BBC investigating Doctor Who sex scandal claims

The BBC are looking into claims that two Doctor Who executives made sexual advances on teenage fans of the show throughout the 1980s.

It is alleged that John Nathan-Turner, a producer on the series from 1980-1989, and his partner Gary Downie, who was a production manager, made advances on teenage boys visiting the studio. The homosexual age of consent being 21 at the time.

Former Court of Appeal judge Dame Janet Smith, who is leading a review into the Jimmy Savile case, will look into the allegations as part of her wide-ranging review into the “culture and practices” of the BBC during the years Savile worked there.

Richard Marson, a former BBC Producer and Blue Peter editor, has made the allegations in a new biography of Nathan-Turner. JN-T: the Life and Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner is due for release in May.

Marson claims the producer made a pass at him when he was a 17-year-old working on the Doctor Who Magazine.

He said: “It happened after the first time I was invited up to go and see a recording of the show, and he just got a bit frisky, shall we say.”

Marson also described an encounter with Downie in a BBC lift. The incident ended with him fleeing and hiding under a desk.

He further claims that Nathan-Turner once engaged in a sexual act in his BBC office while talking on the phone to Blue Peter editor Biddy Baxter and tells how one wealthy fan would keep Nathan-Turner supplied with escorts in exchange for visits to the sci-fi dramas set.

Marson added: “What you had was a promiscuous gay bloke who had the chance to meet a lot of young people and liked getting off with young guys. I don’t think he was predatory, particularly. I don’t think he forced himself on the unwilling. I was much more cautious about Gary, his partner.”

Nathan-Turner passed away in 2002 aged 54 following a short illness while Downie died in 2006.

Meanwhile, The Daily Mail has rubbished claims that police are looking into a suspected paedophile ring surrounding the BBC soap EastEnders. The Sun claimed that staff working on the show throughout the 1980s and 1990s had used their positions to target young autograph hunters and that police have set up a special unit to investigate the claims. However police told The Daily Mail that no such unit exists and no abuse has been reported.