Doctor Who producer admits he regrets axing beloved companion

Speaking at a BFI Southbank event to mark the release of the Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 13 Blu-ray set, Philip Hinchcliffe – who served as producer from 1974 to 1977 – explained that upon joining the series, he was keen not just to move away from the previous era's Earthbound, 'UNIT family' set-up, but also cut back on the number of supporting characters.

"I wanted to trim it down a bit and go more into the science-fiction side as well, and travel back in time," he said.

"I think overall I made the right decision for me, which was to pare it back to Lis and Tom [...] because it gave us room and you didn't feel that your hero was dragging a gang of helpers... I still feel that was the right decision."

Hinchcliffe's tenure saw the Doctor venture back out into time and space, writing out UNIT characters including Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) and Sergeant Benton (John Levene) as regular characters.

Harry, UNIT's medical officer, also left the show – 1975's Terror of the Zygons saw the character opt to stay behind on Earth while the Doctor and Sarah-Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) travelled on without him. Harry did make one further guest appearance in the same year's The Android Invasion, but his final fate was left ambiguous, with no official farewell scene.

Looking back, Hinchcliffe acknowledged that Harry was "such a nice character" and that Ian Marter was "a good actor" who could have stuck around longer.

"I could've probably kept Ian Marter for two or three stories more," he said.

Notably, Tom Baker was already cast as the next Doctor when Hinchcliffe signed up to Doctor Who, having been hired by his predecessor – outgoing producer Barry Letts.

Hinchcliffe was just 29 when he took the job and reflected that he was grateful Letts had already nailed the difficult casting decision of replacing Jon Pertwee. "[Tom] was cast by Barry [Letts] and the Head of Series [Shaun Sutton] and thank God they did, because as a young producer, I'm not sure I'd have got the casting right, so that was a huge asset."

The upcoming Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 13 Blu-ray set features restored versions of all six stories from Tom Baker’s second season as the Doctor – Terror of the Zygons, Planet of Evil, Pyramids of Mars, The Android Invasion, The Brain of Morbius and The Seeds of Doom.

The box set also includes a range of new and archival special features, covering both the production and legacy of the 1975–76 run.

Among the new extras is Worlds Within, a documentary dedicated to Ian Marter – the film explores his work as an actor and writer, including his portrayal of Harry Sullivan and his wider contributions to the Doctor Who universe.

Read more:

• Doctor Who legend reveals what he'd change if he returned to the series
• Doctor Who producer reveals which "grotesque" story might have pushed things too far

Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 13 is available to pre-order now and is set to be released on 20th October.

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