Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart
Regarding Dr Who, I saw Micheal Grade being interviewed and the interview asked about Dr Who. MG did admit that the viewing figures for it were actually good at the time (bearing in mind it was up against Coronation Street a lot of the time), and the real reason he axed it was simply that he didn't like it.
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Michael Grade didn't axe Doctor Who. He put it on an 18-month hiatus in 1985. Although it was never formally cancelled, it was BBC1 controller Jonathan Powell who was most directly responsible, as he failed either to shift the show out of a slot where it was competing with Coronation Street, or indeed to commission any new seasons after the 26th. The writing on the wall was clear to the production team - Nathan-Turner and the rest were pretty sure Survival was going to be the last-ever episode.
By the time all this happened, Michael Grade, whose personal hatred for Doctor Who was well known, was in no position to have influenced the decision, as he was running Channel 4. Indeed, Powell was reputed to have hated his guts, so certainly wouldn't have been likely to take Grade's advice over anything.
Incidentally, while Who was more successful against Corrie than just about anything else the BBC had ever put up against it, it still fared very poorly by its own standards. Its final season more than once failed to attract more than 3 million. For a prime property in prime time, that wasn't good at all.