- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJohn Turner
- Nickname
- JNT
- Height5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- John Nathan-Turner was born and brought up in the Midlands. As a boy he acted in numerous school plays and revues and appeared as an extra in several TV series, including The Newcomers (1965) and United! (1965) for the BBC and Crossroads (1964) for ATV. By the time he reached the sixth form his interests had widened to encompass producing, directing and writing.
On leaving school he turned down the offer of a university place in order to pursue a theatrical career. A short spell as stage manager in a nightclub led to a post as assistant stage manager at Birmingham's Alexandra Theatre. Later, during a period of unemployment as an actor, he filled in for a couple of months with a job in the Costume Department at the BBC's Gosta Green studios, where he gained an interest in television production. He was working as a senior stage manager and actor at the Everyman Theatre in Chelmsford when an acquaintance suggested that he apply to the BBC in London for a general exploratory interview. He did so, and shortly afterwards was taken on as a floor assistant.
It was in this capacity that he first worked on Doctor Who (1963) being assigned to "The Space Pirates" in season six, "The Ambassadors of Death" in season seven and "Colony in Space" in season eight. He remained at the BBC throughout the 1970s, gaining successive promotions to assistant floor manager, production assistant and production unit manager. It was in the latter capacity that he was again assigned to Doctor Who (1963), handling the series' budget during seasons fifteen, sixteen and seventeen. He took over as producer from season eighteen in 1979 and remained in that post until the BBC discontinued making the series a decade later.
Unfortunately, Nathan-Turner's status as the producer during the series' decline in popularity and eventual cancellation meant that his television production career effectively ended in 1989. From 1990 until his death in 2002, he maintained contact with the Doctor Who (1963) world, producing some special releases for BBC Video between 1991 and 1992, as well as the ludicrous 30th anniversary spoof Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time (1993) for the BBC's Children in Need telethon, while also pursuing a variety of other projects.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- He often wore Hawaiian shirts
- He had a very camp upper-class voice
- He was openly gay and lived with Gary Downie, who worked with Nathan-Turner as a production manager on Doctor Who (1963) in the 1980s. Downie himself died in 2006.
- He was a huge fan of Coronation Street (1960) and he once said it was the series he would most like to have produced.
- According to colleagues, one of his finest moments as producer of Doctor Who (1963) was when he saved The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: Part One (1988) from being abandoned after location recording had been completed but the studios at BBC Television Centre became unavailable because of an asbestos scare. Nathan-Turner was determined not to lose the production, so together with the efforts of David Laskey, the designer, they were eventually able to erect a tent in the car park at Elstree and finish it there.
- He added the Nathan to his name to avoid confusion with actor John Turner.
- According to Judy Cornwell, he was intending to make a film of her novel "Fear and Favour" shortly before he died.
- [on Peter Davison in Doctor Who (1963)] Peter is an ideal actor for the role. He has the right combination of light humour, drama and realism, is very popular with children, and has a large following with feminine viewers.
- I always liked wearing Hawaiian shirts, and Hawaiian shirts are very colourful, and I always felt that people took you very well, that they assumed you were a warm, friendly, funny, likeable, approachable sort of person if you were wearing a Hawaiian shirt, because of the bright colours and the patterns and so forth. So when it came to designing a costume for Colin Baker, I thought why not make it a Hawaiian shirt, but make it Edwardian, like the other Doctors wore, like Tom Baker or Jon Pertwee would have worn, sort of Tom Baker meets the Hawaiian shirt. So we decided on a multi-coloured motif. It stretched to the opening title sequence as well, we took the Peter Davison title sequence and added streams of multi-colours, just like on my favourite Hawaiian shirts. I thought it looked terribly nice.
- She'll often be wearing leotards and bikinis. A lot of dads watch Doctor Who (1963) and I'm sure they will like Nicola [Nicola Bryant].
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