The Life and Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner

2015 | Biography

Richard Marson's book, JN-T: The Life and Scandalous Times of John Nathan-Turner, tells the story of the most controversial figure in the history of Doctor Who.
For more than a decade, John Nathan-Turner, or "JN-T" as he was often known, was in charge of every major artistic and practical decision affecting the world's longest-running science fiction programme. Richard Marson brings his dramatic, farcical, sometimes scandalous, often moving story to life with the benefit of his own inside knowledge and the fruits of over 100 revealing interviews with key friends and colleagues, those John loved to those from whom he became estranged. The author has also had access to all of Nathan-Turner's surviving archive of paperwork and photos, many of which appear here for the very first time.
"(The) book is extraordinary - a great piece of work. A major piece of Doctor Who history and the history of an entire industry - an entire age, really. I read it in two days flat, I couldn't stop. I've never seen a biographer enter the story like that, it was brilliant and invigorating. The ending is devastating, genuinely tragic. All those hopes and dream poisoned and rotted by alcohol. By writing about it, you have made something elegant and even beautiful out of such a wretched mess. And I think that's very kind of you indeed. This book says a lot about JN-T, but it says a lot about your good and kind heart, too." - Russell T Davies

Richard Marson (Author)