John Nathan-Turner

John Nathan-Turner (12th August 1947-1st May 2002) was the ninth producer for Doctor Who, from 1980 until it was put on hiatus in 1989. He was the longest-serving, and most widely known, producer during the run of the show. Many fans either praised or blamed him personally for the ups and downs of the programme during his tenure.

Born in the Midlands of England, John Nathan-Turner showed an early interest in acting and theatre. He joined the BBC as a floor assistant in the 1960s, and he first worked on Doctor Who in 1969 as part of the floor crew &mdash; in the days when Doctor Who was recorded in Studio D of the Lime Grove Studios. He later joined the series as production unit manager during the fourteenth season, and took over as producer at the beginning of the eighteenth season, which turned out to be the last that featured Tom Baker's popular portrayal of the Doctor. He subsequently cast the next three actors to play the role: Peter Davison (1981–1984), Colin Baker (1984–1986), and Sylvester McCoy (1987–1989, 1996).

Having served as producer for so long, and having a more public persona than previous incumbants, Nathan-Turner was often the object of intense scrutiny by the series' fans (who often referred to him as "JNT" or "JN-T"). Decisions such as the casting of Bonnie Langford as the Doctor's companion are still a topic of discussion in the Doctor Who fan community 20 years later. His tenure coincided with a period of large growth in the show's fan base in the United States, thanks to repeated showings on affiliates of the American Public Broadcasting Service.

He was very effective at generating publicity for the series by threatening to remove or change a traditional element of it. Examples include the Sonic screwdriver, K-9, the TARDIS (or at least its police box shape), and Tom Baker's Doctor.

Nathan-Turner was arguably the highest-profile producer of the series, and his reign was at times controversial. His changes to the programme were originally well-received by Doctor Who fans, to whom he extended an unprecedented degree of welcome. Editors of non-professional magazines or "fanzines" would be granted interviews by Nathan-Turner in the Doctor Who production office. Although he did not divulge the contents of forthcoming storylines in such conversations, he would speak in depth and at length about his approach to producing the show.

This openness to fandom proved a double-edged sword for Nathan-Turner. As his tenure on the series lengthened, and especially when the show's ratings began to drop, fan criticism of Nathan-Turner became more prevalent. Fanzines began to blame him for decisions made about the series, whether he was responsible for them or not. Supporters of Nathan-Turner's reign argue that the producer was not solely to blame for the series' decline in ratings and that the hierarchy at the BBC, funding issues and the decision to schedule the series opposite the popular Coronation Street should all share some responsibility. He continued to be involved in Doctor Who-related events (including co-writing the one-off reunion telecast Dimensions in Time) until shortly before his death.

Nathan-Turner died, of liver failure, just over a year before the announcement by the BBC that the show would be revived, with new episodes to air beginning in 2005. He was survived by his long-term partner, Gary Downie, a production manager on Doctor Who. Downie died on 19 January 2006.

Memorable Quotes

 * "Stay tuned": he often said this to the press, meaning that something good was coming up.
 * "The memory cheats": as a defence to his then current production of the programme, Nathan Turner used this expression to mean that viewers of the series often had a distorted recollection of older episodes, believing them to be better than they were.
 * "I have been persuaded to stay": after several attempts to resign from his post as Doctor Who producer, and having been prevailed upon by his BBC bosses to remain in the job.