John Nathan-Turner

Production

John Nathan-Turner

Born 1947-08-12 · Birmingham, West Midlands, England, UK

John Turner, known professionally as John Nathan-Turner, was an English television producer. He was the ninth producer of the long-running BBC science fiction series Doctor Who and the final producer of the series' first run on television (from 1980 until it was cancelled in 1989). He finished the role having become the longest-serving Doctor Who producer and cast Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy as the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Doctors, respectively.

Acting credits

Who's Who poster
10.0

Produced for American Public Television, this documentary on the long-running Doctor Who television series features interviews with actors and actresses who played the traveling companions of the Time Lord hero and with three actors, Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, and Colin Baker, who portrayed the title character, as well as footage of a U.S. fan convention where Tom Baker, appeared and answered questions. The fan backlash against the 1985-6 hiatus for the series and the finding of some previously lost Jon Pertwee era episodes are addressed, and this documentary closes with some on-the-street interviews with British viewers, who tell who their favorite Doctor is.

Who's Who

1986

Adventures in Space and Time poster
9.0

A documentary on the history of Doctor Who (1963) featuring new interviews with cast and crew, transmitted as part of "Doctor Who Night" on BBC2.

Adventures in Space and Time

1999

The Doctors: The Colin Baker Years poster
NR

This is the definitive set of interviews with the team who brought the Colin Baker era of Doctor Who to life! This documentary includes the best in-depth interviews with Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Bonnie Langford (Mel), Michael Jayston (The Valeyard), John Nathan-Turner (Producer) and Eric Saward (Script Editor) ever undertaken!

The Doctors: The Colin Baker Years

2019

30 Years in the TARDIS poster
7.9

A documentary celebrating the 30th anniversary of Doctor Who, featuring new interviews, rare archive footage and recently discovered material.

30 Years in the TARDIS

1993

Talking Doctor Who poster
5.0

As part of the sixtieth anniversary celebrations of Doctor Who, David Tennant time-travels back through the BBC archives to tell the story of the Doctor’s classic era.

Talking Doctor Who

2023

JNT: Uncut! poster
8.5

Bill Baggs first met JNT as a fan at the BBC Dr Who Production Office in the 80's. He later worked with JNT on various projects. Bill conducted this interview as part of the BBV dvd '30 Years of Time Travel & Beyond' produced in 1995. In the recording sequence of filming, Bill conducted this interview last in order to give John the opportunity to respond to criticisms from other contributors. The cafe where it was filmed was local to JNT in Saltdean, near Brighton where he was a regular visitor. When Bill first approached Jon about the documentary, John was initially resistant to take part, asking why he'd been left until last. However, once Bill explained the logic of 'save the best 'til last' John agreed.

JNT: Uncut!

2021

The Making of Doctor Who: Silver Nemesis poster
NR

In a special documentary made for public television in the United States, Eric Luskin goes behind the scenes of the 25th anniversary story, Silver Nemesis.

The Making of Doctor Who: Silver Nemesis

1988

A New Beginning poster
NR

A look at the radical changes made to Doctor Who by John Nathan-Turner for his first story as producer, which opened the programme's eighteenth year on BBC1.

A New Beginning

2004

Longleat '83: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy poster
7.0

Over Easter weekend the 3rd and 4th of April 1983 the BBC held the biggest Doctor Who event ever to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the programme. The BBC expected 10,000 people a day. They got 30,000. We travel back to 1983 using extensive video footage of the entire event plus interviews with those people who were there – both the organisers and the attendees. In this landmark video we feature Heather Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison and a host of celebrities and production staff from Doctor Who in what might be for some… The greatest show in the galaxy!

Longleat '83: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

2001

The Few Doctors poster
8.0

BBC Executives are gathered to come up with a new concept for Doctor Who on television. After the Children's and Drama departments are excluded the project falls in the hands of the BBC Sports department. The classic science fiction series is changed into a sports grudge match between all the television and movie Doctors against the classic monsters - Cybermen, Daleks, etc.

The Few Doctors

1997

Once Upon a Time Lord poster
NR

A documentary designed to introduce Americans to Doctor Who following the growing fanbase over the pond.

Once Upon a Time Lord

1983

Lust in Space poster
9.0

Doctor Who travelled with the most gorgeous girls in the Cosmos. But was there any Lust in Space? Doctor Who is on trial - and the charge is sexism! The scene is set, the witnesses called. We expose Doctor Who’s final taboo! It’s everything you wanted to know about sex (in Doctor Who) but were afraid to ask!

