The Truth About Doctor Who’s Hiatus
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ต.ค. 2024
- Let's discuss the 1985 hiatus, how Colin Baker was fired from Doctor Who, how the expanded universe attempts to give him a proper regeneration, and why you should give the Sixth Doctor a chance.
📱 Socials
⭐Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/JoshSnares
⭐Twitter: @josh_snares
⭐Instagram: @joshsnares
⭐Facebook: JoshuaSnares/
Doctor Who clips are owned by the BBC, and music licensed from Motion Array
Thanks for being nice to me :)
The fact that Colin had to go on and promote S23 despite being told he was fired makes this even more of a shame.
I have real respect for Colin! He remained totally professional throughout this whole unfair disaster.
@@jeremythomaswebb1485 Colin first finding his retribution thanks to BBV’s The Stranger and reprising the 6th Doctor for the Ultimate Adventure stage play was certainly very respectable.
Yes, and the fact that this was his dream job and that he was hampered by decisions out of his hands.
@@Wordsmith-qu9yc Big Finish thankfully made great amends for that.
I always felt bad for Colin Baker at the end
Same :(
@@JoshSnares justice came for Colin, he's not the world's most HATED doctor anymore 😂
Upside, He got his second chance with Big Finish and he's now one of the most popular Doctors. So he did get Justice in the End!
I always thought it was strange he wasn't there for the regeneration scene, but when I found out the backstory I didn't blame him. "You're fired! Oh, by the way could you come back for the regeneration scene?"
@@horrorstew3577 true. Personally, I never liked Colin's nor Sylvester's Doctors, but they were at least tolerable; the new ones though.... ugh!
I grew up watching Colin Baker and never ever had any issues with him as the doctor, he was great. One of the best
So good!!
Even during his questionable behaviour in his first main story, I sense this very interesting portrayal brining with ideas.
@@davewaring73 I gotta say at least when he's strangling peri, the story is actively saying THIS IS A BAD THING, unlike more modern doctors
"Who's that doctor over there?/The police box takes him everywhere..." Gotta love Doctor In Distress, what an absolute banger!
it’s camp!!!
I hate it but I always sing along to it
Colin Baker was a great Doctor, he was one of the rare Doctor's that instantly sold me as The Doctor in his first story.
As bad as The Twin Dilemma is, the first episode is a good post regeneration story IMHO...
Hell, I even enjoyed Timelash when I was a kid.
It took me a few seasons before I accepted Sylvester McCoy because I was angry that Colin was fired and by the time that I actually started to like McCoy, the show was placed on another hiatus!
Ever since I learned about the originally intended second season for the sixth doctor, I had always wished things had gone better for him. Some of those episodes, especially Nightmare Fair, sounded really interesting (an episode about video games would have been so ahead of it’s time, even if eventually it would look a bit naff.) I wouldn’t get rid of trial of a time lord per se, I just think think in an ideal world we would have had it after two seasons rather than one. I always wonder what the character would have been like given even more time to develop.
the 6th doctor is so underrated
Agreed!!!!
US fan here. I met Colin at a convention (in the mid-80s) before they ever showed his episodes in America. He started out by mercilessly teasing me over my obvious preference for Jon Pertwee (also at the convention). When I finally realized Colin was putting me on, I retaliated and teased back. A lot! From that point on, we hit it off famously. I went into his tenure as the Doctor already very much liking him as a person. So nice to see others on Colin's side. Jon is still number one, but Colin will always have a special place in my heart!
Collins story makes me so sad, forget Eccleston getting another season (although Id still like to see it) Collin deserved one way more. He really is the most underrated doctor
Baker was right to be pissed off and selfish over the firing. He has nothing to apoligise for.
The Trial Season, especially the extended episodes on Blu-ray, is my most rewatched series of all time. I love it. Criminally underrated.
The Scene that endeared Colin to me was in Revelation of the Daleks when Davros's right hand has been shot off, the Dr goes to shake Davros's hand as he leaves.
Colin Baker is one of the best Doctors and his era (even if it was cut off) is so good. Season 22 is literally one of the best season of Doctor Who. He's still doing so much for the show and for the fans with conventions, Big Finish, promotions, The Power of the Doctor and Tales of the TARDIS. He's the best man for me and deserves all the love we can give him. His friendship with Nicola and Bonnie proves that too. You all have to give him a chance and appreciate him more!
10000%!!
I agree there. Doctor Who was always at its best when it tried to push the boat out and see what it could get away with, and by Season 22 kids were a lot more switched on where horror and crime thrillers were concerned.
