During an interview with
Michael Grade on
Sunday Morning Live (2010) in 2016, he incorrectly told viewers that
Michael Grade had cancelled the original series of
Doctor Who (1963). He actually put it on an 18 month hiatus in 1985 and brought it back in September 1986, with the directive that the series needed less violence and more comedy. He also ordered that the Sixth Doctor,
Colin Baker, be ousted from the role at the end of that season and oversaw the casting of
Sylvester McCoy in 1987. The series was cancelled in 1989 by
Peter Cregeen, the BBC's new Head of Series, two years after Grade had left the BBC to join Channel 4.