Lust in Space

1998

The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond poster
7.0

More than 30 years have now passed since a certain time traveling police box first materialized on our television screens, and the exploits of its various crews have enthralled audiences ever since. Here is the story of Britain's Number 1 Science Fiction programme told in order of the various actors who have played the Doctor.

The Doctors: 30 Years of Time Travel and Beyond

1995

Longleat '83: The Lost Footage poster
NR

In April 1983, Roger Stevens and James Russell were given “Access All Areas” passes to the BBC’s Doctor Who celebrations at Longleat. Armed with a Ferguson Videostar camera they set out to record as much of the event as they could. While the BBC’s official footage amounts to only a few minutes for news broadcasts, James and Roger recorded several hours, and their material includes interviews with both Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker. Some of this material has been used in other productions by both Reeltime Pictures and BBC Video, but the original tapes were thought to be lost forever – until rediscovered earlier this year. So now enjoy another chance to take a trip to Longleat in 1983. The sound may not be perfect and the pictures come from ageing VHS tapes – but the atmosphere is unmistakable. So avoid the queues, and get to the front of the line with a trip down memory lane!

Longleat '83: The Lost Footage

2015

Trials and Tribulations poster
NR

A retrospective of Colin Baker's turbulent three-years as the Sixth Doctor in Doctor Who (1963), covering his casting, the 1985 hiatus, and his sacking on the orders of BBC One controller Michael Grade.

Trials and Tribulations

2008

Showman: The Life of John Nathan-Turner poster
NR

This well researched and insightful documentary about producer John Nathan-Turner looks at his career with a special emphasis on his time at Doctor Who which he worked on throughout the 1980s until the show went on hiatus following the Season 26 story ‘Survival’. Featuring rare footage and commentary from those who knew him and worked with him, Showman is a fascinating look at the life of a troubled showman with lots of stories to tell.

Showman: The Life of John Nathan-Turner

2019

Hanging by a Thread: The Making of Logopolis poster
NR

Hanging by a Thread: The Making of Logopolis is a documentary about the production of the Doctor Who story, Logopolis, which aired in 1981. It is part of the Season 18 Blu-ray collection of Doctor Who. The documentary explores the challenges and complexities faced during the filming of the story, including the transition from Tom Baker to Peter Davison

Hanging by a Thread: The Making of Logopolis

2019

The Last Chance Saloon poster
NR

During the mid-1980s, senior BBC executives had doubts about whether Doctor Who should continue. In 1987, the programme was given one final chance...

The Last Chance Saloon

2010

Come in Number Five poster
NR

A special retrospective of Peter Davison's tenure as the Fifth Doctor.

Come in Number Five

2011

Lords and Luddites: Making 'The Mark of the Rani' poster
NR

Actors and members of the production team recall the making of the programme in this specially-shot documentary, which features contributions from actors Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Kate O'Mara and Gary Cady (Luke), writers Pip & Jane Baker, script editor Eric Saward and composer Jonathan Gibbs.

Lords and Luddites: Making 'The Mark of the Rani'

2006

The Home Whovian poster
NR

In the 1980’s US public television station New Jersey Network produced some groundbreaking documentaries about Doctor Who following the programme’s huge success in America. The Home Whovian was planned to be the first in a series of video releases in the USA featuring interviews with the stars of Doctor Who. In the event it proved to be a one-off. Featuring interviews with Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and John Nathan-Turner. Unique material from a unique moment in Time Travel TV – when Doctor Who conquered America!

The Home Whovian

2001

Behind the camera

Doctor Who: Paradise Towers poster
6.5

The Doctor and Mel visit Paradise Towers, a residential complex that promises a peaceful life to its residents. However, the establishment is far from what its name suggests: A conflict persists among the Kangs, humanesque multicolour beings who gather in opposing gangs based on which colour of the rainbow they bear; killer cleaning robots prowl the halls, and a secret in the complex's basement poses the greatest threat of all.

