Season 29 was a remarkable success. Ratings rose and the stories were hailed by fans and the public. This wasn’t to say that the season passed without controversy. Season 29 brought noted anti-violence advocate Mary Whitehouse out of retirement, issuing press releases and organizing demonstrations for six months before she was dancing naked on a Friday afternoon in Hyde Park.

Then there was the co-production question. The BBC had negotiated for four years, and commissioned fourteen episodes to test the leading candidates. There was no longer any room for delay; and a decision was made: Gerry Davis and Terry Nation, the production team responsible for Story on a Train, were given the contract. Financed by American backers with deep pockets, the new co-producers promised to “return the show to its former glory”.

Co-production’s immediate benefit was cementing the show’s season length back at 26 episodes. It’s immediate side-effect was that the season would be told in thirteen weeks as a series of 45 minute episodes instead of the usual 23 minute length. Although this was in keeping with American network programming, it was the most controversial decision fans had to swallow. Many comparisons were made to the failed experiment of Season 22, but the ink had dried on the contracts. Nation and Davis promised that the episodes would settle everyone’s fears.

As part of the terms of the co-production contract, the BBC would supply an executive producer to oversee the co-producer’s work. David Maloney was the first person they turned to, but he begged off. The BBC then turned to another of Doctor Who’s old friends, Terrance Dicks.

Edward Peel-Smith and Sara Griffith’s contracts were renewed and both actors expressed a strong desire to stay with the program for at least another year.