I really wonder if Colin's Doctor could have been the next Tom had he been allowed to continue, in terms of being people's default memory. He is brash, egotistic, kind, intelligent, hilarious. He has everything the perfect Doctor should have. And I think Colin's performance touched every level that previous Doctors had
@@Phoenix-bi9bn Colin did, indeed, intend to play the part for as long as possible, but fate intervened. Peter Capaldi was similarly minded at the beginning. I think that they both had at least a Pertwee-like stint in mind.
Colin has always been one of my favourites. Great, complex portrayal, never quite understood why he isn't more highly regarded.
"Never more a butterfly..."
Colin is a favourite both inside and outside of the role as The Doctor. Despite his more jarring opening persona, he is still this sweet and caring guardian of the galaxy. Even in stories that people mock, Colin's performance is never the issue. His sacrifice in Timelash, his hospitality at holding the hand of the dying mutant in Revelation of the Daleks, his sorrow on the thought of a dying Universe in The Two Doctors, they are all beautiful performances by Colin.
It would be a life goal to meet the man and thank him for his work.
Beautifully put! I agree completely, he’s always the highlight of any story
Loved that newspaper cartoon pic at the jobcentre " Sorry, they are no vacancies on Mercury ..shall I try Mars " ..😂
Also, I watched Colin and Nicola's Tales of the TARDIS episode and the way that ends is like the biggest middle finger to Michael Grade and the BBC. And I am crying, because it's beautiful and perfect for Colin.
With Colin's Doctor, there was a long term plan in place where his character evolves over time. In a similar fashion to the 12th Doctor's run how the character evolves from series 8 to 10. What big finish did was simply continue that Character Journey and those original plans so it still plays out. And I'm glad Colin was given the opportunity to do so. You can look back on his original stories now with more appreciation for what they were trying to do.
Im glad Colin agreed to return for Power of the Doctor, although only a small roll it still shows he is The Doctor on TV as well as Big Finish. Old Sixie, you are fantastic.
Having met Colin Baker twice (Late 2009 and mid-2011) as some low-key fan events I'd recommend chatting with him. Lovely chap - warm and full of wit. I made my missus watch Trial of a Timelord before hand and she mentioned to him how much she loved his passion across the 14 episodes
I met Mr Baker a couple of years ago, randomly and unexpectedly in Hastings. A wonderfully charming chap. If I had been in his benighted position, I’d probably stayed a mile from Dr Who and its fans. But CB never became rancorous in ignominy. He was obviously hurt, but he never said a bad word about his time. A dignified monarch-in-exile.
As a fan I can vouch that Colin wasn’t selfish. He had every right to be angry about the situation and so were the fans.
100000% agree!
I do feel bad for him. Do want to give his Big Finish run a shot though.
Thank you, Josh. The 80s were the most difficult decade for the classic Doctor Who for several reasons. Thankfully Colin shined enough in his own right to earn plenty of admiration from Whovians including mine.
Michael grade is the epitome of “tell me you don’t understand Star Wars without telling me you don’t understand Star Wars”, because all he clearly focused on was the visual and practical effects of the movies, rather than the storyline George lucas was trying to convey.
But it also misses the point that doctor who is NOT Star Wars, and that’s ok.
Perhaps, but Grade was doing his job, which was to do what was best for the company.
Brilliant production value as always and very informative! Others have said it, but this is worthy of the official releases.
I will say, everything that happened back then, led to the 2005 revival. And let's be honest, that revival was one hell of a silver lining to all the heartache that came before it
Loved Colin, underrated Dr Who in my opinion... He's given bad rap but I adored his incarnation... what a legend... 🚨
I always think it's weird how everybody remembers Michael Grade when all he did was get it cancelled for 18 months as opposed to the guy who cancelled it for 16 years.
Maybe by ''89 people were more accepting as it had happened before and nobody expected it to last for as long as it did.
Top video as always, Josh!
I think Mark Gatiss was right when he said that if you were going to dramatise any other period of the show's history it would have to be how it ended, which would definitely have to include the hiatus and all of this
Another great video. And again I still don't understand how you are not commissioned for the Collection range.
