What goes around comes around and the fortunes of venerable BBC TV sci-fi show Dr Who are perhaps TV’s greatest example of the adage.
The much-loved/equally-loathed sci-fi series was once a 1970s Saturday-night staple, but suffered a long, ignoble death in the ’80s, before earning the 2000’s rebirth that put it back on top. Now, in 2026, it’s once again past its best, sitting in a stand-off stalemate, with a cancelled Christmas special and zero new episodes in production.
But let’s travel back in time to Dr Who’s first juicy demise and tell the story of what’s become officially recognised as the worst charity record of all time…
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Despite having 22 annual series under its belt by 1985, Dr Who, the BBC’s former Saturday night centrepiece, was in trouble. In ‘85, the show was only ever earning diminishing returns with Doctor number six, Colin Baker, the ex-Shakespearean ‘ack-tor’, pulling in audiences of just three million, compared to the 16 million enraptured by Tom Baker during the show’s 1979 peak.
And with a thrifty, licence-fee-payer-funded BBC coming under fire for over-spending and a show visibly running out of budget, ideas and audience, the scene was set for the axe to swing. And on 25 February 1985 the BBC announced that the show would be placed on an “18-month hiatus” and, needless to say, for its fans, ‘hiatus’ equalled ‘cancelled’…
So far so fair-enough, but what was this? A gaggle of multi-talented, famous-name Dr Who fans swinging to the rescue? The great and the good of the entertainment world, ready to save Dr Who’s bacon? With a… charity record? Hurrah… What could possibly go wrong?…
Calling All The Heroes
In a sea of quick (but noble) cash grabs through the mid-’80s and beyond – with Band Aid’s inaugural December 1984 life-saver Do They Know It’s Christmas (released just three months earlier) being the crest of the wave – March 1985’s Doctor In Distress only ever dwells deep within Davy Jones’ locker. So deep, in fact, that it not only failed to appear on any charts ever but is equally absent from the CVs of everyone who took part.
The reasons for Distress being ‘the worst charity record ever made’ (a title it was awarded during a 2022 BBC Red Nose Day special) are manifold.
Firstly, there’s the star squad that the organisers – Dr Who producer John Nathan-Turner, production manager Gary Downie, K9 spin-off producer Paul Mark Tams and Jeff Weston, MD of UK Hi-NRG label Record Shack – put together. While big names (for the day) such as Holly Johnson, Elton John, and The Village People were mooted, when it came to the actual recording, each resoundingly failed to show.
Instead, the record housed a gaggle of Dr Who hangers-on and semi-stars of the day who weren’t so much disaffected Doctor Who fans sufficiently stirred to take arms, as a Band Aid B-team searching for a spotlight.
Thus we get Miquel Brown, Phyllis Nelson, Hazell Dean, Bobby G (from Bucks Fizz), John Rocca (from Freeez), David Van Day (from Dollar), Steven Grant and Julie Harris (from Tight Fit), Basia and Danny White (from Matt Bianco), Justin Hayward and John Lodge (from The Moody Blues), Warren Cann (er… the drummer from Ultravox) and Rick Buckler (er… the ex-drummer from The Jam).
PLUS ‘comedienne’ Faith Brown, actress Sally Thomsett, dancer Floid Pearce (from Hot Gossip), Richie Pitts (from the cast of Starlight Express), and [This can’t be right: Ed] Hans Zimmer.
Oh, and Jona Lewie. Yes THAT Jona Lewie.
Meanwhile, the show itself was represented by Colin Baker (Dr Who at the time), Nicola Bryant (his companion Peri Brown), Nicholas Courtney (Dr Who regular The Brigadier) and Anthony Ainley (aka The Master).
Let’s face it. They weren’t busy.
And special mention to those who dodged this sonic spanner by pure chance: Black Lace, whose train from Bradford got cancelled, and Gary Glitter [!: Ed] who’d dislocated his shoulder.
Phew.
And with the group duly assembled, that just left the song they would sing, and that too came via that Record Shack connection, with in-house producers Ian Levine and Fiachra Trench stepping up to the plate.
As to why so many stars of the mid 80’s UK Hi-NRG scene were sufficiently aroused to save Gallifrey’s finest son remains a mystery. Suffice to say it’s hard to imagine Iron Maiden or Motörhead giving much of a toss about Doctor Who’s demise. Though given that Levine and Trench had previously written the theme to Dr Who spin-off show K9 And Company, they were a match made in (London nightclub) Heaven.
And to ensure that the track hit the spot, the pair hired in Hans Zimmer, at that time a jobbing London session synth player who’d cut his teeth working with early electronic outfits such as The Buggles.
Yes. It’s Hans Zimmer looking sheepish in the background of the video for their 80s smash Video Killed The Radio Star.
And Zimmer helped Levine and Trench build a ‘Proto’-typical (pun intended) slab of Hi-NRG fit for a Time Lord.
So far so ‘good’ but the wheels were soon to fall off their rickety rescue vehicle.
Despite being the product of Levine, a future 40-million-selling writer/producer for Take That, The Pasadenas, Bad Boys Inc and more, PLUS Zimmer, the soon-to-be multi-Oscar-winning soundtrack guru, it’s safe to say that Doctor In Distress was something of a rush job.
Levine himself was (and still is) a certified Dr Who nut, even at one stage being part of show’s continuity team, ensuring that its lore and canon be honoured. Thus, burdened by 22 years of Who history, Levine’s lyrics may have gone rather overboard. “It was pathetic and bad and stupid. I tried to tell the Dr Who history in an awful high-energy song,” he admitted to The Guardian years later.
And with a dubious cast and song duly assembled, one final stumbling block remained: Just who would get the money anyway? Was the record financing a new, independent series of the show? Or would Colin Baker and the show’s stars (of its most unpopular series yet) be trousering the cash? In short, just what was the point of all this?
Just as Band Aid’s millions came under increasing scrutiny following their success, so the final destination for Distress’s booty remained hazy in the public’s eye despite clear labelling on the sleeve that any millions raised would be going to Cancer Relief.
Why Cancer Relief rather than a children’s charity or something more thematically linked to the show? Er… (Doctor) Who knows. And why on Gallifrey were the assembled supergroup christened Who Cares? Sure, it’s almost clever. But it’s actually hard to think of a worse name for a charity band.
By now, reportage as to the song’s chart performance feels like a low blow and we don’t want to (tar) dis’, but this joke needs a punchline.
Following the song’s release on Record Shack on 15 March 1985, Doctor In Distress by Who Cares? entirely failed to chart, generated zero cash for Cancer Relief and failed to recoup its costs, meaning that the label and Levine actually lost money for their efforts. “It was an absolute balls-up fiasco,” said Levine. “It almost ruined me.”
However, there was a glimmer of light at the end of this particular time tunnel. Following the record’s release, Doctor Who DID subsequently return in September 1986… Series 22 was indeed followed by Series 23… And even series 24, 25 and 26 in the years to follow.
So, did Doctor In Distress turn back time and avert catastrophe? Or did the BBC simply follow through on its plan for an “18-month hiatus” as it had clearly announced in 1985, rendering the entire Who Cares? project even more redundant and ridiculous than it already was?
‘Who’ decide…
