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Baverstock was actively engaged in the creation of the programme. He had several well-documented meetings and written exchanges with [[Sydney Newman]] in the run-up to the series' premiere, dating back to at least [[1962]]. On or about [[20 May]] [[1963]] he personally signed off on the format document prepared by Newman, [[Donald Wilson]] and [[C. E. Webber]], saying that series was "looking great". ([[REF]]: ''[[The First Doctor Handbook]]'') | Baverstock was actively engaged in the creation of the programme. He had several well-documented meetings and written exchanges with [[Sydney Newman]] in the run-up to the series' premiere, dating back to at least [[1962]]. On or about [[20 May]] [[1963]] he personally signed off on the format document prepared by Newman, [[Donald Wilson]] and [[C. E. Webber]], saying that series was "looking great". ([[REF]]: ''[[The First Doctor Handbook]]'') | ||
After much internal discussion over the course of several months, it was Baverstock who eventually personally decided on [[5 July]] 1963 that | After much internal discussion over the course of several months, it was Baverstock who eventually personally decided on [[5 July]] 1963 that ''Doctor Who'' episodes would be 25 minutes long, as they would remain until 1989. | ||
=== October surprise === | |||
Ultimately, Baverstock was ''Doctor Who''{{'}}s commissioning executive, the person who decided the final budgets for the programme and whether it would even get aired. He had to be satisfied that things were progressing satisfactorily. At first green lighting only a four epsiode commitment, he extended it to thirteen on the strength of what eventually became known as "[[The Pilot Episode]]". He almost immediately reversed his decision, however, after he started looking at the numbers harder. | |||
Within days of giving the go-ahed to the 13-week commitment, he fired off a memo to [[Donald Wilson]] that nearly cancelled ''Doctor Who'' before it had remounted "[[An Unearthly Child (episode)|An Unearthly Child]]". He claimed to have been deceived about the cost per episode and flatly said that he could not justify the apparent "true" expenses of [[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|Serial A]]. | |||
Within days of giving the go-ahed to the 13-week commitment, he fired off a memo to [[Donald Wilson]] that nearly cancelled ''Doctor Who'' before it had remounted "[[An Unearthly Child (episode)|An Unearthly Child]]". | |||
{{quote|Last week I agreed to an additional £200 to your budget of £2,400 for the first four episodes. This figure is now revealed to be totally unrealistic. The costs of these four will be more than £4,000 each ... Such a costly serial is not one that I can afford for this space in this financial year. You should not therefore proceed any further with the production of more than four episodes.|{{PAGENAME}} 18 October 1963}} | {{quote|Last week I agreed to an additional £200 to your budget of £2,400 for the first four episodes. This figure is now revealed to be totally unrealistic. The costs of these four will be more than £4,000 each ... Such a costly serial is not one that I can afford for this space in this financial year. You should not therefore proceed any further with the production of more than four episodes.|{{PAGENAME}} 18 October 1963}} | ||
This forced a week-long "crisis" in which all manner of BBC executives, along with [[Verity Lambert]] and [[Donald Wilson]] seriously re-examined the financial assumptions of the show. Baverstock re-instated his 13-week commitment after Lambert and Wilson demonstrated that they could produce the show at a lower cost. The major sacrifice was that ''Doctor Who'' was not able to avail themselves of the [[BBC Visual Effects]] department on a regular basis. This forced [[visual effects]] to be sub-contracted. Thus Baverstock was somewhat directly responsible for the [[Dalek]]s and other significant props being created by [[Shawcraft Models]] rather than the BBC itself. | This forced a week-long "crisis" in which all manner of BBC executives, along with [[Verity Lambert]] and [[Donald Wilson]] seriously re-examined the financial assumptions of the show. Baverstock re-instated his 13-week commitment after Lambert and Wilson demonstrated that they could produce the show at a lower cost. The major sacrifice was that ''Doctor Who'' was not able to avail themselves of the [[BBC Visual Effects]] department on a regular basis. This forced [[visual effects]] to be sub-contracted. Thus Baverstock was somewhat directly responsible for the [[Dalek]]s and other significant props being created by [[Shawcraft Models]] rather than the BBC itself. | ||
=== Other challenges === | |||
Though his defence of the budget was clearly a significant event, he used his office in other ways that affected the early production of ''Doctor Who''. | |||
He was a key figure in the long-running dispute over whether the show could move from what [[Donald Wilson]] and later [[Verity Lambert]] considered the wholly inappropriate [[Lime Grove Studio D]]. In June 1963, he denied a request to move ''Doctor Who''{{'}}s specialised recording equipment to [[Riverside Studios]] so that his own pet project, {{wi|That Was the Week That Was}}, could enjoy the superior facility. He was involved in several other meetings with various BBC executives and department heads about the headaches caused by Lime Grove's inadequate facilities. | He was a key figure in the long-running dispute over whether the show could move from what [[Donald Wilson]] and later [[Verity Lambert]] considered the wholly inappropriate [[Lime Grove Studio D]]. In June 1963, he denied a request to move ''Doctor Who''{{'}}s specialised recording equipment to [[Riverside Studios]] so that his own pet project, {{wi|That Was the Week That Was}}, could enjoy the superior facility. He was involved in several other meetings with various BBC executives and department heads about the headaches caused by Lime Grove's inadequate facilities. | ||