave the part of
the Doctor by the BBC. Every other
actor had left when they wanted to.
Colin Baker had to struggle against
the almost insurmountable problems
with the show. He was premiered at
the end of a season with a very
mediocre story after the Robert
Holmes tour de force swan-song for
Peter Davison.
Then the BBC decided to show the
episodes in 45-minute segments,
rather than the 25-minute ones for
which they had been conceived. Then
they postponed the 23rd season for
eighteen months.
It is no wonder that the ratings were
low and that Colin's Doctor was not
as readily accepted as the others by
the BBC - he wasn't given the same
chance.
(When Colin was removed, the Doctor Who Magazine did little, if nothing, to counter the sacking. In fact, this article and the one that follows are the ONLY columns they devoted to this terrible event. In reviewing the Doctor Who Magazines from around that time, it is noted that Colin received little support from the magazine's writers or editors and they did nothing to try and rectify the situation by calling for Colin to be given his job back. They just accepted the news and moved on, reporting the news, not on the front pages, but buried deep inside the magazine. Even the writing style of these articles is laid-back, matter-of-fact reporting, not capturing the true fan outrage of the time. They have shown a bias against Colin ever since.)
After just two-and-a-half years of playing the
Doctor, the BBC recently announced that Colin
Baker would be relinquishing the part before
recording on a now confirmed new season starting in
March.
The train of events leading
up to Colin's premature departure started with The Daily
Mirror leaking a story in its
Saturday television pages on
29th November. This
rumoured that BBC bosses
were looking to lift the show
by replacing the leading actor,
especially, so The Mirror
claimed, as Baker had supposedly annoyed BBC top
brass with his criticisms of the
suspension of the show. If this
was the case, then surely he
would have been replaced
before The Trial of a Time
Lord?
The speculation started after it was confirmed that
Doctor Who would be back
next season with a new fourteen part series, and that
Bonnie Langford but not Colin Baker had been contracted
to appear in it. Enquiries to
Colin's agent revealed only
that he was "in discussion"
with the Corporation, and
Producer John Nathan-Turner
stressed that he "wanted Colin
to continue in the role".
As it is, an announcement
was made by the BBC Press
Office on the 18th December
to this effect - after some
negotiation, Colin Baker had
rejected a BBC offer to appear
in just four of the new episodes (in order to regenerate
him) as the filming period was
a vital time for the casting of
parts in theatre, film and
television. His agent stated
how disappointed Colin was to
have had to make this decision
as he had greatly enjoyed
playing the Doctor, but wasn't
prepared to be summarily
replaced and possibly suffer
from giving up the six weeks
required for the Spring production dates.
The BBC, naturally enough,
denied a back-stage bust-up
and said it was quite usual for
the Doctor to regenerate from
time to time - and that only
two Doctors had stayed longer
than Colin Baker's three
years. What they failed to
state was that all the previous
incarnations left of their own
accord and that Colin's actual
screen time has amounted to
just 44 twenty-five minute
episodes broadcast over three
years in a period of just 29
weeks! No wonder the public
didn't get used to his version
of the Time Lord! The BBC
went on to wish Colin all the
best in the future, a feeling no
doubt echoed by Colin's many
fans both in this country and
abroad.
As to the future, it has been
decided that John Nathan-
Turner should produce
another season as "nobody
else handles this kind of show
as efficiently". Although John
has been all set on leaving, he
was "delighted and flattered"
to be asked to stay on. There is
no new script-editor as yet, but
already the newspapers are
rumouring that the next Doctor might be a woman - all
because a group of London
feminists, thinking this would
be a good, non-sexist idea,
have written to suggest it to
the BBC's Alasdair Milne.
This is highly unlikely,
according to all informed
sources. The papers are also
suggesting that either Patrick
Troughton or Jon Pertwee
might be persuaded to return
to the title part and both
actors' agents said they would
be interested, other work, in
Jon's case a planned new
series (in New Zealand) of
Worzel Gummidge, permitting. Time will tell, and with a
March production date,
should do so very soon.
The most interesting, and
probably the most accurate
thing about the article were
the quotes from three former
Doctors as to whether they
would be willing to play the
part again if Colin did leave.
Jon Pertwee said: "If I was
available I would consider
going back to the series",
Patrick Troughton commented: "It was great fun
playing the Doctor. If I was
asked I'd give it serious consideration," and Peter Davison concluded: "If they asked
me to do it again in about
twenty years' time I'd think
about it. At the moment I'm
happy doing other things."
In January two articles were published in the Sun
newspaper, headlined, 'Why I'll Never Forgive
Gutless Grade by Axed Dr Who'. The reports were
the result of Sun reporter Sue Carroll's two-part
interview with Baker shortly after news of his departure
from the show had been announced in the press.
Here is what Colin said on
several points:
About The Dismissal: "I
couldn't quite take it in, it was
such a shock. I'd fought so
hard for the show, I was
stunned. What I couldn't
accept is that Grade didn't
have the guts to tell me
man-to-man. If I knew why I,
was sacked then I would feel
better about it all. But I got
fobbed off with excuses about
Grade thinking that three
years as Doctor Who was long
enough. The fact is I only
made 26 episodes before he
cancelled the show. When it
started again there were only
14 episodes. Hardly a long
run, is it? All I wanted was a
proper explanation. Many
people believe, as I do, that I
have been treated shabbily."
About The Announcement:
"[Grade] didn't want me to say
I had been fired. My boss,
Jonathan Powell, the Head of
Series and Serials said that the
BBC would stand by any
statement I made. He strongly
suggested to me that I should
claim to be leaving for personal reasons. They actually
wanted me to come back and
do four more episodes, just so
I could be killed off and fit in
with their plans! I told them
what they could do with their
offer."
About The Part:
"I was by
no means a rich man from
Doctor Who because they
never repeated any of the
shows I did. I earned almost
£1000 an episode and I was
paid by Australian and American television companies who
bought the show. But all the
promises of extra money from
spin-offs didn't really materialise. Only small amounts of
money dribbled in. But I was
happy in my job and I was
convinced that I was a good
Doctor Who - certainly on an
equal footing with my predecessors. I would have liked to
have carried on for a good few
years, and I believe that's what
should have happened."
About Trial of a Time Lord:
"How could they expect viewing figures to rise when it was
slotted in at such a bad time?
Even so, five million viewers
isn't so bad. The Wogan show
doesn't do much better than
that, but you won't find Grade
moaning about a show that's
his brainchild.
"I can honestly say that
working on Doctor Who was
one of the happiest working
experiences of my life. It was a
fantastic team and there were
always plenty of pranks. Once
when the production team
discovered I was terrified of
spiders they set me up. I
arrived in my dressing room to
find they'd festooned the place
with massive plastic spiders,
even to the extent of filling the
loo with them... There was
never any bitchiness on the set
- unlike a lot of BBC series."
About The Fans:
"I have
been overwhelmed by the
support I have received from
viewers. Fans have made the
job really worthwhile."
About The Future:
"To be
honest there have been times
when I felt like just throwing
everything in. I have considered selling our cottage,
packing up and moving to a
little place in Cornwall. I
wouldn't mind running a corner shop and leading an ordinary life... I honestly do still
dream that Grade will turn up
on my doorstep and say it has
all been a terrible mistake, but
I realise that this will never
happen now."
As reactions continue to
pour in from our readers, and
to the BBC, it's interesting to
hear at least some of what
Colin himself thought. Clearly
his loyalty and affection for
the show and its crew remains
undiminished in spite of his
premature departure from the
show. For the future, Colin
has a part lined up, touring the
country in the play Corpse.