Adelaide is just a bit too far away from the UK, I think! If I was in the UK, I’d be forcing them to get me involved hahaha
Big hug to you for putting this all together, this kind of content can be irritating to be put together at times but I'm so proud of creators like you for making videos and content like this
🕺🏼 *JOSH SNARES IN DISTRESS* let’s all answer his SOS! 💃🏽
Finally a good reason to procrastinate my Uni work
Love Colin as the Doctor, I enjoy his TV run but his time on Big Finish really lets him fly, especially his adventures with Evelyn. Haven't gotten round to The Last Adventure yet, I've done all his main range stuff up to meeting Flip so I just wanna do some with her to become familiar with her first, but I'll get to it very soon (have quite the backlog, been finishing up on Dalek Empire and Gallifrey recently).
Thanks Josh, Great review of the events around that time and good to see some appreciation of Colin's Doctor.
Love his Doctor so much!!
Thanks Josh for presenting a such a concise explanation around Colin Baker's departure from Doctor Who, and highlighting the audiobook continuation of his Doctor. 🖤
Great video as always Josh, always sucks to hear how Colin was treated back then :(
You know that "Doctor In Distress" was written by Hans Zimmer, of course. I always think of David Tennant meeting him while making Around The World In 80 Days and be like "Hallo, Mr. Zimmer. Do you remember Doctor In Distress?" And he going "Oh, no, I'll never hear the end of it..."
It was written by Ian Levine.
The Instrumental version is really good though
I was in attendance at the first convention Colin did after he was fired. It was in Bellingham, Washington (USA) and he'd brought video of the opening scene of what turned out to be his last season to show us.
The convention organizers informed us all he'd learned about the firing just before he boarded the plane. In retrospect, that may not have been accurate since he knew who the next Doctor was going to be (Sylveste -- no R -- McCoy), but it was certainly still fresh news for him.
Regardless, Colin was incredibly gracious with us fans and a delight, sharing all kinds of stories about his now-concluded time on the program.
He signed my Doctor Who Monthly from November 1986 -- circling the digital watch the picture caught him wearing.
It’s good to see you doing this kind of thing again. You’re one of the few Whotubers I click on instantly when they cross my feed. Even something like this, which is something I know about already, I’ll want to watch because I know you’re going to say something interesting about it, and present it in a cool way. I love your video work here - love the graphic/design work here.
Only got into your videos in the last few months. God bless the algorithm. Josh you are a superb docufilm maker. Perfect balance of drama and humour
Your videos are always a joy to watch. Another banger! 😊
Thank you!!!
Colin is such a lovely man, too. I met him in 2017 at a convention (the first Doctor I'd ever met!) and he was kind and generous with his time. When the exhausted host accidentally introduced him as "Tom Baker," he had several winking jokes at his expense (nothing mean or over the top, the guy who made the mistake was visibly and audibly tired), and he held a crowd that I have to admit was maybe not entirely interested in him going in (lots of kids who probably didn't know who he was) interest with aplomb. He also made it a point to vocally support the hiring of a female Doctor, when no one had asked him about it. Bless him.
About 20 years ago I had the privilege of getting to meet Colin during a convention - at the time I didn't have the best view of the 6th Doctor - I had thought his character was too abrasive - but meeting Colin in person completely changed my opinion - ridiculous to let how someone portrayed a character cause you to prejudge them, I now know of course, but he was such a warm, friendly and kind man and it was astonishing to get some of his perspective of what it was like to portray the Doctor under so much pressure from how his character was written and what the producers were telling him to do - he really got a bad deal in that regard and of course, with everything that happened around Michael Grade - but he quickly became one of my favorite doctors after I met him and got to listen to some of his audios (which he gladly signed for free!) and I even turned around and rewatched his stories with new eyes.
I had the good fortune of meeting Colin Baker. He was really nice and I loved his first episode. Thanks, Colin! Sorry you were treated so badly.
have not yet watched 6, but I am planning to. I'm currently at The Five Doctors and I will continue watching until s26 :3
I ran a local group in the Midlands of the UK during the run of season 24 and quite a few people had no idea that the show had returned with Sylvester. These were publicans we met while looking for a new venue and members of the public we contacted while publicising the group. Most of them thought that when Colin left, the series was done and gone for good.
I met Mr. Baker at Wookey Hole in 2005. Such a lovely gentleman. We very briefly chatted about his apperances on Countdown. It was the day after Ecclestone regenerated into Tennant.
Across the board Colin was shafted. When I first started REALLY getting into Doctor Who, past just knowing about Eleven thanks to BBC America, one of the first trivia bits I ever learned was how Sylvester had to film his own regeneration into himself.
The more I learned, the less fun of a fact that became
Another excellent documentary Josh. Well done.
