For a family series, Doctor Who has had its fair share of controversial moments – mostly centred around concerns that a few of the show's scarier moments would prove too much for younger fans.
One of the most notorious was the cliffhanger to episode 3 of 1976 story 'The Deadly Assassin', starring Tom Baker as the Doctor.
The episode's climax saw villain Goth (Bernard Horsfall) attempt to drown the Doctor and ended on a freeze frame of the apparently dead hero's head under the water.
At the time, it drew the ire of 'clean-up TV' campaigner Mary Whitehouse, who complained at the time how the final image had been "left in the minds of the children" for over a week.
But, ironically, Doctor Who's then producer Philip Hinchcliffe has now revealed that the freeze frame device was actually a device intended to tone the scene down.
"We showed that episode to the Head of Series [at the BBC] Bill Slater and I said to him, 'I think maybe we've perhaps held [the Doctor] under the water for too long?' and Bill agreed.
"There was a conversation with him and [the story's director] David Maloney and David said, 'Well, we could shorten it, but I could freeze-frame?' – actually, I think that made it worse myself."
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Reflecting on Whitehouse's particular dislike for his era of Doctor Who, Hinchcliffe added: "She didn't quite understand that it was a family show and there was a wide age range of audience members.
"I came under very little pressure at all [from the BBC to tone things down]. There were just one or two scenes that were discussed."
Hinchcliffe was speaking at a BFI screening of the classic story 'Genesis of the Daleks' – held to mark the launch of Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 12 on Blu-ray.
The ex-producer – who oversaw Tom Baker's first three series between 1974 and 1977 – also revealed he was planning another season of stories with Baker as the Doctor, with an Indiana Jones vibe.
Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 12 will be released on July 2 on Blu-Ray, and is available to pre-order now.
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