Michael Grade

Michael Grade (born 8th March 1943) was a British broadcast executive. In 1984, he joined BBC Television as Controller of BBC One. In 1985, he made the extremely controversial decision to place Doctor Who on an eighteen-month long hiatus, citing low ratings, overly violent content and farcical storylines as his reasons for doing so. In 1986, he made another controversial decision regarding Doctor Who: the firing of series star Colin Baker. In 1987, Grade stepped down as Controller and was succeeded by Jonathan Powell.