The Sixth Doctor is my absolute favorite incarnation of The Doctor and it's all down to how truly excellent Colin Baker has always been in the role. He's a phenomenal actor who loves the show and while it was a shame how the mess of the behind the scenes in the 80's damaged his on screen run I'll always be grateful that he got cast at all because it led to his legendary run at Big Finish. 40 years of amazing stories and acting that includes some of the greatest Dr Who ever written. I recently got to meet Colin for the first time and as I told him there Six will always be my Doctor please everyone give his TV and Big Finish stuff a shot.
Go back to a time when news did not travel fast. In the 80's I just got into Doctor Who (in Tucson Arizona ) and only was aware of the series up to the 5th Doctor. It wasn't until the Target Novel of The Twin Dilemma that I knew of a 6th Doctor and soon found out that he was fired. It wasn't until I got to see Colin Baker on tour in the USA and heard the full story. It was so sad. It's no wonder the campaign of Save the Doctor came about. I know a lot of people hate on the Doctor in Distress song, but I love it as a part of Doctor Who history. It's all we had back then. No internet. No fast moving news.
6th Doctor is a guilty pleasure. No one else could have held their own against that costume - but Colin smashed it. He was the definitive 80's Doctor.
Just watching the original series for the first time (never seen modern Who either and dont really plan to) and just got to Trial. Yeah, Baker is great. Especially as they've eased up on the bickering.
Really love your content and the obvious level of research. Not just repeating DVD feature trivia, but serving deep cut quotes and articles 👌👌
Oof that picture tag line! Ick. 5:05
Josh - another great video. Many thanks!
mannnn, i was just about to go to bed, but i check my phone and the official josh snares youtube channel had dropped a cheeky vid. and as always another banger worth losing twenty minutes of sleep over
What gets me is Grade called it cheap looking when he was the one in charge of giving it the funding that couldve made it look better but it wasnt just that he hated the show, he also hated Colin Baker personally, that was made apparent, not least cos of liza goddard so I tend to believe that theory. He asked directly for Colin to be replaced under the guise of poor ratings which they helped bring about themselves by firstly the hiatus itself which ruined the flow and then messing about with the shows scheduling which caused people to lose track of the show's time. They also changed the length of the show from half hour to forty five mins. All of that changed what people had been used to for the past 30 years. So that guy was nothing short of a turd frankly.
Richard Easter on Steve Wright in the afternoon parodied the Daleks. Two of them lamenting their pitiful effects budget - Blake’s Seven got the bulk of the BBC’s annual special effects budget. What was that? £2.65
What did we get? The 65 pence.
Yea it used to piss me off if he appeared on some chat or panel show he’d carp on about its cheap fx and standards, (usually accompanied by some dodgy clip i.e. Ingrid Pitt kicking the Myrka or those space turds in “Time-Flight”) but never called out on the fact that it was him strangling the show of the funds and time that would have helped it. He’s on the Season 22 blu-ray set in conversation with Matthew Sweet but I think he still gets an easy ride.
Aside from anything else the fact he couldn’t look at the show objectively and see its potential as a “product” (which of course he can now🤦♂️) marks him out as having questionable executive talents.
@@scotsbillhicks Blake's Seven didn't run past 1981 though so that wasn't really an excuse for what Grade did. In any case Doctor Who was their flagship show as it been going three decades already by that point and earnt the BBC some choice ratings during the 70s thanks in part to Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. They owed it some support and Grade had no excuse for depriving it of funding to stop making it look "cheap" But he also had no right to denigrate it both then and years later when he was the reason it did look cheap, he was a fucking hypocrite. And the revived series only looked better cos technology had got better and the BBC of the 00s trusted Davies enough to take a chance, if Grade had still been in charge the show would've stayed off air. The TV execs in general never liked science fiction though cos it was seen as too niche even despite Star Trek or Star Wars, they usually favoured living room shows because they had the widest appeal, bland and safe. So he wasn't much different to others in that respect, Red Dwarf took years to be commissioned for the same reason and that was despite Doctor Who itself having been on air over three decades so they were always reluctant, things have only changed these days cos it's a different generation controlling TV now, a generation who don't fear sci fi like Grades generation did cos they've grown up with it. Grades generation never grew up with space shows, they were alien (pun intended) to those people.
Excellent video.
The Colin Baker stories on Big Finish are the best they do. He steals the show in The Four Doctors.
Another great video and good analysis. I learnt new things. I had no idea S22 was basically continuing success!