Doctor Who: Paradise Towers

1987

Doctor Who: The Twin Dilemma poster
3.2

A race of giant Gastropods has taken over the planet Jaconda. Their leader, Mestor, now intends to cause an enormous explosion in order to spread his people's eggs throughout the galaxy, and he kidnaps juvenile twin geniuses from Earth to work out the necessary mathematical equations. Space fighters led by Lieutenant Hugo Lang are dispatched to get the twins back, but they come under attack and Lang is the sole survivor when his ship crashes on the asteroid Titan III. A newly regenerated Doctor and Peri become involved and help Jaconda's elderly former ruler Professor Edgeworth, who is really a Time Lord named Azmael, to defeat Mestor and free the planet's bird-like indigenous people from the gastropods' reign of terror. Azmael, however, sacrifices his life in the process.

Doctor Who: The Twin Dilemma

1984

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks poster
7.9

Captured in a time corridor, the Doctor and his companions are forced to land on 20th century Earth, diverted by the Doctor's oldest enemy - the Daleks. It is here the true purpose of the time corridor becomes apparent: after ninety years of imprisonment, Davros, the ruthless creator of the Daleks, is to be liberated to assist in the resurrection of his army. Not even the Daleks foresee the poisonous threat of their creator. Indeed, who would suspect Davros of wanting to destroy his own Daleks - and why? Only the Doctor knows the truth. Will he descend to Davros' level of evil to stop him?

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks

1984

Doctor Who: Arc of Infinity poster
7.2

Omega, an ancient Time Lord made of pure anti-matter, once defeated by the Doctor, is plotting to cross over into this dimension by bonding with the Doctor. Meanwhile, the disappearance of a man in Amsterdam piques the curiosity of his cousin, Tegan, who previously left the Doctor at Heathrow Airport and now finds herself at Omega's mercy. Fearing total destruction from the collision of matter and antimatter, the Time Lords recall the Doctor to Gallifrey to undertake the only viable solution: executing him!

Doctor Who: Arc of Infinity

1983

Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time poster
4.8

All of the Doctor's incarnations are in crisis when The Rani creates a time-loop in the East-end of London in this 30th Anniversary Special.

Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time

1993

Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time poster
4.8

All of the Doctor's incarnations are in crisis when The Rani creates a time-loop in the East-end of London in this 30th Anniversary Special.

Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time

1993

Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead poster
7.0

A warp ellipse draws the TARDIS off course. The Fifth Doctor's companions are separated from him not in space, but in time, and he has to deal with a treacherous schoolboy named Turlough. But why does the Doctor's old friend, the Brigadier, not remember him at all?

Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead

1983

Doctor Who: Silver Nemesis poster
7.1

The arrival of a mysterious comet heralds impending danger from enemies both old and new. As Ace helps the Doctor defend Earth, she is confronted with a dangerous question..."Doctor Who?"

Doctor Who: Silver Nemesis

1988

Doctor Who: Planet of Fire poster
6.0

A strange signal from Earth draws the TARDIS to the island of Lanzarote, where Turlough rescues a young American girl, Peri, from drowning. Among her possessions is an artefact bearing an alien symbol - the same triangular mark that Turlough has branded into his arm. The mystery deepens when Kamelion falls under the control of a powerful mind, and the TARDIS travels to the volcanic world of Sarn. As Turlough is forced to face his past, the Fifth Doctor must stop his oldest enemy from harnessing the revitalising powers of Numismaton gas...

Doctor Who: Planet of Fire

1984

Doctor Who: The Awakening poster
5.4

The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough arrive in Little Hodcombe, where the townspeople's re-enactments of English Civil War battles are causing a dormant entity, the Malus, to re-awaken.

Doctor Who: The Awakening

1984

Doctor Who: Logopolis poster
7.0

After an encounter with the Master, an airline stewardess named Tegan Jovanka becomes an unwitting stowaway aboard the TARDIS as it travels to the planet Logopolis. There, the Doctor discovers that the Master's interference with the Logopolitans' advanced mathematics has unleashed a wave of entropy which threatens to consume the entire universe.

Doctor Who: Logopolis

1981

Doctor Who: Battlefield poster
7.3

Knights from a parallel universe arrive on Earth to find the legendary sword Excalibur. Only the Doctor and Ace, with the assistance of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, can save the Earth from total catastrophe.

