After the debut of Survival in December 1989, the BBC announced a change in policy regarding Doctor Who. Although the show had been one of the BBC's flagships, it had fallen on hard times. Officials within the BBC made no attempt to hide their contempt for the series, and their desire to end production. In the last half of the decade, the show was off the air nine months out of each year, and in the three remaining months, it was scheduled against the powerhouse soap Coronation Street.

However, Doctor Who did have its friends within the BBC. The show continued to make the corporation a lot of money through merchandising and overseas sales. In the era of Thatcher cutbacks, this profit could not be overlooked. As the BBC's budget for the production of new dramas ebbed, co-production was suggested as a means of keeping the show alive, while reducing costs to the Corporation.

Thus, at the end of the twenty-sixth season, the BBC announced that it was opening tenders for co-production. The show would be off the air, returning to television screens in 1991, once negotiations were settled successfully.

The BBC's own bureaucracy complicated matters, causing co-production talks to stall. Various officials championed different offers, and by December 1990, it was clear that there would be no agreement anytime soon.

Peter Darville-Evans, Controller of BBC 1 after an internal shakeup, realized that the value of Doctor Who would diminish the longer it was off the air. He decided to commission new episodes that year, and managed to push enough money for twenty episodes through the budget. It was going to be a rush job. The new season was supposed to debut in September; that was nine months away, and the Doctor Who production office had been shut down.

John Nathan-Turner and Andrew Cartmel were rehired, pending the hiring of a caretaker team to oversee the production of new episodes into 1992 and however long co-production talks continued. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred returned to reprise their roles as the seventh Doctor and Ace, although Sylvester announced that once Season 27 (his fourth) was completed, he would not return as the Doctor.

So, at the beginning of 1991, an old production team had to hit the ground running, creating twenty episodes in nine months, and writing out the seventh Doctor.

Producers Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt had found their feet, and not a moment too soon. No sooner had they established a new and bold style after a very uneven season, than the 35th anniversary rolled around. There were challenges ahead. Over and above the expectations of fans and viewers, there was the crowded situation on board the TARDIS. The contracts for the regulars had been finalized before Season 33 ended; Feryal Akhim's Haleh was a late addition, hired unexpectedly as the third companion after the producers were impressed by her performance in Crescent, Cross, Star and Pentagram. Hiring her was one thing; making use of her was another. The producers were determined that Haleh was not to be a fifth wheel, but the writers were resisting. Joss Whedon began to admit that Haleh wouldn't flourish as long as Sue and Ryan were on board the TARDIS.

As a result of these challenges, intensive story meetings were called and the structure of the season established. Early on, it was decided that since this was the jade anniversary of the program, it should leave its mark. An anniversary story was planned, but the producers wanted more. Fans still remembered the success of the Timewyrm season, the cohesive nature of the eighth Doctor's first and last seasons, and the season-spanning Dalek time travel storyline and wanted something similar. Attention turned to Season 33's Dead Ringers. Three story slots were filled with the continuation of these plotlines. To balance off these continuity heavy stories, three stand-alones were commissioned to be spaced throughout.

The season length was cut by two episodes, so that more bang could be provided for the buck. Even so, the sixteen full-hour episodes represented the equivalent of 32 old-style episodes, arranged thus: 3-3-2-2-3-3 (6-6-4-4-6-6). Doctor Who fans were still getting more television content than ever before. Filming continued without incident, and the first episode of season 34 debuted on Sunday, September 6, 1998.

In the hubbub surrounding the arrival of a new Doctor/Companion team, the fact that other key players of the series were hanging up their hats almost went unnoticed. Terry Nation and Gerry Davis, the co-producers who had guided the program onto American networks, wanted to expand their productions, and commissioned such new shows as Moonbase 4 and MacGyver: the Next Generation. So they decided to concentrate on these projects, and turn over their flagship to a new team.

The new team was Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt, up-and-coming writers and producers of a number of movies and television scripts. They jumped at the chance to take on Doctor Who, now widely considered to be both a venerable old show and the hip leader of a telefantasy resurgence. Davis and Nation would stay on as the show's producers for the first six episodes, tying up unfinished storylines from the eighth Doctor's era; after that, the program was all Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt's, with Terry Nation acting as an Executive Producer.

Gerry Davis and Terry Nation were also responsible for selecting Jon Thaw to play the ninth Doctor. Thaw, a famous British character actor in his sixties, was best known for his rugged portrayal of the contemporary detective Inspector Morse. While some thought this flew in the face of the new producer's drive to increase the comedy quotient, others pointed out that Mr. Thaw was no stranger to comedy.

The length of the season was increased to eighteen episodes, the equivalent of 36 old-style 25-minute episodes, as the program approached its goal of a full-length 22 episode American season. Jon Thaw did not object to the lengthening, as this had been established before his contract was signed. Whatever objections Cathleen Turner and Jon Ritter may have had were settled by a corresponding increase in pay.

The first episode of the 34th season debuted on BBC1 on Sunday, September 7, 1997.

Soon after the filming wrapped for Season 31, Edward Peel-Smith shocked the fan press by announcing that the next season of Doctor Who would be his last. Not so. After five years, it was time to move on, said Edward Peel-Smith. And when Sara Griffiths followed this up with her own decision to leave the series partway through Season 32, fans knew that an era of the program was drawing to a close.