6:04- Captured footage of when Michael Grade watched Attack of the Cybermen on 5th January 1985, captured footage of when Pamela Nash watched the Daleks' Master Plan episode 1, captured footage of when Mary Whitehouse watched the Deadly Assassin episode 4, captured footage of when Verity Lambert watched the Ambassadors of Death episode 1, captured footage of when Pip Baker watched the Timeless Children.
If you think the show is tacky and cheap so you use some of the budget for other projects decreasing the budget necessary for production so when people watch the end result and their opinions ends up being matched with yours, that is deception and manipulation.
Another brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable Doctor Who review by Josh! Many thanks for this.
Love your animation. Sometimes I like to squint and imagine that the Brink of Death was a 1 hour special that aired right before Season 24. I really enjoy personally what BF has done with Colin’s audio run, especially his early adventures with Evelyn. The beautiful thing about Doctor Who is that with its expanded universe, the story goes on forever.
Always loved Colin's era - and lovely Sixth Doctor pin you wear in this excellent video!
That was a good video! My Dad remembers the 1985 hiatus when he was in college. I will admit Colin got treated badly by the BBC and he didn't deserve that. I'm glad he got treated better by Big Finish.
Excellent video Josh. I sometimes wonder what Colin could have done given it was his intention to be the doctor as long as Tom Baker, the lost season had some good concepts which I would have loved to have seen including the return of the master, the Rani, autons, ice warriors and the mentor Sil. Nevertheless I’m thankful for big finish giving him a new lease of life allowing him to develop his character further.
Keep up the good work buddy, love your videos ❤❤
I love that there's an obligatory brief Chibnall cameo at the beginning. He's never escaping the 'could've been a lot better written' allegations.
2:05 - not the BBC controller, but only the controller of BBC1. He was not in charge of any other area of the BBC until 1986 when he was promoted to be in charge of the whole of the BBC’s television output (still no control over radio). Then he left the BBC in 1987.
No mention of the charity novel Time’s Champion, where the Valeyard is an author who writes the novel-within-a-novel Time’s Champion, and shows the rise of Time’s Champion, the Seventh Doctor. Very odd novel which mostly acts as a fix-it fic for the novel Matrix, which depicts the Valeyard as a bloodthirsty killer and cannibal, but a must-read fanfic for lovers of Colin Baker as the Doctor.
Colin was my introduction to Doctor Who when I was six years old. While I appreciate Tom Baker and Matt Smith, Colin will always be my favorite; and, yes, his outfit.
Colin Baker’s Dalek story is right up there as a classic imho. He was just hitting his stride when he was dumped.
I adore Colin's Doctor, and The Last Adventure nearly made me cry.
Also, his most recent Big Finish story is the best Cyberman serial in recent memory.
The truth is The Master entered our reality in the early 60s, got a jo in the BBC and tried to kill the Doctor, first by destroying the Hartnell and Troughton episodes, then with the hiatus and finally by cancelling the show in 1989. Then shortly after he managed to get back into the real world RTD restarted it.
It’s very sad how the issue wasn’t even Colin, was more that the sixth floor wanted to get rid of JNT. They just didn’t expect that he’d be willing to do the dirty deed rather then quit on Colin’s behalf
3:56 Can't play the whole "Doctor in Distress" because then the creator of the song, the infamous Ian Levine, will copywrite strike Josh.
Chris Chibnal : "it could have been better written". There speaks the William Hague of the Doctor Who world.
Grade has never lived this down. The two things he is most known for are buggering with Doctor Who and mandating edits to Brass Eye, the latter of which pissed off Chris Morris so much that he inserted the words “Grade is a c**t” into a single frame of the final episode.
What a legacy! Haha
@@JoshSnares we Hated Grade back in the 80s.... My same friends and I now wish Michael Grade was still around to put modern Who outta its misery 😂
@@JoshSnares Imagine: the two things you’re known for are both times you pissed off people without that being part of your job.
Chris Morris also pissed off a lot of people, but that was because Brass Eye was BRUTAL.
I watched your animation of The Brink Of Death. Brilliantly done. 👍
Brilliant as usual Josh.
As a huge Hartnell fan, I can't help but love Colin's performance as the Doctor. He is one of the best actors to ever be cast in the role, but he was mistreated, given a silly costume, and his potential squandered. A perfect example of what could have been if they'd gotten a new production team and kept Colin for at least one more season.
Thank you for this. Made my day.