Doctor Who: Battlefield

1989

Doctor Who: Snakedance poster
5.0

Tegan falls once more under the influence of the Mara and directs the TARDIS to the planet Manussa. There, the Federator's son Lon and his mother Tanha are preparing for a ceremony to celebrate the banishment of the Mara five hundred years earlier. The Mara takes control of Lon and uses him and Tegan to obtain from Ambril, the Director of Historical Research, the 'Great Crystal' - the large blue stone that originally brought it into being by focusing energy from the minds of the planet's one-time inhabitants. The Mara now plans to use the crystal during the ceremony to bring about its return to corporeal existence.

Doctor Who: Snakedance

1983

Doctor Who: Terror of the Vervoids poster
4.7

As evidence for the defense at his ongoing trial, the Doctor presents an adventure from his future when he is travelling with a computer programmer named Mel. Answering a mysterious distress call from the space liner Hyperion III, they find that the passengers aboard include unscrupulous scientists, secret agents, saboteurs, thieves and a murderer. And lurking in the shadows are the Vervoids, the product of sinister botanical experiments, who will stop at nothing to destroy all non-plant life.

Doctor Who: Terror of the Vervoids

1986

Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric poster
8.4

The Doctor and Ace arrive at a secret military base during World War II, where an ancient evil from the Doctor's past prepares to make his final deadly move. As hideous vampires rise from the sea and Russian commandoes begin to close in, they are confronted not only with a mystery from the distant past but also a terrifying vision of mankind's future...

Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric

1989

Doctor Who: Mindwarp poster
7.7

As the Doctor's trial continues, evidence is presented showing his most recent adventure, one where he faces an old adversary, Sil. As a scientist conducts his unethical experiments to prolong the life of Sil's boss Kiv, the Doctor's memories of the events begins to return and an unpleasant surprise awaits him.

Doctor Who: Mindwarp

1986

Doctor Who: Dragonfire poster
7.2

As trouble brews on the space trading colony of Iceworld, the Doctor and Mel encounter their sometimes-ally Sabalom Glitz and a new friend who goes by the name "Ace".

Doctor Who: Dragonfire

1987

Doctor Who: Castrovalva poster
7.8

The Doctor needs somewhere peaceful to recover from his traumatic regeneration. But the sanctuary of Castrovalva is not all it seems, as the Master will stop at nothing to gain his revenge over the Doctor...

Doctor Who: Castrovalva

1982

A Fix with Sontarans poster
3.0

While operating the controls on his TARDIS console, The Doctor accidentally transports his former companion Tegan Jovanka on board. Less than happy about her situation, she reluctantly agrees to help when the Doctor reveals that two Sontarans are on board with a powerful vitrox bomb with which they intend to blow up the ship.

A Fix with Sontarans

1985

Doctor Who: The Five Doctors poster
7.8

Many incarnations of the Doctors and their old companions are taken out of time and deposited in the Death Zone on Gallifrey. There, they must battle the Master, Daleks, Cybermen and Yeti in order to reach the Dark Tower and discover the Tomb of Rassilon.

Doctor Who: The Five Doctors

1983

Doctor Who: Kinda poster
7.5

The TARDIS lands on the idyllic jungle world of Deva Loka, which is being surveyed for possible Earth colonisation. Deva Loka is already home to a race of apparent savages, however: a mysterious people with strange powers which have mentally unbalanced the members of the expedition. To make matters worse, an ancient enemy of the natives known as the Mara is intent upon revenge, and latches onto Tegan's mind as its bridgehead to victory.

Doctor Who: Kinda

1982

Doctor Who: Meglos poster
5.0

On the lush planet Tigella, two opposing factions are divided over the usage of the Dodecahedron, an ancient and powerful artefact which provides the entire planet's energy. The Doctor is summoned to arbitrate the conflict, but the power-crazed Meglos intercepts the call and impersonates him in order to steal the Dodecahedron.

Doctor Who: Meglos

1980

Doctor Who: Four to Doomsday poster
5.3

The Doctor and his companions arrive on a spaceship headed for Earth, populated by natives of Earth from various different eras and commanded by the leaders of the Urbankan race. What are the Urbankans' intentions when they reach Earth?

Doctor Who: Four to Doomsday

1982

Doctor Who: Shada poster
7.1

The Doctor visits his old Time Lord friend Chronotis in Cambridge, 1979. But the ruthless Skagra has also arrived to retrieve a book that will help unlock one of the Time Lords' greatest secrets: what is Shada? Filming for this story was never finished, and in this version the unfilmed material is completed via animation.

Doctor Who: Shada

2017