Newspaper and Magazine Cuttings: 1980-1984

The Early 1980's saw the introduction of two new Doctors and continued coverage of the programme in the British Press.

Tom Baker, left the series in 1981 after a record breaking run (1974-1981) in the lead role. For many of the press this event was a major story particularly when it became clear that his successor would be Peter Davison, best known for his role in All Creatures Great and Small a series about a small veterinary practice in Yorkshire in the 1930's and 40's.

The series was going through a number of changes at the time, with new Producer John Nathan-Turner determined to stamp his mark on the programme. Nathan-Turner took a much higher profile role than any previous (or subsequent) producer which included many appearances on TV programmes discussing Doctor Who, certainly whenever a new Doctor or companion was announced you could be pretty sure that Nathan-Turner would accompany them on at least one of their first TV appearances. He was also not averse to feeding the press the odd 'juicy titbit' about the programme or upcoming stories whenever he thought it necessary to garner more publicity.

In addition to his undoubted nose for publicity Nathan-Turner was keen to see the programme 'modernised' for the 1980's. His changes included a new mix of the theme music, new beginning and end titles and a more 'uniform' look for the lead characters. The latter entailed the introduction of sometimes controversial costumes for the lead character rather than the more 'off the peg' look of previous eras.

In front of the camera Davison continued in the role for a successful three years until Colin Baker took over in 1984.

Everything had been business as usual and the show appeared popular enough for this to continue into the late 1980's but trouble and controversy were, sadly, just around the corner...