Producer Graham Williams had left the show a few months earlier and now the show was produced by John Nathan Turner . Impossible to think in 1980 that a few years down the line JNT would be the anti-Christ and would be remembered as the man who was responsible for seeing the show cancelled . I say " impossible " because as soon as JNT sat in the producer seat fandom glad that Williams had left bombarded the new producer with praise , the irony being that the self same individuals praising JNT were more often than not the same people calling for the beheading of him a few years later
In this debut from the new production team they hit the ground running . We're treated to a new title sequence and a new arrangement of the title theme . Both of which are very impressive after six years of the time tunnel type sequence . There's also a slightly different feel to the show . Gone is the tongue in cheek humour that often ridiculed the show and we have a more serious tone to everything which is down to new script editor Christopher H Bidmead and who uses hard sci-fi concepts throughout the season . This leads to a more serious and dramatic show and despite the premise revolving around a man with meglomanic ambitions trying to get his hands on a machine that will make his ambitions a reality the story David Fisher is relatively engaging with constant plot turns and perhaps the best aspect to the story is how well the cliffhangers are developed .
The Leisure Hive is directed by the delightfully named Lovett Bickford who makes his first and only contribution on the show . Despite being mainly studio bound Bickford manages to put most of the budget up on screen . One of the problems watching this 30 years after seeing it is commentating without the benefit of hindsight . The colour clash is glossy and garish and this is something that became problematic in later years with style over substance being a common criticism but after coming immediately after the Williams tenure it seemed like a breath of fresh air . Bickford and the rest of the production team also deserve some credit for reining in the more excessive aspects of Baker's performance and in this his final season in the title role Baker gives a much more serious performance than he was in the previous couple of years
In this debut from the new production team they hit the ground running . We're treated to a new title sequence and a new arrangement of the title theme . Both of which are very impressive after six years of the time tunnel type sequence . There's also a slightly different feel to the show . Gone is the tongue in cheek humour that often ridiculed the show and we have a more serious tone to everything which is down to new script editor Christopher H Bidmead and who uses hard sci-fi concepts throughout the season . This leads to a more serious and dramatic show and despite the premise revolving around a man with meglomanic ambitions trying to get his hands on a machine that will make his ambitions a reality the story David Fisher is relatively engaging with constant plot turns and perhaps the best aspect to the story is how well the cliffhangers are developed .
The Leisure Hive is directed by the delightfully named Lovett Bickford who makes his first and only contribution on the show . Despite being mainly studio bound Bickford manages to put most of the budget up on screen . One of the problems watching this 30 years after seeing it is commentating without the benefit of hindsight . The colour clash is glossy and garish and this is something that became problematic in later years with style over substance being a common criticism but after coming immediately after the Williams tenure it seemed like a breath of fresh air . Bickford and the rest of the production team also deserve some credit for reining in the more excessive aspects of Baker's performance and in this his final season in the title role Baker gives a much more serious performance than he was in the previous couple of years