The John Nathan-Turner Memoirs

by John Nathan-Turner

Between 1980 and 1989, John Nathan-Turner produced over 130 episodes of BBC TV's award-winning science-fiction series Doctor Who, and was responsible for casting three of the actors who played the Doctor.

His long association with the programme began during Patrick Troughton's era, continuing with Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, when he became Doctor Who's ninth producer. Now, for the very first time, John discusses frankly, and in depth, his many years' involvement with a series of which he is enormously fond and proud.

This then, is his story. Packed with a multitude of anecdotes and memories, this special release offers a unique point-of-view of the sometimes difficult, frequently bizarre but always worthwhile business of entertaining the Doctor's millions of loyal fans.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Biography, Nonfiction

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every time I delve into the extra features on an 80's era Doctor Who DVD release, I'm a bit saddened that John Nathan Turner passed away before he could fully participate in a couple of extras from his tenure as producer. I'd be fascinated to see what his thoughts on his (at times) controversial tenure were like as well as have some insights from his role as producer for the show during the turbulent era when the ratings declined and the show was cancelled, brought back and then put on hiatus that final time, leading to the wilderness year.

It would be interesting to hear Nathan-Turner get a chance to defend himself or at least respond to various criticisms laid at his feet in various commentaries and extras from that era.

The closest we'll get is this two disc set of Nathan Turner reading his own memoirs that were originally published in Doctor Who Magazine. Listening to it, I'm struck by how much of a gentleman Nathan Turner was and his insights into certain creative decisions made during his long run as the show's producer. Also of interest are his take on certain segments of the fandom who were extremely vocal about the perceived shortcomings of 80's Who.

Nathan Turner proves to be far more a gentleman in discussing a certain script editor and his departure from the show than the script editor has been in certain interviews during that time. It's interesting to see him take the high road and relate what happened from his perspective without necessarily taking others to task or getting into a game of "He said, he said" about the whole thing. We may never fully know what went on behind the scenes, but at least we get to hear JN-T's side of things.

What comes across in the memoirs is first that JN-T loved Doctor Who and second that he grew weary of his growing niche at the BBC being the producer of the show for so long. The second disc seems to be a lot of JN-T's attempts to step aside as producer and bring in some new vision to the show, only to have it implied that without him, the show won't go on. And while there were clunkers from that era, it's hard to imagine the show stopping before getting to some of my favorites like "The Caves of Androzani" or "The Curse of Fenric." Even JN-T's thoughts on averting "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" from cancellation make like him a bit more, if only because I consider that story an underrated classic.

For good or bad, JN-T was a big influence on Doctor Who and this audio memoir is a solid one. It probably won't change the mind of those who are determined to dislike his era, but it certainly will give the rest of us an intriguing look inside the production of a tumultuous era in the show's history.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1868045...

I must say that my opinion of JNT as a human being has improved considerably as a result of listening through the whole set. He is, with a few exceptions (notably Eric Saward, though even there he records some good moments along with the bad), loyal to those who worked for him and reserves most of his criticism for the higher-ups at the BBC who made his job difficult and eventually impossible while also insisting that he keep on doing it. One gets the sense of a man of limited vision but a keen sense of pragmatism, not perhaps as burdened with ego as I had expected, though with very few regrets. Fan criticism obviously did get to him; his riposte to those (including me) who did not like Dimensions in Time is to ask if we would rather have had no commemoration of Who's 30th anniversary at all (because that was the only other option on offer)? I wished that it had been twice as long, and I wished also that he had gone into a bit more detail about the major casting and crew decisions which he made. But his insider account of the Great Cancellation Crisis of 1985 is particularly compelling, and his voice is laden with emotion at the very end as he discusses why he would not want to be involved with any revival of Who, while wishing any such project well. I wondered if he was already aware that he might not live to see it happen.

Anyway, essential listening for anyone interested in the history of Who, and quite an enlightening insight into the internal politics of TV production in its own right.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's fun listening to JNT go over his experiences working on Doctor Who and with each of the actors. The section on The Five Doctors really made me perk up, especially when he talked about how Tom Baker very briefly agreed to be involved. Also surprising to hear Patrick Troughton was unsure he could embody the character again, though when he showed up onset he felt at home again. It's also heartwarming to hear how JNT genuinely believed in Colin Baker as an actor. It's a real shame that three years appeared to be the standard, and the hiatus year counted toward that. JNT defending Dimensions in Time is also something I didn't expect. The ending to his memoir is actually perfect, as he talks about how if Doctor Who comes back (this memoir came out in 2000), it would need new blood, new technology, new everything.

[MindProbe · Rating 2 out of 5]

bland and trivial, an anthology of mildly amusing anecdotes about the making of each Doctor Who story John Nathan-Turner was involved in, in order, one by one, and virtually nothing but. JN-T reveals little about himself except, unintentionally, his very lack of insight about himself and the shallowness of his thinking about the programme; having risen to the rank of producer through hands-on production jobs like assistant floor manager and production manager, rather than writer, director, or script editor, it's clear here that his mindset remained essentially practical rather than creative, his most inarguable virtue as a producer ultimately having been the simple fact of getting the show made at all under increasingly difficult circumstances*, rather than bringing to it anything in the way of real creative vision or insight or imagination. two of Nathan-Turner's script editors complained elsewhere of his inability to discuss scripts in any depth, to articulate what he liked or disliked about them beyond the vague, superficial, and frustratingly arbitrary, and likewise here he has remarkably little to say about the show's actual narrative content, as opposed to who he liked on set and what funny thing so-and-so said during rehearsals, other than the occasional brief, banal comment. it all reminds me a little of what biographer Edmund Morris said about Ronald Reagan, that he was a difficult subject to get a handle on because he seemed to have no curiosity about himself. not that I'd go so far as to call JN-T the Ronald Reagan of Doctor Who, obviously. even Attack of the Cybermen wasn't that bad.


*another producer, without JN-T's production experience and sheer tenacity, may well not have managed to get Stephen Wyatt's rather wonderful The Greatest Show in the Galaxy finished when for a while it looked like filming would have to be abandoned partway through, a legitimate achievement he clearly took justifiable pride in.

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a fan of the original Dr Who series, this memoir is for you. It is by JNT. The longest serving producer of the original series.