Michael Grade
Michael Grade (born 8 March 1943) was a British broadcast executive. In 1984, he joined BBC Television as Controller of BBC One. In 1985, he made the extremely controversial decision to place Doctor Who on an eighteen-month hiatus, citing low ratings, overly violent content and farcical storylines as his reasons. In 1986, he made another controversial decision regarding Doctor Who: the firing of series star Colin Baker. In 1987, Grade stepped down as Controller and was succeeded by Jonathan Powell.
In 2004, Grade, as Chairman of the BBC Board of Directors, presided over the unanimous vote which installed Mark Thompson as the Director-General of the BBC. Thompson stayed in the job for eight years — during which time Doctor Who became one of the leading shows in Britain.