Gerry Davis and Terry Nation had six months to shape the scripts for Season 32. They resolved to feed off the "end-of-an-era" atmosphere, creating something similar to Tom Baker's final year. On the co-production side of things, Davis and Nation were able to increase their American investment, extending Season 32's episode count from 15 to 17. The production crew spoke of "standard American-length seasons", but the British fan-press stubbornly stuck to its labels of the 45 minute episode length as "double-length".

In the midst of all this, the production crew had to search for Fayette's replacement. Aware of the risks of leaving the show in the hands of an inexperienced Doctor/Companion team, the producers turned to established characters Sue Novak and Ryan Parnel. They were popular from the spy-story episodes Story on a Train and Syndicate and, more importantly, it was felt that they could handle the physical action that could be left over if an older actor were selected to play the ninth Doctor. The fact that they were Americans on a progressively Americanized show was seen as a side benefit.

Filming for the eighth Doctor's last season began in May 1996. The first episode premiered on BBC1 on Sunday, September 1 that year.

By the time Season 30 was finished, fans and public alike were pleased with this new version of Doctor Who. Despite extensive location filming in America and a redesign of a couple of the older fan favourite enemies, the stories were enthralling and the rapport between the Doctor and his companion was well liked.

The co-producers and the BBC retained their warm working relationship. Terrance Dicks left as Executive Producer, leaving Gerry Davis and Terry Nation fully in control of the series. Additional American funding allowed the season to be expanded by another two 45-minute episodes, producing the equivalent of a 30 episode season, the longest in twenty-five years.

Now that they were firmly in control over the creative output of the series, Davis and Nation announced that they would be using Season 31 to test the boundaries of Doctor Who. While returning monsters would feature prominently in the opener, Season 31 would not have the Cyberman and Dalek monster thrashes that marked the year before. Early reports of the new season suggested that a mix of futuristic and historical stories the producer's goal, although problems with some of the stories played havoc with those plans.

Edward Peel-Smith and Sara Griffiths' contracts were renewed, and both actors expressed an interest in staying with the program at least into Season 32. With the success of Season 30, hopes were riding high for Season 31.

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.

Edward Peel-Smith took to the role like a fish to water, establishing himself as the Doctor in the eyes of fans and viewers alike. His clothes may have been unorthodoxly conservative, but his mannerisms and his innocence made him unquestionably alien.

But as the show entered its thirtieth anniversary, nothing else was settled. There was no companion and no co-production deal. The BBC decided to settle the co-production question once and for all, making the twenty-ninth season a test bed. The season's length would be extended by six episodes to twenty-six, and fourteen of these would be produced by the three front-running bidders. David Maloney remained as the caretaker producer of the remaining twelve episodes. To oversee the activities of four separate production teams, the BBC hired Terrance Dicks as the season's executive producer.

Then there was the question of the companion. It was David Maloney's job to cast her, and he realized that with her development out of his hands for fourteen of the season's twenty-six episodes, he needed a character that was distinctive and strongly drawn from the start. It had been a long time since a character from an earlier time period had travelled aboard the TARDIS, so David Maloney decided upon a teenaged girl orphaned during the French Revolution. In the hands of a strong actress, she could sail through these difficult waters, establishing herself without the help of a managed writing staff.

After auditioning a number of candidates, David Maloney and Edward Peel-Smith settled upon Welsh actress Sara Griffiths. She had appeared in Doctor Who before, as the potential companion Ray in Delta and the Bannermen; she had a talent for accents and she and Edward also showed a good chemistry on the audition floor. Edward decided the matter before David, demanding that she be signed on before David had even said a word. David would go on to say that this prejudiced contract negotiations considerably.

In one of his last acts as script editor, Andrew Cartmel convinced Sophie Aldred to stay on as Ace for one more year, so that the new caretaker producer, David Maloney, wouldn't have to deal with two inexperienced actors carrying the show. As for the Doctor, the production crew cast Edward Peel-Smith, a respected character-actor who had appeared on such shows as All Creatures Great and Small, Emmerdale Farm and even as a one-time Doctor Who villain, Mr. Peel-Smith was tall, well-built and thought to be a suitable contrast to the short and slight Sylvester McCoy. He had a demonstrated acting ability, but was a relative unknown on British television ... not unlike what Tom Baker had been before he became the fourth Doctor, Maloney noted.

Edward Peel-Smith jumped at the opportunity to star and he and David Maloney worked out a characterization that would differentiate the eighth Doctor from the seventh. Maloney suggested a "gentle giant" approach at one point and, while Peel-Smith didn't wholly agree, he liked the idea of a Doctor that didn't seek out trouble, but rather had trouble find him.

The season had a strong transition feel about it. The production team was a transitional team designed to take care of the program while a co-producer could be found. Ace was a holdover from a previous era, and the eighth Doctor hadn't yet hit his stride. Even so, a number of fans confessed an appreciation of the season's quiet and subtle style, as the eighth Doctor and Ace adjusted to each other, and the eighth Doctor adjusted to his new body.

At the end of Season 28, Ace took her final bow. Sophie Aldred moved onto other projects, and a new companion was sought for Season 29.