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Post by bonehead on Jun 30, 2022 13:17:41 GMT
After working on Doctor Who for a few years, John Nathan Turner finally became producer for Tom Baker's last series, and stayed until the end of the classic run.
Watching extras on the recent Series 22 boxset, I got the impression he was a bit of a tyrant when listening to Nicola's Bryan'ts interview, a nice guy who fought for the show when listening to Colin Baker, and a victim of an uninterested BBC when listening to Michael Grade! Reading Richard Marson's book The Life and Scandalous Times, he also seemed to be someone who may (or may not) have got up to things at conventions that would make John Barrowman blush.
Twenty years after his passing, I wonder what people here thought of him and his time on the show. He courted controversy that exposed a truly ugly side of 'fandom' during his time, but also reinvigorated the show, changed the time slot, cast three Doctors and, for his last years with Doctor Who, desperately wanted to leave.
Eric Saward spent a lot of interviews slating him and saying how his stories were constrained by the producer (ironically, his tale Slipback, written for a producer other than JNT and therefore 'free' of his shackles, turned out - to me at least - to be, well, pretty bloody awful).
So, what do we think about JNT?
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
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Post by lidar2 on Jun 30, 2022 13:56:08 GMT
I think all of the above. We all have any sides to our character and JNT was no different.
With hindsight JNT should have moved on after Caves of Androzani and gone out on a high. When he and Saward were (allegedly) offered Bergerac he should have taken it. How much better things might have turned out for his career and the show had he done so. I read an article once referring the the events of 1986 that basically said Grade got it the wrong way round when he sacked Colin and kept JNT. Personally I think the honourable course in 1985 would have been for JNT and Saward to have resigned once the BBC had publcicly committed to the show's return in 1986.
That's the paradox of JNT - he was at one and the same time the a large part of the reason why the show was in decline and was cancelled in 1989, but at the same time he was the main thing keeping it going from 1985 onwards.
That's his professional life. In terms of his personal life, if some of the more unsavoury rumours are true, then he would definitely be cancelled (and possibly in prison) if he were alive today
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Post by bonehead on Jun 30, 2022 14:52:06 GMT
I think all of the above. We all have any sides to our character and JNT was no different. With hindsight JNT should have moved on after Caves of Androzani and gone out on a high. When he and Saward were (allegedly) offered Bergerac he should have taken it. How much better things might have turned out for his career and the show had he done so. I read an article once referring the the events of 1986 that basically said Grade got it the wrong way round when he sacked Colin and kept JNT. Personally I think the honourable course in 1985 would have been for JNT and Saward to have resigned once the BBC had publcicly committed to the show's return in 1986. That's the paradox of JNT - he was at one and the same time the a large part of the reason why the show was in decline and was cancelled in 1989, but at the same time he was the main thing keeping it going from 1985 onwards. That's his professional life. In terms of his personal life, if some of the more unsavoury rumours are true, then he would definitely be cancelled (and possibly in prison) if he were alive today He certainly was a paradox. Here's a 'spoiler' for the interview with Nicola on the Series 22 set:
{Spoiler}
Apparently the reason Tegan came back for the Fix in Time Skit is that Nicola was being 'punished' for saying no to JNT's pantomimes in the mid-eighties - in the end she relented. This might be common knowledge, but it's the first I'd heard about it. Pretty horrendous behaviour from the producer in that instance, I think. |
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Jun 30, 2022 23:00:09 GMT
Honestly, I think he became more cynical about his job as the years went on. It’s common knowledge that he wasn’t going to be let go for another show until Who was a success again, which is why he resorted to stunt casting and big publicity blitzes for the show. I’d hazard that he wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of him moving on which is possibly why he became as tyrannical to Bryant as she recounts. I’m obviously not sympathising with him but from what I’ve read and heard over the years, that seems the most plausible thing to me.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2022 14:20:23 GMT
I personally have nothing against him, despite me hearing that he has done some idiotic things such as spitting at Nicola Bryant at a convention. It will be interesting to hear her thoughts on him in her In Conversation interview. I think there were times where JNT was mistreated himself. One bad experience he had that I recently heard of him being assaulted by an elderly woman during the location filming of Arc of Infinity when she assumed he was trying to steal from her, when he was in fact trying to not let her get in the way of filming.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2022 11:47:03 GMT
A uneven 9 year era that features some truly spectacular stories as well as some very bad ones.
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Post by mark687 on Jul 15, 2022 14:37:09 GMT
Determined, Well intention but overdeveloped sense of ego and clashes with ES and MG that had a similar ego-sets put 80s Era Who on a rocky road.
Regards
mark687
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2022 14:54:19 GMT
Determined, Well intention but overdeveloped sense of ego and clashes with ES and MG that had a similar ego-sets put 80s Era Who on a rocky road. Regards mark687 Who is MG? I know ES is Eric Saward. |
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Post by mark687 on Jul 15, 2022 15:06:08 GMT
Determined, Well intention but overdeveloped sense of ego and clashes with ES and MG that had a similar ego-sets put 80s Era Who on a rocky road. Regards mark687 Who is MG? I know ES is Eric Saward. Micheal Grade Regards mark687 |
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Post by bonehead on Jul 15, 2022 17:08:57 GMT
I personally have nothing against him, despite me hearing that he has done some idiotic things such as spitting at Nicola Bryant at a convention. It will be interesting to hear her thoughts on him in her In Conversation interview. I think there were times where JNT was mistreated himself. One bad experience he had that I recently heard of him being assaulted by an elderly woman during the location filming of Arc of Infinity when she assumed he was trying to steal from her, when he was in fact trying to not let her get in the way of filming. Those conventions must have been a mixed pleasure. I never knew he actually spat at Nicola! Any reasons given?
I also read that a cluster of 'fans', upset at the way JNT was handling Doctor Who, would sit in the front row of his panels and start blatantly reading newspapers when he started to speak.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2022 17:26:08 GMT
I personally have nothing against him, despite me hearing that he has done some idiotic things such as spitting at Nicola Bryant at a convention. It will be interesting to hear her thoughts on him in her In Conversation interview. I think there were times where JNT was mistreated himself. One bad experience he had that I recently heard of him being assaulted by an elderly woman during the location filming of Arc of Infinity when she assumed he was trying to steal from her, when he was in fact trying to not let her get in the way of filming. Those conventions must have been a mixed pleasure. I never knew he actually spat at Nicola! Any reasons given?
I also read that a cluster of 'fans', upset at the way JNT was handling Doctor Who, would sit in the front row of his panels and start blatantly reading newspapers when he started to speak.
Jealously as far as I’m aware. |
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