Re-watching The E-Space Trilogy
of Doctor Who on DVD and watching it with the commentary on, you realize there
was a lot of moving parts going on in season eighteen. Mostly there was a near
complete revamping of the show in 1980 when John Nathan-Turner took over as showrunner,
which alienated series star Tom Baker and costar Lalla Ward (and their romance
troubles began to bleed into the show as well, which created even more
tension). After six series with Baker in the lead the show was a crossroads. While
Doctor Who remained popular, under the reign of the fourth Doctor, the show’s ratings
grew in spite of (or because of) the vocal criticism of BBC executives and some
viewers that felt the shows dark themes and Gothic horror meant the series was
no longer an appropriate kids show that
it had started out as way back in 1963. Even as the series tried to scale back
some of darkness during season 16 and 17, the scripts were considerably less
interesting than the ones under showrunner Philip Hinchcliff, who ran the show
for four years (though his first year he shared those duties with Barry Letts).
For the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons, new showrunner Graham Williams was under
orders to reduce the shows reliance on violence and horror. While season 16 had
a unique theme –a season long arc called The Key to Time- the show began a slow
devolve into parody by the start of season 17.
But for his seventh and final
year as the Doctor, it became clear that things were about to change. With the
huge success of Doctor Who, Tom Baker’s ego grew exponentially as well, but as
the 18th season started he found that he no longer had any control
with the new regime running the show. A lot of what Nathan-Turner did to the
show in his long-term as showrunner gives a perfect example of why it was
cancelled in 1989 after 26 years. With the shows huge success here in America,
it became clear that Nathan-Turner was appealing more to the American audience than
the British ones.
And both Baker and Ward hated
almost everything that Nathan-Turner introduced, from new theme music, a new
logo, to Baker’s change in costume (including the question mark motif that
would remain with the series until its end) to stories that were a combination
of the old style serials, mashed with some high concept storytelling that would
become the TV norm (and motion pictures) ten to fifteen years later.
It was also around this time that
public learned that the Baker and Ward were in a romantic relationship –one that
seemed doomed from the start. By the start of production on season eighteen,
the two were barley speaking to one another (though they would be married
before Baker bowed out of the show in early 1981) and that schism between them simmered
behind the scenes and became obvious on screen as well. If you watch the
serials of Ward’s last 20 episodes of that season (encompassing the serials The Leisure
Hive, Meglos, Full Circle, State of Decay, and Warriors’ Gate) Tom Baker barley
looks in the eyes of his co-star and future wife. It was also during this time
that Baker had developed some sort of neurological disorder that greatly affected
his weight and straightened his curly hair. So the strain of his relationship
with Ward, his illness, and the changes to “his” show brought on by John
Nathan-Turner (including the casting of Matthew Waterhouse as new companion
Adric) were probably all the reasons Baker decided to quit the show after a
record seven year run as the Doctor.
But it’s shocking to realize, when
you listen to the commentaries on both Full Circle and Warriors' Gate (which
were recorded in 2007), how much Lalla Ward not only disliked the character of Adric
but the actor who played him, Matthew Waterhouse, as well. You do get some
hints on the DVDS as to why she continues to carry on this aversion for him,
but it strikes me that whatever caused their division, you would think after some 35 years they could bury the hatchet?
I wonder why they haven’t.
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