There are three “Last Adventures” for Colin Baker, “Spiral Scratch” , The Last Adventure” and “Time’s Champion”
Times Champion is a fan written project, so I didn’t include it. It’s unofficial and unlicensed
You missed TIMEWYRM: REVELATION (1991) a NA by Paul Cornell. The Sixth Doctor is infected by a drug & becomes evil ala Superman in Superman III & brings about birth of The Valeyard & the two battle over many alternate dimensions, destroying each each one they leave behind & The Seventh Doctor is forced to kill the Sixth at the beginning of Time and The Rani in order to regenerate into his Seventh incarnation to finally battle people like Fenric, Gods of Ragnarok & set up the events of The seventh Doctor's era. Its INCREDIBLE. Far FAR better than any televised story since 1989
Colin's Doctor was seen as a condescending egotistical character but it was written that way, not that Colin had a choice in the matter. He wanted to be clothed in a leather jacket, not a clown costume.
Im ngl i think Colin has been one of my favourite doctors to hear in BF. Hes a joy and its clear hes happy to be playing it still.
Yeah his love for it seems genuine!
I love your stuff, I hope we get more Whoviana soon!
I think a factor that isn't considered in the ratings dip between seasons 22 & 23 is the hiatus itself. Eighteen months is a LONG time so it's understandable how most casual viewers of the show may have just moved on to another program and were more invested in that series than Doctor Who by the time it finally came back. I know I've had a fair share of shows I watched that I was very invested in but was put off by the wait time in between seasons. Granted, this sort of thing is more common now, but the feeling does hang in the back of my mind. Part of me wonders if Trial of a Timelord would've gotten more views if it aired after the standard break between seasons. However, I guess if it did, then Colin's Doctor may not have the stronger following he's obtained over the years.
The Sixth Doctor was actually the first Classic Doctor I watched... yet I like Classic and Modern Who equally! (We shall see if the Post-2023 era, whatever you wish to call it, catches on) Colin Baker's original tenure was rocky, I'll admit, but his performance was never the problem. One thing I did notice in Trial of a Time Lord is that he definitely seemed to soften up a bit. He does certainly gets some moments where he hits the mark.
I like a lot of the classic doctors for various reasons. But, I do wish Colin had another season or two, same with McCoy. Colin gave one of my favorite speeches in Trial of a Time Lord of the classic doctors.
Love your videos Josh :)
Very nice vid. I’d love to see you do one on the under rated 8th Doctor.
The "Nice" version of Colin Baker's Doctor was already up and running during The Trial of a Time Lord YEARS before Big Finish was even a gleam in the milkman's eye.
Brilliant assessment Josh 🥰
Once upon a time I thought that costume was the absolute pits....I blamed it for his rough time...I still hate the trousers but that jacket is totally iconic now.
God I love the sixth doctor he’s actually probably the kindest doctor out of them all (I know shocker right) my favourite run of stories with him is his episodes with Evelyn Smyth being such a great duo that really plaid to both actors strengths and project Lazarus and arrangements for war bring me to tears as this doctor really takes a punch so yea great series really recommend
my boy Colin's sudden exit made me sad and I wasn't even born
There was also an additional scene in the novelisation of Time and the Rani that adds a scene before the regeneration as the opening chapter if I'm remembering correctly, not quite as dramatic as either of the other two but its neat.
The fact that Colin Baker was terrific as the Doctor despite how bad the scripts were goes to show that he is a terrific actor.
You’re too kind to Michael Grade. He is a classic Nepo Baby (son of powerful TV exec Lew Grade) and has no creative achievements to his name.
Colin did get a raw deal. For years, I'd heard that his run was "unwatchable". Then, when I finally saw his first season, I was impressed! The writing, costume, and choice of supporting actors was subpar, but Colin and Mel did a great job with the material they were working with (in my opinion). I found the trial scenes from his 2nd season (Trial of A Timelord) to be horrendous though with repetitive trite dialogue; I really wish they'd focused on the individual stories without the silly trial scenes (e.g., it was infuriating that they never even bothered to clearly state WHAT HE WAS ON TRIAL FOR!!!).
Also, the Michael Grade interview on Colin's 2nd season boxset caused my opinion of Grade to fall even lower; he essentially claimed he couldn't remember a lot of the details from the time but was happy that he had cancelled the show, and then expressed surprise when informed that the show actually did return for 4 more seasons. I'll give him credit at least for continuing to double-down on his "villain" persona by still trolling Doctor Who fans