The producers of the Classic Series have always been an avenue of interest to me. While some try to hold things over, and others shake up the status quo. In the end, good or bad, all of them offered something to the legacy of the show. And because I am the way that I am, I’ll rank them!

1. Phillip Hinchcliffe (The Ark In Space - The Talons Of Weng-Chiang) Everything came together so beautifully in his era. Scripts were on top form, the cast was always brilliant, and the gothic horror themes that came with his era make for some of the best stories of the Classic era. He tried something new, and hit it out of the park.

2. Verity Lambert (An Unearthly Child - Mission To The Unknown) She started it all. Together with Sydney Newman, she created a whole new world of adventures. This show was a huge gamble, but she alone with her team succeeded beyond measure. The mingling of historicals and sci-fi stories in this era is in keeping with the show’s original vision to be both entertaining and educational.

3. Barry Letts (Doctor Who And The Silurians - Robot) Producer for nearly all of Pertwee’s time as The Doctor, Letts brought the show into completely new ground, leading Pertwee in two seasons of adventures with UNIT, which are some of the best in the show’s history, and then three seasons of mixed space and earthbound adventures which are still very entertaining. The first producer to oversee a color production of the show, leading to a vivid, imaginative, and exciting era.

4. John Nathan-Turner (The Leisure Hive - Survival) The longest serving producer, and quite a mixed bag. Some terrible decisions like Colin’s coat, and making the Seventh Doctor a buffoon in his early days, you can’t say that JNT didn’t keep the show going through thick and thin. I think his best and most consistent work is in the Peter Davison era by far, and in the final season 26. Love him or hate him, and I fall somewhere in between, John Nathan-Turner definitely left his mark on Doctor Who

5. Innes Lloyd (The Celestial Toymaker - The Enemy Of The World) An impressive tenure, spanning two Doctors, Innes Lloyd had a lot of decisions to make as producer. He saw, and was likely the force behind, a lot of the cast turnovers, including that of the leading man. But through all of that, he kept a steady hand. Innes Lloyd’s era can probably best be defined by the base under siege stories that became commonplace in the Troughton era.

6. Peter Bryant (The Web Of Fear - The Space Pirates) Pushing the Troughton era beyond the confines of base under siege, and helming the more experimental season 6, Peter Bryant was certainly a capable producer for the show.

7. John Wiles (The Myth Makers - The Ark) Heading over just four serial from the third season, John Wiles isn’t the most memorable producer, good or bad. His greatest effort would be overseeing the complex and grandiose The Daleks’ Master Plan, and introducing short lived companions Katarina and Sarah Kingdom.

8. Graham Williams (Horror Of Fang Rock - The Horns Of Nimon/Shada) I may be unfair for putting Graham Williams so low, but his era is the most “meh” of any classic era by far in my estimation. He kept it going, that’s about it. Transitioning to more space-based stories left the series feeling a bit same-y week after week. I think he wasted the talents of Baker, Jameson, Tamm, and Ward too often, which storylines that didn’t play to their strengths.

9. Derrick Sherwin (The War Games & Spearhead From Space) A holdover producer. While he saw over two of the show’s best stories, his job was more just to steer the ship as the show transitioned to a new era. Sherwin himself left little impact. Which is fine, because he really wasn’t meant to.